Chapter 6

My heart pounded against my ribs. Five minutes passed. Just as I thought I was being ignored, my phone lit up.

It was not a text. It was a call.

"Mr. Averin..."

"I looked into the situation," his deep, magnetic voice came through. It carried the undeniable weight of an apex predator, yet somehow, it grounded me. "Which doctor do you need?"

"Dr. Smith... the best cardiac surgeon," I babbled through my tears. "But he is fully booked. The hospital cannot get him. Please, I will do anything, whatever the price—"

"Twenty minutes," Zane cut me off smoothly. "In twenty minutes, his team will board the Averin family's private jet to New York. Go be with your father. I will handle the rest."

CLICK. He hung up. No nonsense, no extra words.

I stared at my phone, stunned. Was it really that easy?

Soon, my mother called. "Lorelai! The hospital just said Dr. Smith's team is flying in! They said a VIP arranged it! You called Caspian, did you not? Thank God, your father is saved!"

I did not correct her.

After hanging up, I opened Zane's chat and typed: "Thank you."

Ten seconds later, he replied: "Just a thank you?"

I paused, my fingers hovering over the screen, before typing: "Then let me buy you dinner sometime to properly thank you."

"Done."

I let out a long breath, my tight nerves finally relaxing a fraction.

Right then, an unknown number sent me a video file.

A sense of dread gripped my heart. I clicked play.

The video showed a dimly lit, luxurious bedroom. The audio was filled with explicit moans and the sound of skin slapping against skin.

The camera shook, focusing on two bodies tangled on the bed. The man's broad back was facing the camera. I recognized the scar on his shoulder—a bullet wound he took for me.

It was Caspian.

From behind the camera, Ivy's perfectly made-up face appeared. She smirked at the lens, then let out a loud, dramatic moan. "Caspian... you are so good..."

My stomach churned violently. The brief relief I felt was instantly replaced by bone-deep disgust and humiliation.

I wanted to smash my phone. I wanted to delete the filthy video. But fighting the spasms in my stomach, I saved it.

I curled up in the corner of the bathroom, crying silently. I felt disgusted by Caspian, but I also hated myself. If I had not fought with him over those texts, would he have been ambushed? Would he have lost his memory? Would he have turned into this monster?

The guilt tortured me all night.

The next day at noon, exhausted after visiting my father, I received a location pin from Zane. It was a highly exclusive private restaurant.

Attached was a short text: "Weren't you buying me dinner?"

I took a deep breath, went home to change into something elegant, put on light makeup to hide my pale face, and drove over.

The restaurant was incredibly private. Zane was already seated by the window, wearing a tailored charcoal suit, radiating a cold, lethal charm.

"Mr. Averin, thank you so much," I said sincerely as I sat down.

He glanced up, his dark eyes lingering on my pale face for a second. "Order."

To my surprise, the meal was surprisingly pleasant. Beneath his cold exterior, Zane was impeccably well-mannered. What shocked me more was that the dishes he casually ordered were all my absolute favorites.

I smiled bitterly to myself. Just a coincidence. After all, we had zero history.

After lunch, Zane stood up, signaling for us to leave.

We walked down the quiet, carpeted hallway. As we passed a luxurious private room at the end of the hall, a familiar voice drifted through the slightly open door.

"Don, how long are you going to keep this act up?"

It was Marco.

I froze in my tracks.

Then, I heard Caspian chuckle. The click of a lighter followed, and he spoke in a lazy, arrogant tone.

"I will keep this up for another month. Ivy is a wild little slut in bed. I am not ready to end the fun just yet."

Marco sounded amused. "A month? And then your memory will magically return?"

Keep this up? Memory return?

My ears rang. The entire world crashed down around me.