CHAPTER 6 - EMPTY ROOM

I walked out of Gabriella's recovery suite and closed the heavy wooden door behind me. The doctors said her surgery was a success, so I knew I did not have to worry about her anymore. I rubbed the back of my neck because the stress of the night weighed on my muscles. I played my part well tonight. I held her hand and acted like a devoted brother, but I only did it to keep her close and monitor her connections to Vincent.

Now I needed to see my wife. I needed to see Arabella.

I walked down the quiet hospital corridor. The fluorescent lights hummed above my head. I felt a knot of guilt form in my stomach as I approached her room. I forced her to undergo major surgery, and I forced her to give up a part of her body. I knew she hated me right now, but I accepted her hatred because it kept her safe from her uncle. I planned to walk into her room and sit by her bed until she woke up. I wanted to make sure she was resting without any pain.

A young nurse walked past me holding a clipboard. She offered a small smile, but I ignored her. I did not have the patience for polite greetings. I just wanted to see Arabella.

I reached the door to her VIP recovery suite and placed my hand on the metal handle. I expected to hear the quiet, steady beep of her heart monitor. Instead, a loud and continuous alarm blared from inside the room.

My heart slammed against my ribs. I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The hospital bed was empty. The white blankets were pushed off the mattress and tangled near the foot of the bed. The medical wires were disconnected and dangling off the sides of the machine. The loud alarm meant the sensors were ripped off her body without authorization.

"Arabella," I called out.

I walked further into the room and checked the small bathroom. The bathroom was dark and empty. I turned around and scanned the floor. I saw a piece of faded blue fabric lying near the small wooden closet. It was her hospital gown. I walked over and picked it up. My stomach dropped when I saw fresh blood staining the thin cotton material. She took her clothes and left, but her surgical wound was bleeding.

I dropped the bloody gown and walked toward the small bedside table. I saw a thick manila envelope resting next to the water pitcher. Several pages of white paper were spread out across the table. I picked the first page up and read the bold black letters at the top.

It was a formal divorce agreement.

I stared at the words because my brain refused to process them. I smoothed out the crumpled papers and read the clauses. She asked for nothing. She did not want alimony, and she did not want a financial settlement. She just wanted to sever all legal ties to me.

The rejection stung worse than any physical wound I ever received. I spent five years building an empire to secure her future, and she walked away from it with nothing but the clothes on her back. I flipped to the last page and saw her signature signed in dark ink. Arabella Bellini. She signed the papers while she was recovering from major surgery. She planned this, and she executed it the moment she woke up.

I looked back down at the table and saw a small object resting near the edge. It was the diamond wedding ring I gave her five years ago. The silver metal shined under the harsh hospital lights. She took the ring off her finger and left it behind. She did not just wander out of the room in a medical daze. She chose to walk away from me.

A cold wave of panic washed over me. I crushed the divorce papers in my fist.

"Marco!" I shouted.

My voice echoed down the empty hallway outside the room. I walked to the door and looked in both directions. The nurses were missing from their station. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Marco's number, but he did not answer.

I paced the floor of the room. Arabella was out there somewhere. She was bleeding and vulnerable. If Vincent's men found her outside the safety of this hospital, they would kill her. I promised her father I would protect her, but I just pushed her right out the door.

Heavy footsteps pounded against the linoleum floor in the hallway. Marco ran through the doorway. He was out of breath and his dark suit was rumpled. He stopped in the center of the room and looked at the empty bed.

"Where were you?" I demanded. I stepped toward him. "Where is my wife?"

Marco held his hands up in a calming gesture, but his chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. "I tried to stop her, Boss. I chased her up the stairwell."

"You chased her?" I asked. I grabbed his shoulders. "She just had an organ removed, Marco. She should not be walking. How did she get past the security team?"

"She threatened to throw herself down the concrete stairs if I took another step," Marco explained. He looked me in the eyes. "She was serious, Raphael. She looked at me like she had nothing left to lose. I had to back off because I thought she would do it."

I let go of his shoulders and stepped back. Arabella was always quiet and obedient. She never raised her voice or threatened anyone. The woman Marco described sounded like a stranger.

"Was she in pain?" I asked. The question burned in my throat. I needed to know if she was suffering.

"She was pale, and she was clutching her side," Marco answered. "I saw blood soaking through her sweater. But her eyes were clear, Raphael. She was not scared. She was furious."

"Where did she go?" I asked. "Did she leave through the lobby?"

"She went to the roof," Marco said. He wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead. "She bypassed the electronic lock on the roof access door. A black helicopter was waiting for her on the helipad. Her friend Bianca was inside the cabin."

"How could she bypass the lock?" I demanded. "We own this building. The codes are encrypted."

"She used the date of the car crash," Marco said quietly. "She remembered the date her father died, and she keyed it into the system. That is when I knew her memories were back."

"Bianca," I repeated. The name tasted bitter in my mouth. Bianca was the only connection Arabella had to her old life before the car crash. I never liked Bianca because she was too smart and too resourceful. I should have kept a closer watch on her.

"The helicopter took off before I could reach them," Marco continued. "I called the aviation authorities, but the aircraft does not have a registered flight plan. They are flying blind to avoid radar."

"She planned this," I said. I looked down at the crushed divorce papers in my hand. "She printed these papers months ago. She brought them here in her bag. She knew she was going to leave me tonight."

Marco shook his head. He looked down at the bloody hospital gown on the floor. "She did not plan the escape months ago, Boss. Something happened on that operating table."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Marco looked up and met my gaze. His expression was heavy with dread. "When the helicopter lifted off the roof, she leaned out the side door. She shouted a message down to me. She told me to deliver it to you."

"Tell me what she said," I ordered.

Marco swallowed hard. "She said to tell you she knows who she is. And she said to tell you she is coming for her family."

The air left my lungs. I felt like someone punched me in the chest.

She knew who she was. She remembered. The anesthesia and the trauma of the surgery unlocked the memories she lost five years ago. She remembered her father. She remembered her uncle Vincent. She remembered that she was Arabella Laurent.

And she remembered that I lied to her.

She realized I knew her true identity the whole time. She realized I kept her locked in my estate while her mother suffered in a secret medical wing. She viewed my protection as a prison, and she viewed my silence as a betrayal. All my secrets blew up in my face tonight.

"She is going after Vincent," I said. My voice sounded hollow. "She thinks she can take on her uncle alone. She has no idea how dangerous he is."

"Vincent will slaughter her," Marco agreed. "He has an army of mercenaries. She just has Bianca."

I looked at the blaring heart monitor. The noise echoed the chaos in my own chest. I walked over and pulled the plug from the wall. The room fell into a heavy, oppressive silence. The silence felt worse than the alarms. It felt like an ending, but I refused to accept it.

"We cannot let Vincent find her," I said. I walked over to the bedside table and looked at the silver ring resting on the white surface.

I failed her father. I failed to keep her safe. I treated her with cold indifference to hide her from our enemies, but my actions only pushed her into the line of fire. I needed to fix this. I needed to find her and explain everything. I needed her to know I never gave her kidney to Gabriella. I needed her to know her mother was alive.

But I could not tell her any of those things if Vincent killed her first.

I picked the diamond wedding ring up from the table. The metal felt cold against my skin. My hands shook as I closed my fingers around the ring.

I turned around and looked at Marco. The time for hiding was over. The time for playing the cold executive was finished.

"Lock down the hospital," I told Marco. "Fire every security guard on duty tonight. Then contact our private teams. I want every road out of this city blocked. I want every train station watched."

Marco nodded. "What about the airports?"

"Call our contacts at the FAA," I instructed. "Ground every private flight in the state. Bribe whoever you need to bribe. Threaten whoever you need to threaten. Do whatever it takes to shut the airspace down."

Marco pulled his phone out. "It will cost millions to ground that many flights, Boss."

I squeezed the diamond ring in my fist until the edges cut into my palm.

"I do not care if it takes every dollar I have," I told him. "Find my wife."