Chapter Four - The Corridor Trap

POV: Freya

The rhythmic hiss of the ventilator inside Room 412 was the only sound keeping me anchored to reality. I leaned my forehead against the cold glass window, staring at my mother’s frail body.

"I tried to delay the administrative flag, Freya," Dr. Shaw said softly from behind me, her voice heavy with genuine sympathy. "But the billing directive came directly from the top. Silas didn't just cancel the existing medical account, he put an ironclad block on her file. The automated system will legally force us to disconnect her life support in exactly one month from now unless the surgery deposit is cleared."

"Fifty thousand credits," I whispered. "Where am I going to get that amount of money? He practically just wants to kill my mother."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find a way," Dr. Shaw said quietly, placing a hand on my shoulder before walking back down the intensive care ward.

A cold numbness settled deep into my bones. The four years I had spent loving Silas, giving him my youth, and using my scent-calming lineage to soothe his aggressive moods meant absolutely nothing. To him, my mother’s life was just a bargaining chip. A weapon to force me into that downtown penthouse as his dirty secret.

Suddenly, the heavy double doors of the intensive care unit swung open. Loud, arrogant laughter shattered the somber quiet of the hallway.

My stomach violently turned. I knew that laughter.

Silas marched down the corridor, looking flawlessly handsome and entirely unbothered in a designer leather jacket. Flanking him were three of his high-status fraternity wolf friends I always hated, all of them top-tier pack warriors who treated anyone below their bloodline rank like dirt.

"Look at that," one of his friends, a massive brute named Brandon, smirked, pointing a finger at me. "The little stray didn't even change out of her stained dress from last night. Guess she didn't sleep at home."

The three of them instantly fanned out, their massive, athletic frames boxing me in against the glass window of my mother’s room. They blocked the exit to the elevators, their heavy alpha scents and making the air thick and suffocating.

Silas stepped into the center of the trap, looking down at my pale face with a smug, entitled satisfaction.

"You look tired, Frey," he said, his voice dropping into that smooth, patronizing cadence I used to mistake for affection. "The doctors told me she collapsed. Terrible timing, isn't it?"

"Get your dogs away from me, Silas," I hissed, my knuckles turning white as I clenched my fists at my sides. "And get out of this hospital."

"This hospital is funded by the Ravenscroft Foundation, sweet heart," Brandon taunted, leaning his heavy shoulder against the wall right next to my head. "Technically, you're the one trespassing on our territory."

Silas raised a hand, casually silencing his friend, though the arrogant smirk on his lips never faded. "I told you what would happen if you let your pride get the better of you, Freya. You spit in my face backstage, threw my ring at me, and walked out. This is what the real world looks like when you don't have a Ravenscroft protecting you."

He stepped closer, his hand reaching out to catch a strand of my wild hair. I violently snapped my head back, avoiding his touch, my eyes burning with pure hatred.

His eyes flashed a dangerous amber at the rejection, but he kept his voice low. "The surgery deposit is fifty thousand. You have less than a month before they pull the plug on her. Now, I’m a generous man, Frey. I still care about you. The penthouse downtown is ready. The keys are in my pocket. All you have to do is drop this pathetic pride, get on your knees, and apologize for the scene you made last night. Do that, and I’ll sign the financial override right now."

He was dangling my mother's life over my head like meat, expecting me to willingly mutilate my own dignity just to become his hidden side-piece.

"I would rather rot in hell," I choked out, the words vibrating with a venom so pure it actually made his friends stop laughing. I stared straight into his selfish eyes. "I will never touch you again. If my mother dies, her blood is on your hands, and I will spend the rest of my life making sure you pay for it."

Silas’s jaw clenched so hard a muscle violently ticked under his skin. The smooth, charming boyfriend mask completely slipped, revealing the cruel predator beneath.

"Then watch her die," Silas spat, turning on his heel. "Let's go, boys. Let the charity case see how far her big mouth gets her without my money."

They laughed again, shoving past the ward doors and leaving me entirely alone in the corridor. My knees finally gave out. I slid down the glass window, burying my face in my hands as dry, agonizing sobs tore through my chest. I was trapped. I had no options left.

"Freya!"

Heavy, frantic footsteps echoed down the hall. I looked up to see Talia running toward me, her face flushed and out of breath. She took one look at my crumpled form on the floor and immediately dropped to her knees, pulling me into a embrace.

"I saw Silas and his trash friends leaving the lobby," Talia hissed, her eyes burning with protective fury. "What did that monster do?"

"He blacklisted her, Talia," I gasped out, gripping her jacket like a lifeline. "He canceled the surgery. If I don't find fifty thousand credits in a month's time, they're turning off the machines."

Talia pulled back, her hands gripping my shoulders tightly. She swallowed hard, a look of intense, desperate determination crossing her face. She reached into her purse and pulled out a document.

"Listen to me carefully, Frey. I’ve been calling everyone I know since this morning when Dr Helen called. My cousin works in human resources at headquarters downtown. A top-tier executive secretary position just opened up on the absolute highest floor of Ravenscroft Holdings. It completely bypasses standard HR channels because the previous secretary vanished overnight."

I blinked through my tears, looking at the document. "Ravenscroft Holdings? Talia, Silas will just have me fired the second I walk through the door..."

"No, he won't," Talia interrupted, her voice dropping into a fierce whisper. "Because this position isn't for Silas’s department. It’s for the supreme executive suite. The salary is massive, though it still won't be enough but we have to start somewhere."

She thrust the interview slip into my trembling hands.

"It’s high-stakes, Freya. The wolves on that floor are the ones who run the entire pack empire from the shadows. But it’s the only way to start earning money quickly. You have an interview at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

I looked down at the paper, my heart hammering against my ribs. It was dangerous territory. It meant walking straight into the belly of the beast that had just ruined me.

But as I looked back up at the mechanical ventilator keeping my mother alive, my heart completely hardened. Silas thought he had destroyed me. He thought he had left me powerless.

I wiped the tears from my face, my eyes turning cold and sharp.

"Give me the paper," I said, my voice steadying. "I'll do it.”