Chapter 3

Flora

My phone rang early the next morning. The doctor’s voice was bright over the speaker as I stood by Annabel's bed.

"Mrs. Spencer, someone saw your news broadcast and came in to donate," the doctor said. "The blood type is an exact match. We’re starting the transfusion right now."

Relief hit me so hard my knees buckled against the side of the mattress. I watched through the observation window as the deep red liquid trickled into my daughter’s vein, slowly pulling her back from the edge.

Needing to see the person who had just saved my child’s life, I picked up the heavy briefcase of cash and walked down to the donor room. 

I pushed open the door.

A man was standing by the window, his back to me as he stared out at the street. When the door latched shut, he turned.

My fingers went numb. The briefcase hit the linoleum floor with a heavy thud.

Broad shoulders, sharp jawline, dark eyes, features I knew all too well. But this face was older, rougher, marked by a faded scar trailing down his neck.

It was Harvey Spencer.

"Harvey?" The name scraped out of my throat, barely a whisper. "No... that's impossible. You're dead."

Harvey looked at me, a faint, bitter shadow passing over his eyes. "You shouldn't believe everything you read in the news, Flora."

"How are you standing here?" I backed against the door, my pulse slamming against my ribs. "You died in prison."

"A guard took a bribe on the day I was meant to walk free," Harvey said quietly. "It was easy enough to leave a corpse behind and step out the back."

"Why?" I stammered, my head spinning. "If you were getting out anyway, why fake your death? Why go into hiding?"

"Because Holland killed that man, Flora," Harvey said, his voice dropping low, his knuckles turning white as his hands clenched into fists. "Our father covered for him and pinned the murder on me because Holland was the golden child, and I was the notorious screwup nobody cared to defend. If I walked out those gates alive, Holland would have finished what he started."

He took a slow step closer, his eyes intense. He explained that he had been living in the shadows ever since, quietly planning his revenge. The only reason he stepped out into the light today was because he saw my broadcast—hoping that if he saved my daughter, I might finally give him a listening ear and believe his innocence.

In my past life, I would have called him a lunatic lying to drag his brother down. But after feeling Holland’s cold hands push me straight into a horde of flesh-eating monsters, Harvey’s confession didn't sound like a lie at all. It made sickening, terrifying sense.

I swallowed hard, reached down, and lifted the briefcase onto the small table between us. "Whatever happened back then... you saved Annabel today. I promised a reward." I popped the latches, revealing stacks of hundred-dollar bills. "Take it."

Harvey didn't even look at the money. "I don't want your cash, Flora. I need something else."

"What?"

"Your forgiveness," he said.

I frowned, confused. "Forgiveness for what?"

Harvey closed his eyes for a second, taking a long, ragged breath. When he opened them, his voice dropped to a gravelly whisper. "Because five years ago, at the club... the man you slept with in that room wasn't Holland. It was me."

The room seemed to tilt beneath my feet.

"What are you saying?" I whispered.

"The company was failing," Harvey said, every word hitting me like a physical blow. "Father needed your family's backing, but Holland refused to touch you because he was already sleeping with Lena. So Father sent me into that dark room instead, knowing you’d mistake me for Holland."

My mind fractured.

Harvey laid out the rest with brutal clarity. He hadn't cared about taking over the company back then, so his father offered him prime real estate to keep him comfortable and quiet. The condition was simple: if Harvey ever claimed the child, he would be disowned and left with nothing. When I turned up pregnant, Holland stepped in to claim the baby, marrying me to secure my family's influence and save their business.

Only the three of them knew.

They had used their identical looks to play me. They had traded me between themselves like a piece of leverage, letting me raise a child believing my husband was her father, while my entire marriage was built on a scam.

"Flora, please," Harvey stammered, taking a desperate step toward me. "I wanted to tell you…" He reached out, his hand hovering near my shoulder to beg for mercy.

"Don't touch me!" I shrieked, slamming my back against the wall. "Get out!"

"Flora…”

"Get out of here right now!"

Harvey's jaw tightened. He looked at me with raw regret, then slowly lowered his hand, turned, and walked out, letting the door click shut behind him.

I slid down the wall until my knees hit the cold floor, burying my face in my hands. Hot, bitter tears burned my eyes as the humiliation crushed the breath right out of me. My whole life was a lie. My husband wasn't even my child's father. I had been used by every single one of them.

Suddenly, a brilliant blue screen materialized right in front of my face, its red digital counter ticking down with relentless precision.

[Count Down to Outbreak: 28 Days, 18 Hours, 05 Minutes]

[Target 1 Completed: Daughter Saved!]

[Target 2 Unlocked: Sell properties worth $100,000,000 and hoard foodstuffs for the apocalypse!]

I wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand and stared at the nine-figure number. One hundred million dollars?

My entire personal net worth didn't even come close to that amount. Where on earth was I supposed to get enough properties to sell for a fortune like that in under thirty days?

BZZZ.

My phone vibrated on the floor beside me. A text from Holland lit up the screen:

Father wants us over for dinner tonight. We have a massive new business venture to discuss with you.

My eyes narrowed. I tapped my screen and opened the live tracking feature on my system interface.

A floating video feed expanded in my line of sight. Holland was sitting in his father's dimly lit study, swirling scotch in a crystal glass.

"Are you sure she’ll sign over her trust for this venture?" his father asked, looking up over his reading glasses. "When she finds out you scammed her out of everything, what happens?"

Holland threw his head back and let out a dry laugh, taking a sip. "She’ll never find out. I have everything planned out perfectly, and when it comes to her love for me, she’s completely stupid."

Sitting alone on the cold hospital floor, I stared at his smug face on the screen.

The last trace of my grief hardened into pure, freezing ice. A slow, silent smirk spread across my face.

"We'll see who's stupid, Holland," I whispered to the quiet room.