Unexpected

~Alessandro~

I came out of the bathroom and glanced at Anna. She was asleep, breathing steady and quiet.

I chuckled lightly, then placed a call to the reception for a meal.

Just then, my phone beeped. A message from my sister.

Heart hammering, I grabbed my car keys and rushed out of the room.

Minutes later, I arrived at the Upper East side hospital in my car and dashed in.

“How's Mom?” I asked my older sister, Sophia Miller as I dashed into the VIP hospital room. 

“Doctor Nate Harrington won’t tell me anything until you get here. Let's meet him now,” Sophia said and together, we went to Doctor Nate's office. 

“Where's my mother?” I demanded from doctor Nate as soon as we walked into his office. 

“Alex, you are here,” Doctor Nate said and closed the file on his desk. 

He pushed his eyeglasses up his nose. “Your mom is receiving treatment. She'll recover in due time—”

“Where's she?” I cut him off, not interested in their usual doctor jargons I sensed he was about to drift into.

“Alex, Chairwoman Rose wanted me to give you this.” He extended a document. 

My face tightened as I read it. 

I turned back to him, my brows furrowing. “What is this supposed to mean?”

“Alex—”

“Doctor Nate, can you please tell me where my mother is? I need to confirm if she wrote this or if someone is trying to play a trick—”

“Yes, Mom wrote it,” Sophia interjected.

I turned to her, my eyes narrowing in betrayal. 

“Sophia, are you aware of this?” 

“This is Mom's will, Alex. You have to come back and lead the company.”

“You clearly know my stance in this matter,” I said, trying to contain the mixed emotions brimming inside me. 

“I'm afraid, mom doesn't agree,” Sophia muttered with a mocking shrug. 

I groaned, my head suddenly throbbing. 

I inhaled and faced my sister again in a bid to convince her, because truly, no one else deserved to be in that seat in my mom's absence if not her. 

“Listen Sophia, you should lead the Group. Mom trusts you more than anyone else, and no one has been by her side far more than you.”

“How long will you run away from your responsibility?” she questioned, her eyes shifting into a serious glare.

I stopped. Something uneasy rose in my throat. 

“You have been by her side for years. This is your call, Sophia… think about it—”

“No Alex, this is your call.” She shook her head, adamant. “You are the one supposed to lead the Group. I honestly don't want to be in a meeting for long hours all my life, stroking the egos of those old geezeers. I think I've had my fill over the years.”

It was unlike her. She was usually not this hell-bent. But this time, she sounded serious. 

My head ached. This has always been my biggest fear… walking my mother's path.

“I have no experience. I don't know crap about the company,” I groaned in frustration. 

Why couldn't my family accept that I wanted no part in the family business that had spanned generations?

“Then you learn,” Sophia insisted, sticking out her tongue at me. 

It was obvious she was enjoying this whole set up. 

“Okay, fine. If I ever have to agree to this… where's Mom first?” I turned back to Doctor Nate.

Doctor Nate played a recorded audio from his phone. In the audio, Mom confirmed signing the document.

“How can we trust an audio recording? Anyone could have doctored this,” I said.

“Oh god, Alex. You have so much doubt in you for an Artist,” my sister groaned.

“If she recorded this, then why's she in a hospital, and why can't we see her? And Sophia,” I narrowed my eyes at her, “why are you so calm about this?”

“I’m not really calm,” she sighed, “I trust mom. I think you will make a good CEO. I mean, look at that headline—youngest CEO and fourth generation born of Miller Group—”

“Damn you,” I growled. 

“Doctor Nate, listen, if there's something wrong with my mother, then you must let me know right now.”

Just then, my phone rang.

“Mom!” I called on picking the call. 

“Alessandro, you finally decided to show your face to your mother,” she fumed, her lips turning downward. 

“Mom? Am I really your mother? You have returned from France since then, but I'm just seeing your face.”

“Chairwoman, please you must not stress yourself,” Doctor Nate said.

“Mom, I'm sorry. But first, where are you right now?”

“Can't you see what I'm putting on?” She gestured to the hospital gown she was putting on dramatically. 

“Why aren't you in the VIP room? Are you really sick? How exactly are you feeling and why can't I see you?”

“Do what Doctor Harrington and your sister said. Lead the company. He will tell you everything else if you agree to do it.”

The call ended.

I turned to Doctor Nate, my face tight.

“Tell me everything, Doctor Nate. Everything.”

“Your mother has a tumor in her brain.”

I froze, the words hammering in my skull.

“Since when… since when? And why am I just finding out? No… has she started taking treatment?”

“She will undergo surgery soon. Until then, you must lead the Group. She’s in Florida, where she’ll get the best care.”

“Florida?!”

“Why couldn't the doctor be flown here? Who will take care of her over there?”

“She has her personal assistant,” Sophia mumbled, her voice low. 

“And why the hell is this supposed to be done in secret?” I questioned, furious.

“To protect the Group, Alex,” Doctor Nate muttered. “You and your sister must remain in New York, and it is expected that the chairwoman is taking a necessary rest from her duties.”

Sophia was quiet. She didn't react. 

I glanced at her. 

“You knew…” I gasped, disappointed.

How could she not know? She was the closest to my mother. 

I felt so stupid. How could she be so tough? How could she and Mom bear it alone and I was there not knowing anything?

God. 

I took a deep breath, forcing myself to stand. 

Without another word, I turned and walked out, the sterile scent of the hospital clinging to me as I stepped into the cold outside.

As I got into my car, a message came in. 

“Don’t worry about me and lead the company. Your sister will be there to help you. Make lots of profit and I'll consider forgiving you for being a disobedient child.”

God, she just keeps making me emotional. 

Tears clogged my throat. She was still making jokes, even when she was sick. 

But that was my mom. That was Rose Miller. Always cheerful even in her worst moments.

I gripped the steering wheel, taking a deep breath. 

Getting back to my hotel room, I sank into the bed, the silence swallowing me whole. The exhaustion sat heavy in my chest, pressing, aching.

I hated how empty the room suddenly felt without another presence. How badly I wanted someone. 

And the truth came quietly. The only person I wanted was my fuck partner, Anna.

We weren’t supposed to need each other. And it was already Sunday evening. By now, she should have been gone, slipping back into her life.

Still, my fingers hovered over my phone as I remembered the clause in our contract. We could call if we needed to. But no obligation, and no expectations.

“I need you now. Can you make it?”

I stared at the screen long after sending it, my chest tight, already bracing for disappointment.

The reply didn't come.

Then—fifteen minutes later—there was a knock on the door.

I stood, my pulse quickening as I crossed the room. 

When I opened it, there she was, solid and real, like she’d stepped straight out of my desperation.

She stood there. Calm. Beautiful. Real.

“Anna,” I breathed, my voice low, almost reverent.

I didn't think she would come.