All Chapters of The Accidental Surrogate's Secret: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Dorian’s POV“Please tell me you’ve gotten the location and find her.”“We found her,” he said.My breath hitched. “Where is she? Tell me now.”“She’s being kept in a private estate on the west side of the city. Near the old vineyard area. I’m about to send you the pin—”Before he could finish, I heard loud footsteps.The front door burst open.I turned around, already on edge, and saw her—the woman I never wanted to see again.My stepmother.And behind her, a group of men. Big. Uniformed. Armed like private security.My grip tightened on the phone.“You really have no limits, do you?” I snapped. “You break into my home now?”She smiled like it was nothing. “Oh, I came to take my son to his bride. You’re getting married, remember?”I stepped forward. “If you’re finally here to tell me where Candice is, then go ahead. Otherwise, get the hell out of my house.”She ignored me completely and turned to the bodyguards.“Take him,” she said coldly. “We don’t have time to waste. Alora is awak

Candice POVI didn’t know when I fell asleep again.These days, sleep just comes and goes. Sometimes I lie in bed for hours, staring at the ceiling, waiting for the tears to stop. Other times, I just cry myself to sleep before I even realize it.Tonight wasn’t any different.I had gone to bed after crying again. I tried not to cry, really. But it’s hard when the person you love disappears without a word. It’s even harder when you keep hoping they’ll come back—and every day they don’t, it breaks something else inside you.I curled up in bed, holding a pillow close to my chest like it could somehow comfort me.I missed him.I thought about his voice, his stupid smirk, the way he always looked annoyed at first but always softened when I looked at him long enough. I thought about the way he’d place a hand on my lower back protectively, or the way his eyes lit up when he looked at the ultrasound picture.He was the first person who made me feel seen… and now, he was gone.“Maybe he doesn’

Dorian POVI could barely recognize her.Candice looked like someone who hadn’t smiled in days. Her face was pale. Her eyes were sunken. There were dark circles under them, and her lips were dry and cracked.The nanny pulled me aside and whispered, “She barely eats. She barely sleeps. Some nights, she screams in her sleep like she’s seeing something horrible.”I just stood there, frozen.My heart ached. It ached so bad, I had to grip the wall beside me.“Why… why didn’t anyone tell me it got this bad?” I muttered under my breath, but I already knew the answer. It was my fault. All of it.I walked toward her bedroom door slowly, my legs feeling heavier with every step.I stood there for a second, unsure how to even begin.My hand rested on the wooden door. My forehead pressed against it.“Candice,” I whispered. My voice trembled, breaking. “It’s me.”No answer.“Please… please open the door. Just… let me see you. Talk to me. Yell at me. Just… say something. Anything.”Silence.I close

Dorian POVThe moment I got into the car, I slammed the door shut harder than I meant to.On the way to the hospital, my head was pounding. My body was still sore from all the running around. I grabbed my phone and called Logan—one of my most trusted men.“Logan,” I said, keeping my voice low. “I need surveillance footage from the main house. The night Candice was taken away.”There was a pause. “Sir… that system is protected by high-level encryption. Your stepmother had top hackers install firewalls. I’ll need time.”“How much time?” I asked sharply.“I’ll try within 48 hours. Maybe sooner if I can get past the second layer.”“Do whatever it takes,” I muttered. “I don’t care how much it costs.”As I hung up, my fingers were shaking slightly. I didn’t like being played like a fool—and I hated feeling like I was ten steps behind.When I finally arrived at the hospital. I stopped the car and jumped out of it. But nothing could have prepared me for the scene I walked into.The ward was

Dorian POVI turned around quickly and saw a nurse standing right behind me, holding a clipboard. I hadn’t even heard her approach.She gave me a polite but curious smile.“Um…” I cleared my throat, forcing a small smile onto my face. “Yeah. I was just about to,” I said quickly, pretending I wasn’t standing outside the door spying. I didn’t want her to get suspicious, so I gave a little nod, gently pushed open the door to Alora’s ward, and stepped inside like everything was fine.The moment I entered, the atmosphere changed.Alora was already lying on the bed again, covered neatly with a soft hospital blanket, her eyes closed like she had been sleeping this whole time. Her head was tilted slightly to the side. She looked calm, peaceful, like a fragile patient resting after some long, painful procedure.But I knew what I had seen.Just moments ago, she was wide awake. Holding her phone. Scrolling through something like she had no care in the world. Her face had been full of life.And