LOGINThe next morning, against all odds, and against Marielâs very clear warning, I went back.âYou really need to understand,â I told her quietly, grabbing my coat. âI love this man.âShe looked at me like I had grown a new head. But she didnât stop me.I got to Alaricâs apartment just before six a.m. My ribs ached from the cold.He opened the door after a long pause. He looked like he hadnât slept.âHi,â he said, stepping aside to let me in.No kiss. Just distance.He went back to the couch with his laptop, and continued what he was doing before I came in.I sat on the edge of his bed, watching him.Watching the man who had held me through the storm.The man who had almost died protecting me.The man who was now pulling away.I didnât understand how everything had happened so fast.How love could feel solid one weekâŠand fragile the next.I folded my hands in my lap, staring at him, trying to decide whether I was fighting for usâŠor chasing something that was already slipping through my
We got to the ER, it was a small rural hospital. It was cozy with few rooms.It took an hour to get there from the cabin.They checked me over first. I had a cracked jaw. Of course I thought.And my head was paining me like it wanted to fall out.âYouâre staying overnight,â the nurse said gently, like I might argue. I didnât even have the energy to.Alaric needed eighteen stitches along his side. He was given a tetanus shot. His knuckles were swollen and split open. And they ordered him to rest, which he did without arguing.They put us in separate beds with a curtain between us, but close enough that we could reach through the gap. Our fingers stayed linked most of the night. Every time I woke up, I checked that he was still there.âI love you,â he said quietly sometime in the dark.âI love you too.ââWeâll rebuild,â he whispered.By dawn, we were discharged. The sky was pale and a little bright like nothing terrible had happened the night ago.He wanted me to come back to his pla
Thunder shot in the sky, the noise making me jerk and cover myself well. The wind was pushing through the pines, and tree branches were dragging against the windows with that unstoppable scratching sound.After those scary knocks, we had pushed whatever we could against the doors. Chairs. The small table. Even the old bookshelf. The lights were turned down low, just enough for us to see. Alaric and I sat on the rug, back to back. He held the poker and I gripped my phone, I was ready to dial 911 just in case.Weâd been on edge for hours, after those knocks. Every little sound or creak felt like a dread.Every gust of wind sounded like someone whispering Eliasâs name.âHeâs out there,â I said, barely above a breath.Rain pounded the roof so hardI that at some point I thought the house would fall on us.Alaric reached back and found my hand, squeezing it tight. âHe wonât get in. The police are on their way. Theyâre just delayed because of the storm.â His voice sounded calm, but I
The SUV moved through the night as Alaricâs SUV drove up the narrow mountain road.The headlight of his car was shining through the night. We had left the city at dusk, no calls. Mariel would be wondering where I was, I thought.We just packed what we could carry and disappeared.Alaric had disabled the GPS, and then he switched the carâs plate number.He paid with cash for gas at the gas station.His every move was careful like he had sat himself down and thought about it.âThey wonât find us here,â he said with his hand on my thigh. He squeezed my thigh a little.But Eliasâs last message looped in my mind and kept on replaying : You can run, but I always catch up.I shifted in my seat and looked at the rearview mirror again, even though the road behind us was empty. The property appeared through the fog like something that has already been abandoned.Merely looking at it, I can figure it's been years since someone came here.A secluded cabin deep into the Catskills on Alaricâs old
At 6:47 a.m., the story was trending on every major outlet in New York, the headline written in bold, damning letters: Renowned OB-GYN Dr. Alaric Stone Accused of Patient Abuse â Multiple Victims Come Forward.It spread fast.The article came from an unknown source. This was all to ruin Alaric.It didnât name a single patient. It didnât list dates, records, or formal complaints. Instead, it was on anonymous quotes and loaded phrases: âinappropriate touching during exams,â âemotional manipulation,â and âfavoritism leading to coercion.â There were no names. No specific dates. No formal complaints detailed.Just accusations.A single blurry photo was attached to it.A photo of Alaric with his hand lightly at a patientâs back as he guided her into an exam room. In any other context, it might have looked normal ooh.But it was cropped to look sinister with a scandalous caption, it felt ominous.No names. No dates. Just enough smoke to ignite a fire. And give people what to talk about
The next morning, I went back to Marielâs apartment after leaving Alaricâs place. When he texted that he needed me, I went.I promised myself I wouldnât betray him. We would fight this together, I would stand by his side.After a few words of reassurance and a tight hug, he seemed steadier.The following day, I decided to give him space to think through everything. And now Iâm back at Marielâs again.By the time I opened my phone, the headlines were everywhere, across every news app and tabloid: St. Lucia Hospital Data Breach â Insider Trading Allegations Rock Stone Family Empire. I scrolled through them on Marielâs couch, my coffee going cold in my hands, heart racing as the story unfolds piece by piece.An anonymous whistleblower had dumped the breach logs to the press. Maybe it was Alaric. Maybe Niko. I didnât know anymore. Had leaked the breach logs to the press.Eliasâs hacks werenât just personal vendettas; theyâd included sensitive patient data tied to hospital investments.







