Chapter 005

Lucas stared at the picture frame in his hand. Disturbingly, his chest tightened as he did so. Despite himself, he continued to stare at the woman in the photograph with soft amber eyes that had charmed him to his doom. Her red copper hair fell to her face in waves, enhancing her high cheekbones and full, lush lips. She was magnificently staring at him in the photograph as if she was real.

The photo was of him and Alexandria seated into a wooden bench, his arms protectively draped around her slender shoulders. He looked at the camera with a lofty grin stretched across his face.

It was the happiest moment of his life. He could clearly recall that day in clear and vivid detail, as though it had happened just yesterday. 

The photograph was taken almost five years ago. They looked fine in the photo. He wondered what went wrong. Ever since he married Alexandria, things went downhill. 

He set the picture frame aside and lifted the glass of brandy to his lips. It was empty. Groaning, he staggered to the wine cellar and picked the brandy decanter inside his cabinet and returned to the upholstered chair in front of a large flat TV screen with the bottle in his hand. 

He lifted the decanter and poured the contents into the glass and brought it to his lips. It was the third? Or is it the fourth bottle of brandy he consumed? He couldn't recall, he lost count already. But it doesn't matter how many he consumed tonight. He wasn't drunk yet. He could still feel the hollowness nagging from inside him. 

The urgent knock on the door carved a deep frown across his forehead. Didn't he warn Thompson that he wanted to be left alone? 

Damn. The Security Head was reliable but he could be so irritating if he chose to.

Ignoring the knock, Lucas focused his attention on the brandy. What Thompson would say is not important. It could wait for tomorrow. He reasoned to himself and brought the glass to his lips. 

"Mr. Alexander?" Thompson said aloud. The door rattled violently this time. When there was no response from him, the sound of keys jingled, then the door flung open. 

"Dam—" His curse was suspended when Thompsons emerged from the door. Two uniformed police officers followed behind him.

Lucas got on his feet. The frown on his forehead nearly stopped Thompson in his tracks.

"Mr. Alexander," One of the police officers began as he stepped forward to deliver the bad news. "Your wife, Mrs. Alexander, suffered a fatal car accident. The car she was driving crashed into a cargo truck. One of the three individuals involved in the accident died instantly. We haven't named the deceased yet."

He could feel his stomach lurched forward. Heartbeat thundered inside his chest. His sweet innocent son, Niall, suddenly flashed through his thoughts. 

"What Hospital?" He snapped, hastily grabbing the leather jacket hanging from the sofa and putting it on in a snap. 

The police officer said the address. Wasting not a precious second, he hurried past Thompson and two police officers. He ran downstairs as if his whole life was at stake. He picked the car he saw parked in the driveway. It wasn't his, but he bet if Thompson would mind if he borrowed it for a while. Walking to take his car out of the garage would delay him. He couldn't afford to waste any precious minutes.

The inside of the car was icy cold, but Lucas broke into a sweat. The effects of brandy magically vanished. He sobered.

He pressed his feet against the accelerator. The car lurched forward as he drove mindlessly across the dark, deserted highway. His thoughts drifted into his only son, Niall, and a sudden uncontrollable fury bubbled inside him once more. 

He blamed Alexandria for this. If she didn't run off with her lower and brought his son with him, then this would never happen. He would never forgive her once something terrible happened to his son.

Lucas drove like a mad man. Within less than an hour, he reached the hospital where the police had given him the address. Safely parking the car, he hastily clambered out of the black car, slamming the door behind him before skittering to the building. 

With heart pounding deafeningly inside his ribcage, he quickly scurried to the information desk.

"How may I help you, Sir?" a nurse asked him politely, tearing her gaze off from her computer screen to look at him.

"I would like to get Niall Alexander's room number." He told her.

"I apologize, Sir, but there is no Niall Alexander here in our lists." The nurse replied after surveying the lists on her computer screen.

"Alexandria Alexander. Is there a woman with that name on your list?" Speaking his wife's name intensified the hate burning inside him. She might as well be the one dead or he will have to do the job with his own hands if she managed to get his son killed. 

The nurse paused as she read the names on her list. Finally, she raised her eyes to him and replied, "Yes."

There was another pause again as she returned her gaze to her computer skin. "May I know your relationship with the patient?" She inquired, still not tearing her gaze from her computer screen. 

"She is my wife." He spat bitterly. The word sounded weird to his ears. Alexandria had never been a wife to him. 

When the staff finally lifted her tired face to him, he showed her his ID.

"Emergency Room. Turn left please."

He hastened to the direction she provided and almost immediately he spotted the sign glaring at him with an angry red light. 

At that moment, the door to the emergency room flung open and the doctor in a white suit emerged from it. The man was preoccupied with the report he was reading in his hand that he nearly bumped into Lucas. He stopped in time before they could collide in the hallway and raised his head to his with a frown scrunching his forehead. 

"Lucas! Thank god you came quickly!" The doctor exclaimed after he recognized him. The file in his hand dropped to his side so he could give Lucas his full attention. 

"Where's my son?" He asked, fearing the worst to come.