Meeting

CRASH!

The sound of shattering porcelain echoed loudly through the exclusive lobby of the VIP wing of Cendana Hospital.

I stepped out of the private elevator just as the expensive object smashed to pieces against the marble floor.

My steps halted for a moment.

My eyes narrowed behind the glasses I was wearing.

Ah.

It reminded me of that stormy night five years ago.

In the middle of that chaotic lobby, the Hospital Director and a row of senior doctors stood with their heads bowed, deathly pale.

Before them stood my ex-husband.

Rafael Navarro.

The man wore a black suit.

His aura was as cold as ice and just as lethal as I remembered.

His jaw was hardened, holding back a fury ready to explode.

Beside him, Chloe was crying hysterically.

"You are all useless!" Chloe shrieked.

She rudely pointed her bright red lacquered nails at the Hospital Director's face.

"My son is in agony in the ICU! We have been waiting three hours! Where is that wretched Doctor S?!"

The Hospital Director wiped cold sweat from his forehead. "Ma'am, please calm down. Doctor S's schedule is strictly confidential and—"

"I don't care about her schedule!" Rafael cut in with that baritone voice of his. "I am paying this hospital billions of dollars not to hear excuses."

"Bring that doctor here now."

"Or I will level this place to the ground."

That threat made everyone hold their breath.

Rafael never made idle words.

Except with me.

I smiled thinly. My complete makeup utterly concealed the fragile girl named Serena they had once trampled underfoot.

I lifted my chin.

"Level my hospital?"

My voice was not loud, sounding casual.

Even as though making a joke.

Every head turned toward me simultaneously.

I walked with my back straight, my white doctor's coat billowing elegantly over the tight black knee-length dress I was wearing.

Anya walked half a step behind me carrying the medical records.

I stopped exactly three steps in front of Rafael and Chloe.

Rafael's green eyes fixed on me sharply.

His brow furrowed deeply.

The man scanned my face. From the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

Of course he did not recognize me.

The Serena he knew had never dared to look him directly in the eyes.

The Serena he knew had died in an explosion at the bottom of a ravine.

"Who are you?" Chloe hissed, staring at my appearance with irritation.

"How dare you interfere! Are you a staff member here? Summon Doctor S right now!"

I looked at Chloe from behind my lenses.

The woman's face looked tired and far older than her age.

Caring for a disabled child had apparently drained her beauty entirely.

"You are awfully noisy," I said flatly. "Your voice is contaminating the sterile air of my hospital."

Chloe's face flushed scarlet with fury. "What did you say? Do you know who I am?! I—"

"You are nothing but a troublemaker here."

I turned toward the Hospital Director who was still ashen-faced.

"Director, since when has Cendana Hospital permitted stray dogs to bark in the VIP lobby?" I asked in a reproving tone.

The Director immediately bowed respectfully toward me. "Forgive our negligence, Doctor S."

Hearing that name spoken, Chloe gasped.

Her eyes went wide.

Even Rafael startled slightly.

"You, Doctor S?" Chloe's voice sounded disbelieving. "Don't be ridiculous! You are too young! You must be a fraud trying to make a spectacle out of my husband's money!"

I laughed dismissively.

"My husband's money?" I repeated with a sardonic smile. "I will let you in on one small secret, Madam. Your husband's money is not even enough to insure my hands."

I turned toward the row of security guards who had not dared to act this whole time.

"Security," I called out coldly.

"Yes, Doctor S!"

"Drag this noisy woman out of my building. If she resists, throw her into the street."

"How dare you!" Chloe shrieked in panic as two large-bodied security guards began approaching her.

She immediately hid behind Rafael's back. "Rafael, do something! This woman is insulting me!"

Rafael's eyes darkened.

His patience had run out.

A dense killing aura emanated from the man's body.

He stepped forward, placing his large frame between me and Chloe.

Rafael looked at me as though he wanted to strangle my neck at that very second.

"You are playing with fire against the wrong person, Doctor," Rafael threatened in a low voice that shook the air.

"Heal my son right now, or I will make certain you will never be able to hold a scalpel again for the rest of your life."

He was using his old tactics.

Intimidation and threats of violence.

Once, I would have trembled in fear and fallen to my knees begging for his mercy.

Now? I did not retreat a single millimeter.

I looked up, staring directly into the eyes of the emerald gaze of the man who had once destroyed my heart.

I concealed not a trace of the hatred and revulsion blazing in my eyes.

As our gazes collided, Rafael's steps halted abruptly.

The man's solid body went rigid.

Something flickered in his green eyes. Confusion. Shock. And an overwhelmingly powerful déjà vu that struck him.

I could see his Adam's apple rise and fall as he swallowed.

His gaze was fixed on my eyes, trying to excavate a memory he had buried deep.

The man's heart thundered violently, made plain by his suddenly unsteady breathing.

He felt my presence.

Rafael opened his mouth, his voice suddenly losing its edge. "You,"

I gave him no opportunity to think.

I stepped back, turned with grace, then settled into the large leather-upholstered chair positioned in the center of the VIP lobby.

"You are threatening me in my own territory, Mister Navarro?" I smiled lightly.

I tossed the tablet containing his son's medical records onto the glass table before me with a sharp sound.

"Your son's internal organs are forty percent failing. He has less than a month before his kidneys and heart cease to function entirely."

"There is not a single doctor in this world who can perform genetic engineering except me."

Chloe's face went as white as paper. She sobbed and wept. "No, no, that's a lie! My little baby!"

Rafael clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.

The arrogance in the man's gaze was slowly consumed by genuine desperation.

"What do you want?" Rafael asked hoarsely. "Name your price."

I leaned back casually in my leather chair.

My eyes stared straight into the soul of that arrogant man, savoring every second of his undoing.

"Your money holds no value in my eyes."

My voice echoed through that silent lobby.

"You want your child to live?" I looked at Rafael without blinking. "Then kneel. And beg me."