Chapter 3: The ghost of five years

Five Years Later...

The scent of antiseptic usually made my stomach turn, a haunting reminder of the night I lost everything. But today, the sterile smell of the hospital was the only thing keeping me grounded.

"Mommy, can we go home now?"

I looked down at Leo. At four years old, he was the only beautiful thing to come out of my wreckage. He had my curls, but his eyes... his eyes were a piercing, stormy grey that I only saw in my nightmares. Every time he looked at me, I saw the ghost of the man from the party.

"Soon, baby," I whispered, smoothing his hair. "We just have to wait for Dr. Julian."

Leo was born with a heart defect—a literal broken heart. It was a cruel irony, considering mine had been shattered long before he was even a breath in my womb.

The door opened, and Julian walked in. If there was an angel on earth, it was him. He was the opposite of every man I’d ever known: kind, transparent, and gentle. He was the one who had seen me—a disgraced, disowned single mother working three jobs—and didn't judge me.

"He’s looking stronger today, Elara," Julian said, offering that warm smile that usually acted as my anchor. He stepped close, his hand resting briefly on my shoulder. "The medication is working, but we still need to talk about the long-term plan. The surgery."

"The cost is too high, Julian," I said, my voice cracking. "I’ve sold everything. I’m working double shifts at the station. I don't know where else to turn."

Julian hesitated, his expression flickering with something heavy. He reached into his lab coat and pulled out a small, framed photo. "I might have a solution. But it involves my family. Specifically, my brother."

I looked at the photo. It was a picture of two boys. One was a younger Julian, laughing. The other was a taller, broader teenager with a dark scowl and a silver watch on his wrist. My heart stopped. My blood turned to ice.

"His name is Josh," Julian continued, unaware that the room was spinning around me. "He’s... complicated. We haven't spoken in years. He’s the CEO of a private security firm now. He has the resources, and more importantly, he has the same rare blood type as Leo. He’s the only match for the transplant."

I couldn't breathe. The silver watch in the photo... I had seen it before. It was the last thing I saw before the world went black five years ago.

"Elara? You've gone pale," Julian said, his voice laced with concern.

"I... I just need some air," I gasped, stumbling toward the door.

I made it to the hallway before my knees gave out. I leaned against the cold white wall, my hand over my mouth to stifle a scream.

My son’s life depended on a transplant. And the only man who could save him was the brother of the man I loved—the same man who had hunted me in the dark.

I was being forced to choose between my son’s survival and entering the lion's den. I had spent five years running from the "Monster," only to find out he was the only one who held the key to my child's heartbeat