Lahat ng Kabanata ng His Wife, His weakness: Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

Julian was bleeding in Aria's arms when Alexander Sterling called him son—and the look on Alexander's face told her that the man who had raised Julian was terrified of the truth.“Julian! Open your eyes!”Aria pressed both hands against his chest, trying to stop the blood spreading beneath his shirt.His lips moved, but no sound came out.“Stay with me,” she begged. “You promised me we would face everything together. You don't get to break that promise now!”Julian's fingers weakly closed around her wrist.“Aria…”“I'm here.”His eyes struggled to focus on her face.“Don't… trust…”His grip loosened.“No!” She shook him gently. “Julian, look at me!”Another gunshot rang through the basement.Aria threw herself over Julian as Victor dragged Victoria behind the steel table.Alexander stood in the doorway with his weapon raised. Behind him, two armed men rushed into the room.“Take Victor alive!” Alexander ordered. “Kill anyone who tries to stop you!”Victor fired back.One of Alexander'

“Nathaniel is your son.”Alexander's words shattered the silence in the chapel.Aria stared at him, unable to breathe.Nathaniel.Her childhood sweetheart.The boy who had held her hand when she cried. The young man who had once promised to marry her. The man she had loved before Julian entered her life.The man everyone had told her was her brother.Now Alexander was claiming Nathaniel was her son.“No,” she whispered.Alexander kept his gun pointed toward Victor.“You need to understand what that means.”“Don't tell me what I need to understand!” Aria screamed. “Nathaniel is my age! He can't be my son!”“Not according to the records.”“Then the records are wrong!”“Perhaps.”She looked down at the photograph in her hand. Three newborn babies. Three names. One red bracelet.Julian.Aria.Marcus.And beneath the names, a message claiming that only two children were meant to leave the hospital alive.Her fingers trembled.“Where is Nathaniel?”Alexander's expression hardened.“I don't

The woman waiting outside Julian's hospital room had the face of a mother, the eyes of a stranger, and a secret that could destroy Aria's entire life.Aria stopped so suddenly that Julian nearly collided with her.The message glowed on his phone.ASK HER WHY SHE TRIED TO KILL HER OWN DAUGHTER.For several seconds, neither of them spoke.Then Julian grabbed his jacket.“We're going back to the hospital.”Aria caught his arm. “What if it's a trap?”“Then whoever set it has made a mistake.”“You're still recovering from a gunshot wound.”“And you're shaking so badly you can barely stand.”“I'm not—”Her voice broke.Julian looked at her hands.She was shaking.He gently closed his fingers around hers.“Listen to me. We don't believe the message. We don't believe the photograph. And we don't believe anyone just because they claim to be our mother.”“Our mothers,” Aria whispered.The word felt unfamiliar.For twenty-four years, she had believed she knew where she came from. Now every answe

The message said Julian had one hour to save his wife, but the photograph attached to it showed Aria lying in a coffin.For three seconds, Julian forgot how to breathe.He stared at the picture on his phone. Aria's eyes were closed, her hands folded over her chest, and a white cloth covered everything below her shoulders. Someone had placed a red bracelet around her wrist.The same number that had haunted every document, every hospital record, and every lie.Then another message arrived.COME ALONE. NO POLICE. NO SECURITY. IF YOU BRING ANYONE, SHE DIES.Julian's fingers tightened around the phone until his knuckles turned white.“Aria.”Her name left his mouth like a prayer.Behind him, the detective shouted instructions into his radio. Officers were searching the abandoned maternity wing, checking the corridors and the emergency exits.Julian barely heard them.He called Aria's number.It rang once.Then someone answered.“Hello, husband.”The voice was distorted, but Julian recogniz

The second bullet had barely stopped echoing when Thomas Vale’s blood spilled between Julian’s fingers.“NO!” Aria screamed.Thomas’s head rolled to one side. His eyes were open, but the man who had finally promised to explain her entire life was no longer looking at her.Above them, footsteps pounded away into the darkness.Alexander was escaping.Julian barely glanced toward the stairs. He pressed both hands against Thomas’s chest, trying to stop the bleeding, his face drained of color.“Stay with us,” Julian ordered. “Thomas, look at me!”Thomas’s lips moved.Aria dropped to her knees beside them. Her hands shook so badly that she could barely touch her father’s face.“Please,” she whispered. “You can't do this. You just found me.”Thomas’s fingers twitched against Julian’s wrist.Then his eyes rolled back.“Call an ambulance!” Aria screamed.“There’s no signal down here,” Julian snapped. He looked toward the stairs. “Aria, get my phone. Now!”She scrambled toward the fallen flashl