Chapter 4: Evil...

Jane’s POV

The sound of shattering glass echoed through the room. I didn’t even care. The vase hit the marble wall and exploded into pieces, scattering across the floor like my patience. My left hand trembled slightly as I gripped my phone tighter against my ear.

“How the hell did he wake up?” I screamed, my voice shaking with anger.

“I—I don’t know, Ma Jane,” came the nurse’s stammering voice from the other end. “I administered the drug, just like you instructed. In fact, I gave double dosage. There was no possibility—no medical possibility—of him waking up.”

“Don’t you dare give me excuses!” I barked, pacing the length of my room. “He wasn’t supposed to wake up!”

“Ma’am, I swear, I don’t understand how this happened. Maybe a miracle or—”

I cut her off sharply, my tone dropping low and cold. “If this secret ever gets out… if our plan ever fails…” I paused, glaring at nothing, pointing at the air as though she could see me. “I swear, I won’t go down alone. You’ll go down with me. Every last one of you.”

A nervous gulp sounded on the other end. “You don’t have to worry about that, ma’am. The doctor confirmed he has amnesia. He doesn’t remember anything—not who he is, not what happened, nothing. Our secret is safe… for now.”

My lips pressed into a thin, angry line. “It better be,” I said through clenched teeth, and ended the call with a hard tap.

I threw the phone onto the couch and rubbed my temples, trying to steady my breathing. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Everything had been carefully planned. Every single move. Every single dose. Every single lie.

And now, he’s awake.

I let out a sharp sigh and dropped into the nearest chair. “Damn it,” I muttered under my breath.

The door suddenly flew open. “Mom! What happened? I heard something break,” my daughter, Amber, rushed in, her heels clicking sharply against the floor. Her perfectly styled hair bounced as she stopped beside me, concern mixed with curiosity in her wide eyes.

I glanced up at her. “Eli is awake.”

She blinked. “Which Eli?”

I gave her a look. “Your stepbrother.”

Her mouth fell open. “Wait—you mean that Eli?” She gasped and took a step back, her hand flying to her chest. “No. No. No, this can’t be happening.”

“It is,” I said, crossing my arms. “But calm down. The nurse said he has amnesia. He doesn’t remember a thing. For now, we’re safe.”

Amber began pacing the floor. “You said the same thing last time, Mom. You promised he’d never wake up. If he remembers anything—anything at all—we’re finished. You know Dad—”

“Enough!” I snapped, standing. My voice echoed through the room, silencing her instantly. “Do you think I don’t know that? You think I haven’t spent sleepless nights covering every trace of what we did?”

Amber swallowed hard. “So what do we do now?”

I exhaled slowly, lowering my tone. “We do what we’ve always done. We stay calm. We play our roles. We act like the perfect, grieving family who prayed for his recovery. If he doesn’t remember, then he’ll believe whatever we tell him.”

Amber looked doubtful. “And if he does remember?”

I looked her dead in the eyes. “Then he won’t live long enough to talk about it.”

I could see fear flickering in her expression, but she quickly masked it with a shaky smile.

Amber groaned. “Great. Just great. I can’t deal with another round of fake sympathy interviews.”

“You’ll deal with whatever comes,” I snapped. “And you’ll smile while doing it.”

She frowned. “I hate him, you know.”

“I know,” I replied, my tone sharp. “But keep that hate locked inside. Right now, he’s not our enemy—he’s our opportunity. If he has no memory, then we can shape his version of the truth.”

Amber tilted her head, her expression darkening. “Meaning?”

“Meaning,” I said, leaning forward, “we control what he remembers. We feed him the story we want. And if he ever starts to question it…” I paused, a sinister smile curling on my lips. “Then we make sure he doesn’t question it again.”

Amber shivered. “You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”

“I didn’t go this far just to lose everything now,” I said firmly. “I built this life. I’m not letting him destroy it.”

For a moment, neither of us spoke. The ticking of the wall clock seemed louder than usual, filling the tense silence between us.

“Eli,” I muttered under my breath, “you should have stayed asleep. Waking up was your biggest mistake.”

~~~~~~~ Eli’s POV~~~~~~

I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh when the realization hit me, I was the heir to my dream company.

Of all the bizarre things that could happen after waking up in another body, this one topped the list.

I mean… Apex Holdings? That Apex Holdings? The company I’d admired for years, the one I dreamed of working for someday — and now, it turns out I’m part of it?

I leaned back slightly on the hospital bed, my heart thumping with disbelief. I rubbed the back of my neck and tried to calm down, but my thoughts were racing too fast.

if I was really part of the Pendragon family — then that meant…

“Oh, crap,” I muttered softly. “The accident.”

The realization dawned on me like a slow sunrise.

Of course. I’d read about this family before — in magazines, on business blogs, in news headlines that painted them as powerful and untouchable. The wife and son of Nathan Pendragon, CEO and founder of Apex Holdings, had been in a fatal accident. The wife died instantly. The son fell into a coma.

And now I was in that son’s body.

Everything suddenly made more sense. That man… that cold, legendary CEO everyone called ruthless, he was now my father.

I swallowed hard, the reality slowly settling in.

Nathan Pendragon’s story was one I’d followed for years. He was the kind of man who rose from nothing and built an empire with his bare hands. He’d grown up poor, dirt poor but graduated top of his class from a prestigious university.

Every other top company tried to hire him, but instead of working for them, he built his own small business from scratch.

Back then, Apex Holdings was just a one-room office with one employee and a secondhand computer. But through grit, determination, and the support of his wife, it became the biggest company in the country — an empire worth billions.

People who once mocked him now begged to work under him.

His wife had come from an elite family, the kind that measured love in bank accounts. They never supported her marriage to him — he was too poor, too unworthy — but she defied them and stayed. Together, they built everything. Four children, a legacy, and a life that seemed like a fairytale… until tragedy struck.

Her death had broken him. The media said he’d changed overnight. From a warm, visionary businessman into a silent, cold shadow of himself. He refused interviews, stopped attending charity events, and withdrew from public life. People whispered that he had no heart left.

But when I saw him earlier… I saw something else.

The way his eyes trembled, the way his voice cracked — that wasn’t the cold-hearted man the media described. That was a father who had just gotten his son back.

And that son… was me.

I sighed deeply, dragging a hand through my messy hair. “This is insane,” I muttered. “Absolutely insane.”

The sound of the door opening made me look up.

Nathan Pendragon stepped inside, tall and composed in a black suit. His presence filled the room instantly — confident, dignified, intimidating. Even sitting there in a hospital bed, I felt like I should stand up and bow.

But what caught my attention next was the man walking beside him.

For a second, I thought I was seeing double. The man looked exactly like Nathan, only younger. Same sharp jawline, same piercing eyes, same air of quiet power.

Nathan stopped beside my bed, and the younger man smiled warmly at me.

“My name is Andy,” he said in a calm, reassuring tone. “I’m your eldest brother.”

He reached out and gently patted my shoulder. His touch was surprisingly kind.

I blinked, staring at him. “You… you’re Andy Pendragon?” I asked

He chuckled and nodded. Andy smiled again. “Don’t worry. You don’t need to remember everything right away. It’s been… a long time.”

I nodded slowly, pretending to be calm even though my mind was screaming.

Andy pulled a chair closer and sat beside me. “Your sister, Golden, is out of the country at the moment. She wanted to be here, but she’ll probably fly back as soon as she hears the news.”

I nodded again, trying to keep my responses simple.

“And your other brother, Kyle,” Andy continued, “he’ll come visit soon too. The family’s been waiting for this day for a long time.”

He reached out to ruffle my hair gently, his smile sincere. “We’re just glad you’re awake, Eli.”

I forced a small smile. “Yeah… me too.”

Nathan hadn’t said a word the whole time. He just stood there, his eyes fixed on me — intense, unreadable.

Finally, he spoke. “Do you feel any pain?”

His voice was low and firm, but there was a faint tremor in it.

I shook my head. “No. but, I feel.... weak.”

He nodded slowly. “The doctors said you’ll need rest. We’ll handle everything else. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

Something about the way he said that made my chest tighten. He sounded like a man who’d spent years blaming himself.