LOGINRex shouted, "Jenna! What are you doing?!" His eyes grew heavy, and his face turned stormy.
The man spoke in a chilly tone.
'He arrived in a hurry. Was he perturbed that I would harm Alice?' Jenna pondered.
Alice pouted and appeared anxious. She covered her cheek and looked behind Jenna as her eyes filled with tears at the crack of dawn. "I didn't do anything, Jenna. You misunderstood me." she protested loudly.
'Is Jenna insane? How could she strike me in Rex's presence?'
Jenna grinned. Stop acting; I know it was you.
Jenna approached Alice with a piercing, hard stare as she pulled a printed image of Rex from her bag and threw it in their direction.
Rex was startled and perplexed as he stared at the picture. Alice's face similarly darkened and became paler at once.
He had a long day yesterday and fell asleep briefly when visiting Alice in the hospital. It was evident that this photo was taken in secret at that time.
Alice Florence was the only other person in the room.
Rex was aware of who took the photo. Alice intended to use this image to enrage Jenna, but she had no idea she would end up shooting herself.
How did Alice continue to project the picture of a pathetic, weak woman?
There used to be a time when Jenna would still support Rex and put up with Alice, but that is no longer necessary.
Jenna's voice was startlingly icy, yet she grinned indifferently. "I told you that I'm here to settle debts. This is what you owe me. Alice Florence, you're the one who's a home wrecker in this case. Are you satisfied now? I wish you the best of luck in taking my place as Mrs. Hidalgo."
Rex guessed how Jenna obtained this photo without having to think too hard. Suddenly, he experienced some suffocation. His face had a complicated, chilly expression.
Rex glanced at Alice's pale, sickly face with a countenance that was still as chilly as ever.
Alice's heart began to race. She stepped in to defend herself. I didn't do anything or take this image, Rex, so Jenna must have misinterpreted something. She probably hired someone to take it so she could frame me.
As Alice yanked on his sleeve and wailed pitifully, Rex scowled briefly. Rex, I can make amends to Jenna, and if her giving me blood damages your relationship, I won't ask Jenna for blood again. I vow by Jake's name that I do not know about the picture.
Rex's eyes flittered when he heard the word "Jake," remembering his closest friend's last wish. Rex's grim expression began to lighten a little. Do you need a doctor to check it out? Jenna shouldn't have slapped you earlier because she was furious.
Alice shook her head while covering the side of her cheek that felt numb from Jenna's slap. "It's alright."
As Rex nodded and turned to face her, Jenna was standing to the side. Her lips were mockingly curved up, and she had a stern expression. Rex had an odd feeling when he saw her that way.
"You wanted a divorce because of this? Never mind, get your blood drawn first." Rex wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but there needed to be a better setting.
In comparison to Alice's health, a trivial photo had no significance. Given that there were still outsiders in the ward, Rex intended to explain the picture to Jenna after that.
As she realized she had gotten away with it, Alice felt relieved. 'Rex still chooses me. Jenna failed once more.'
Jenna had long anticipated this result. Jenna was unconcerned about exposing Alice because she was adept at acting. She had lost interest in being associated with them. "Are you certain that she needs a blood transfusion?" Jenna calmly questioned the physician as she turned to face him from the side.
The doctor briefly went into shock. Under Rex's watchful eye, he nodded in panic when he felt Alice's glare. "Yes, Ms. Florence experienced a major blood loss in her legs just now, necessitating a blood transfusion."
Rex asked sternly, "So what are you waiting for?"
The doctor swiftly made preparations after responding, "yes, sir."
Alice smiled smugly at Jenna from a side that no one else could see.
"Wait."
Jenna did not follow the doctor out of obedience. Instead, she moved quickly and domineeringly forward, lifting Alice's quilt.
The applause outside the boardroom had not yet faded when Jenna closed the door behind her.Glass muted the noise of the world—reporters shouting her name, shareholders scrambling for statements, analysts already rewriting forecasts—but inside, the air was sharp with something far more dangerous than celebration.Resistance.Jenna retook the head seat, this time alone.The chair had remained empty for months, a symbolic void that committees and interim executives had carefully circled without ever truly filling. Now, as she settled into it, the room seemed to tighten around her presence. Some directors straightened unconsciously. Others stiffened, eyes flickering with calculation, resentment, or fear.Rex was not there.That absence was deliberate.As a former spouse and CEO of a separate corporate empire, Rex had no legal standing within Anderson Holdings. No matter how much blood he had spilled to bring her back alive, the boardroom remained governed by charters, optics, and legacy.
The first thing Jenna remembered after the island was the smell of antiseptic.It clung to everything—her skin, her hair, the air she breathed—so different from salt, smoke, blood, and rot. The hospital ceiling above her was blinding white, too clean, too quiet. For a long moment, she lay still, half-expecting to hear drums or the hiss of the jungle answering her breath.Instead, she heard voices.Low. Familiar. Breaking.“Easy,” a nurse murmured as Jenna stirred. “You’re safe. You’re back.”Back.The word settled slowly.Her father stood at the foot of the bed, hands gripping the railing as if it were the only thing keeping him upright. Gino paced near the window, his usually sharp composure fractured, while Kelvin stood frozen beside him, eyes rimmed red, jaw clenched hard enough to ache.Melvin hovered closer, fingers twitching like he wanted to reach for her but was afraid she might vanish if he did.“You scared us,” Gino said, voice rough. “Do you have any idea what you put us th
The rotors cut through dawn like a verdict.Jenna woke to motion.Not the violent, tearing movement of the jungle—but something steadier, mechanical. A vibration that thrummed through her bones and pulled her back from darkness inch by inch. Her eyelids fluttered open to blinding white, then blue, then the hard metallic gray of a rescue helicopter’s interior.For a moment, she didn’t know where she was.Then memory rushed back in a flood so sharp it stole her breath—drums, fire, blood, Rex’s arms locking around her like iron, the jungle screaming as if alive. She sucked in air and winced.Pain bloomed across her sho
The drums shattered the moment.Reality crashed back in with brutal force.Rex surged forward.He didn’t hesitate. Didn’t slow. Didn’t care that spears still cut through the air or that shadows leapt between the trees. He moved like a storm given flesh, carving a path straight toward her.Another hunter charged from the left.Rex turned and fired once at point-blank range. The body slammed backward into the brush. He didn’t look. He didn’t register the recoil. His entire world had narrowed into one blood‑streaked figure struggling to stay upright in the clearing.Jenna.“Cover her!” Rex roared.His men spread instantly, weapons raised, forming a moving wall of gunfire and muscle. The jungle screamed again—this time with dying voices.Jenna barely registered any of it.The ground tilted violently beneath her feet. The pain in her shoulder pulsed hot and wet, her strength draining with ev
The jungle screamed.Not with voices—at first—but with sound so violent it rattled Jenna’s bones. A thunderous crack split the air somewhere to the north, followed by another, sharper blast that sent birds exploding from the canopy in a frantic black cloud. The ground shuddered beneath their feet.David spun instantly, knife up, eyes blazing with alarm. “That’s not them hunting,” he muttered. “That’s war.”Steeve flinched against Jenna’s shoulder, pain carving his face into something hollow and gray. “Another tribe?” he rasped. “There are more of them?”Jenna’s heart slammed violently against her ribs. The child in her arms whimpered, clutching her shirt tighter as if he could crawl inside her chest for safety. Every instinct screamed that the jungle was closing, that the island itself was turning hostile.Another explosion tore through the trees—closer this time.
The drums Rex heard on the shoreline never reached Jenna’s ears—but the echo of pursuit did.It lived in the way the jungle breathed too loudly, leaves shuddering long after no wind passed. It lived in the way David stopped abruptly every few minutes, head tilted, listening not for sound but for absence. It lived in the way Steeve’s footsteps began to drag, each step heavier than the last, as though the earth itself were pulling him down.They had been running for hours.Or maybe days.Time lost all meaning the moment the cages opened, and chaos tore through the village. Since then, everything blurred into movement and pain and fear stitched together by adrenaline.Steeve stumbled again.Jenna caught his arm just before he collapsed fully, his weight crashing into her shoulder. The impact drove a sharp cry from her throat. Pain flared through her ribs—still bruised from the capture—but she locked her knees and held.&l







