6

Valeria

Darkness didn’t come all at once. It swallowed me in thick, suffocating waves, dragging me under until the cold wooden floor against my cheek faded into nothingness.

The last thing I remembered was the white silk blouse slipping from my numb fingers, and the crushing realization that four years of my life had been spent chasing a ghost.

POV: Tobias

The crash from the guest wing was muffled by the thick carpets, but the soft thud that followed made me freeze.

I was sitting at my desk in the study, Serena’s unopened letter still resting between my fingers, when a sharp scream cut through the quiet house. A second later, heavy footsteps scrambled down the hallway.

"Mr. Hayes! Mr. Hayes, come quickly!" Mrs. Gable’s panicked voice echoed from the corridor.

I dropped the letter onto the mahogany desk, my heart slamming violently against my ribs. I had never heard Mrs. Gable sound like that—frantic, out of breath, terrified. I pushed my chair back so hard it almost toppled over and threw the study door open.

"What happened?" I demanded, my voice sharp.

"It’s Mrs. Hayes!" she gasped, pointing toward the guest wing. "I heard something fall... I opened the door to check on her, and she’s on the floor! She won't wake up!"

My mind went completely blank. Every ounce of my usual control, the cold, composed armor I wore like a second skin, shattered in an instant. I didn't think. I didn't ask questions. I ran.

My dress shoes skidded against the polished floor as I rounded the corner into the guest bedroom. Mrs. Gable was right behind me, weeping into her apron. A young maid stood by the doorway, her hands trembling over her mouth.

Valeria was crumpled on the carpet beside the bed, her face ghostly pale, her dark hair scattered around her like a halo. She looked so small, so fragile, as if a strong gust of wind could blow her away.

"Valeria!" I dropped to my knees beside her, my hands shaking as I cupped her pale cheeks. Her skin was ice cold. "Valeria, look at me. Open your eyes."

There was no response. Her head fell limp against my palm.

"Call an ambulance!" Mrs. Gable cried out.

"There’s no time," I barked, my tone so raw and panicked that the maid flinched. I had never yelled at the staff. I had never lost my composure in front of anyone. But right now, seeing her motionless body, a terrifying tight knot seized my throat.

I scooped her up into my arms, pulling her small frame tightly against my chest. She weighed almost nothing. How had I not noticed how thin she had become over the last few months? How had I missed the shadows under her eyes, the way she picked at her food, the quiet exhaustion in her posture?

I didn't wait for a coat or a driver. I carried her down the grand staircase, stepping two at a time, my breathing heavy and ragged. The servants stared at me in shock as I burst through the front doors—their cold, unshakeable boss, carrying his wife like a madman into the night.

I laid her gently across the back seat of my car, got into the driver’s seat, and slammed my foot onto the gas pedal. The tires screeched against the driveway as I sped into the darkness, my eyes darting to the rearview mirror every two seconds just to make sure her chest was still rising and falling.

Don't do this, Valeria, I pleaded silently, my knuckles white against the steering wheel. Please, don't leave me.

POV: Valeria

The smell of antiseptic and sharp fluorescent light greeted me when I slowly opened my eyes. My head throbbed with a dull, heavy ache, and my body felt like lead.

I blinked against the glare, recognizing the sterile white walls of a hospital private room. An IV line was taped to the back of my left hand, dripping fluid into my veins.

"You're awake."

The deep, familiar voice came from the armchair beside the bed.

I turned my head slowly. Tobias was sitting there, his dark hair messy, his white dress shirt unbuttoned at the collar and wrinkled. He looked tired—more tired than I had ever seen him. For a fraction of a second, as our eyes met, I caught a glimpse of something fierce and wild in his gaze, a desperate intensity that almost made me catch my breath.

But as quickly as it appeared, it vanished.

Tobias leaned back in the chair, his face smoothing into his usual cool, distant mask. The walls went right back up.

"How do you feel?" he asked, his voice flat, devoid of the panic that had carried me here.

"Tired," I whispered, my throat dry. "What happened?"

"You collapsed in the guest room," Tobias replied, leaning his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor. "The maid found you. You were completely unresponsive."

I closed my eyes for a moment as memory flooded back. The open room. Tobias staring at Serena's letter. The navy blue suitcase sitting under the bed. The sharp wave of dizziness before everything went black.

A polite knock sounded at the door, and a middle-aged doctor in a white coat stepped into the room holding a clipboard.

"Ah, Mrs. Hayes, you're awake," the doctor said with a warm smile, checking my vitals on the monitor. "I'm Dr. Vance. How is your head feeling?"

"A little heavy," I murmured. "Why did I faint?"

Dr. Vance looked at his notes, then at Tobias before turning back to me. "Your blood pressure was dangerously low when you were brought in, Mrs. Hayes. Combined with extreme physical exhaustion and severe emotional stress, your body simply shut down."

He paused, adjusting his glasses. "Have you been eating properly lately?"

"I... I haven't had much of an appetite," I admitted softly.

"Well, that explains part of it," Dr. Vance said gently. "We've put you on a saline drip to rehydrate you. However, given your symptoms, I’d like to run a few more tests before we clear you to go home."

Tests.

My mind instantly flashed back to my conversation with Maya at the cafe two days ago. Her teasing smile, her lighthearted joke: Well, you should take a test just in case.

My hand moved instinctively, resting lightly over my lower abdomen. My heart began to beat a little faster, a quiet, terrifying flutter in my chest. No, I thought, pushing the idea away instantly. It’s just stress. The doctor said it was low blood pressure and stress. Tobias and I had tried for years without success. It made no sense for it to happen now, just as our marriage was falling apart.

Dr. Vance smiled reassuringly. "Mr. Hayes, if you could step out into the hallway for just a moment while the nurse comes in to take a few extra blood samples?"

Tobias stood up slowly, smoothing down his trousers. He looked down at me, his eyes lingering on my face for a long moment. Then, his gaze dropped down to my left hand resting on the white hospital sheet.

His eyes hardened slightly. The pale band of skin on my ring finger was exposed, bare and empty.

I knew what he was thinking. He knew I hadn't put the wedding ring back on after placing it beside my plate at dinner. He knew I had moved my things to the guest room. But neither of us mentioned it. Neither of us mentioned the navy suitcase half-packed beside the wardrobe.

"I'll be right outside," Tobias said quietly, turning toward the door.

"I'm fine, Tobias," I said to his back, my voice barely above a whisper. "You don't have to stay."

He paused near the door, his back stiffening, but he didn't answer. He simply opened the door and stepped out into the corridor, closing it softly behind him.

Once the nurse finished drawing the blood and left the room to process the vials, Dr. Vance walked back in, closing the door firmly behind him. He looked down at the digital tablet in his hand, a serious, contemplative expression on his face.

"Doctor?" I asked, pushing myself up slightly against the pillows, my throat tightening. "Is everything okay? You said it was just stress and exhaustion."

Dr. Vance pulled a stool over and sat beside the bed. He looked into my eyes, his tone dropping into a soft, careful murmur.

"Mrs. Hayes, there is one preliminary result from your lab work that we still need to discuss before I bring your husband back in."