Chapter 3

My survival instincts made me ignore the burning flames as I struggled to crawl toward the open door. Every move that I made felt like torture. I finally made it to the door, but I had exhausted all my strength by then and ended up collapsing on the threshold.

The columns of thick smoke quickly attracted the attention of passersby.

"The building is on fire! Call the police! It seems that there are still people inside!"

The ear-splitting sounds of police sirens wailed in the distance. I lost consciousness completely when I was hauled into an ambulance. When I opened my eyes again, I realized that I was staring at the blinding white lights in a hospital.

The nurse next to me was sweating profusely as she delivered an endless stream of reports to the doctor.

"Doctor, the patient has Rh-negative blood and needs a large blood transfusion. However, all of our blood stock was transferred away by Sheldon Jackson. He claims that he needs it for his sister-in-law to ensure that nothing goes wrong with her unborn baby."

I never would have thought that Sheldon would personally snuff out my last chance of survival for Madison's sake. A freezing cold seeped into my bones. The pain was even more unbearable than the burns covering my body.

"Get in contact with Mr. Jackson and ask him to spare some of the blood. Also, put in an application for more blood at the Central Blood Bank immediately."

"We've already contacted him, but Mr. Jackson refused our request. Additionally, the Central Blood Bank requires a signature from the patient's family to process the application. Ms. Zorias, could you tell us how to get in touch with your family?"

I closed my eyes. Tears streamed down my face, stinging the burns on my cheeks. "I'm an orphan. I don't have any family except for my husband, Sheldon Jackson."

The emergency doctor snatched the phone out of the nurse's hands and personally called Sheldon. It rang for a long time before the call connected. Sheldon sounded tired on the other end of the line.

"Mr. Jackson, I'm calling from General Hospital. Your wife's life is in danger, and she needs Rh-negative blood urgently. Please transfer some of the blood that you have here. She won't survive if you don't."

"What? My wife? How can that be? I'll send the blood over now!"

We could hear the sounds of chaotic footsteps and Sheldon giving orders to transfer the blood to the hospital echoing from the receiver. However, the sounds of footsteps disappeared soon, replaced by Madison's teary voice.

"Sheldon, I just received news from Harry. Beatrice isn't in General Hospital. The abductors want to extort more money from you, so they're lying to you to get you to leave. They want to take you too. Please don't go. I'm so scared."

Sheldon's voice immediately turned wary as he said, "I'll give you as much money as you want as long as you let Beatrice go unharmed as promised. If you hurt even a single strand of hair on her head, I won't let you off the hook."

"Mr. Jackson, I'm really calling from General Hospital! Your wife is—"

But the call disconnected before the doctor could finish his sentence. When he tried calling Sheldon again, he was met with the busy dial tone. It seemed that Sheldon had turned off his phone.

The doctor and nurses looked at me in confusion. Meanwhile, my heart had turned completely hollow. This was the third time that Sheldon had done this. My life was on the line, but he had refused to ask even a single question about my well-being.

The head nurse looked at me, her heart aching. Surprise suddenly flickered across her face as she touched mine. "Doesn't she look just like Commander Green's wife? Could she be the commander's long-lost daughter?"

She then brushed my hair aside and examined the birthmark behind my ear before excitedly calling the commander. "Commander Green, I think… we've found your daughter! That's right! She's in our hospital right now. She's in critical danger, and we urgently need your signature for the blood application."

Ten minutes later, a military helicopter descended and parked on the helipad on top of the hospital. With several top medical professionals accompanying him, the commander rushed into my ward. Fury burned in his eyes when he saw me lying on the hospital bed, looking like I already had one foot in the grave.

"Draw some of my blood first. Make sure my daughter survives no matter the cost!"

The chief surgeon removed his mask after the surgery was over. He looked pained as he spoke to the commander.

"Commander Green, we've stabilized her condition for now, but we were unable to save the twins. Her uterus was also severely damaged. It's likely that she'll never be able to give birth in the future.

"She'll also need to undergo skin grafting to treat the burns on her body. The treatment that she'll have to go through in the future will be extremely painful."

The commander was shaking all over from rage. His eyes were filled with regret and loathing as he gave his order. "Suppress all the news. Announce to the public that Beatrice Zorias, Sheldon Jackson's wife, is dead."

Meanwhile, Sheldon had carefully carried Madison back home. Her face was filled with happiness as she leaned against his chest, thankful that she had survived the abduction.

Sheldon also breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that he had managed to protect the last of Scott's bloodline. But his heart leaped into his throat again when he recalled that I had yet to come home safely. He was about to call Harry when his phone rang first. The screen displayed an unknown number.

He swiftly picked it up, only to hear the abductor's smug voice on the other end of the line. "The bitch is dead, Mr. Jackson! We've done you a huge service, so won't you give us more money to reward our hard work?"