A soft groan escaped from the circular bed draped in deep crimson curtains. On the dark silk coverlet lay a beautiful woman in a white silk gown. Her eyelids fluttered several times before she slowly opened her eyes with a low moan. Her eyes held traces of confusion.As consciousness returned, Marisol felt a splitting pain in her head. She struggled to make sense of her surroundings. She remained still for a moment, letting the fog clear from her mind.Where was she? This certainly wasn't a hospital room. Then the memory struck her with sudden clarity: someone had attacked her.The realization jolted her fully awake.She sat up quickly, scanning her surroundings, but the deep red curtains hanging to the floor blocked her view of whatever lay beyond. Had Emilia's enemies brought her here? The whole situation baffled her. How could they have moved so quickly? She'd only just arrived abroad and thought she'd taken proper precautions. None of it made sense.More pressing questions c
Ever since Marisol got tangled up with the Muller family, nothing good had happened to her! The more Alinta thought about it, the angrier she became.If anything happened to Marisol, she'd make sure the Muller family, Lucian, and that witch, Nevaeh, all paid for it!"At least now we have a clear direction."Silvia exhaled deeply and immediately made phone calls, methodically redefining the search parameters and directing the teams to continue their investigation.…Back home in Everton, Lucian's expression was dark as he hung up the phone and spoke to Zayne, who had been reporting on work matters at his desk."Arrange for a private jet. I'm leaving the country immediately."Having overheard the phone conversation, Zayne asked no questions but left with a grave expression. Once he was alone, Lucian called Keane and got straight to the point."Dad, I need to be away for a while. Take over company operations.""What's happened?""She's gone abroad."There were rustling sounds o
"We went over this yesterday!" Alinta snapped. "How many times do I have to say it? The target is Marisol!""But Ms. Gardner, you said Ms. Marisol has no enemies here, and I still don't believe Nevaeh could pull off something like this." Silvia paused. "Are you absolutely certain Ms. Marisol has no enemies abroad?""I'm certain!" Alinta was adamant, though she felt exhausted by the circular argument.Standing here bickering without any real solutions while they waited for news from the search teams was pushing her to her breaking point. Not wanting to continue arguing with Silvia, she turned to leave, but heard the woman speak again from behind her."What about the Muller family?"Alinta froze. She slowly turned back to face Silvia. "What did you say?""I said the Muller family." Silvia frowned thoughtfully as she worked through her reasoning."I can't make sense of it otherwise. If Ms. Marisol has no enemies abroad, and they weren't targeting Ms. Emilia, then the only other con
"You said this was foolproof! We just arrived here yesterday, and she's already gone. She disappeared from what you called the 'heavily secured' top floor of the hospital, and now you're telling me you don't know what happened? Are you kidding me?"In the corridor on the hospital's top floor, Alinta glared at Silvia. Her voice was rising with fury.No one could understand the shock she felt when, after just arriving at Emilia's residence with Orion and barely managing to fall asleep, she received a phone call in the middle of the night telling her that Marisol had vanished.This was only their first night here. Who could move that fast?This supposedly impenetrable top floor that Silvia had been so confident about was 20-plus stories high! Had someone really scaled the building to kidnap her? Was the person some kind of superhero?This had to be some kind of joke! She was starting to have serious doubts about Silvia herself."Ms. Gardner, all the hospital's surveillance systems w
"Please don't stay asleep. Look at me."Even knowing that Emilia couldn't hear her, Marisol couldn't stop herself from repeating the same words over and over. Her voice broke into fragmented sobs as she neared complete collapse. Her legs gave way, and she slowly sank to her knees beside the bed.Through the cold, sterile gown, she gently grasped Emilia's aged, wrinkled hand, but the protective barrier kept her from feeling the familiar warmth and texture of her skin. All she could sense was the strange, cold separation of the medical fabric between them.The dam finally burst. Marisol knelt on the floor, crying silently. Her tears were so overwhelming that her vision blurred and her breathing became labored. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she struggled for air.The doctor who was monitoring them from outside immediately noticed something was wrong. He quickly put on a sterile gown, entered the room, and guided her out. After helping her remove the gown, he spoke urgently, instr
Silvia was staying at the hospital and couldn't come to meet them."How's Great-aunt Emilia doing?" This was what worried Marisol most."She's out of surgery now, but she's still unconscious and her condition isn't stable yet. The doctors need to keep monitoring her. They said that she should be fine as long as she wakes up.""How long before she wakes up?" Marisol asked urgently.Silvia shook her head. "It's hard to say. Could be a few days, could be half a month, a month, or possibly... Well, there's just no way to know for certain."Hearing this, Marisol's chest, which had just begun to relax, tightened again. Alinta, who was sitting beside her, patted her unconsciously clenched hand reassuringly."Don't worry. We're talking about Emilia here. That woman's a force of nature."What challenge hasn't she overcome? Good people have guardian angels, and the surgery was successful, so she'll definitely be okay!"Marisol could only manage a weak smile in response. Orion hadn't slep