When Rowan woke up, the hospital room was crowded with people.
Xavier stood closest to the bed. The moment he saw Rowan stir, he immediately told the others to get the doctor.
Rowan’s eyelids felt impossibly heavy, like something was pressing
down on them with unbearable weight. His throat was raw, and his
lips moved slowly as he tried to speak.
Xavier leaned closer, barely catching the repeated whisper. “Joanna…
Joanna…”
His face stiffened.
For a moment, he didn’t know how to face Rowan now that he was
awake.
The doctor arrived soon after, and it didn’t take long for Rowan to
open his eyes fully.
His gaze went straight past the doctor. He seemed unfazed by the
pain running through his body, his eyes locked firmly on Xavier.
Xavier dropped his head and bit down on his lip. “Rowan, I’m sorry. We’ve searched everywhere. We even pulled in favors, traced
everything… but there’s still no sign of Joanna.
“It’s like she vanished into thin air.”
After all, there was no way a living, breathing person could just vanishi
Chapter 15
outside a prison gate. Unless someone had deliberately erased her
trail.
But in Eldorra, only a handful of people had the power to pull that off, and even fewer who could do it without their network catching wind
of it.
Still, Rowan refused to give up. He kept pushing his people to keep
searching.
Xavier didn’t want to leave him alone and insisted on staying behind to keep an eye on him. But Rowan threatened to take his own life if Xavier didn’t go help him find Joanna.
With no other choice, Xavier relented. He arranged for Calvin to stay posted outside Rowan’s room, giving strict orders to call at the first sign of anything unusual.
Calvin nodded seriously in agreement. But after everyone left, his
eyes turned cold as he glanced back at Rowan’s room.
He stepped away, pulled out his phone, and made a call.
Inside, Rowan was confined to a hospital bed, his leg fractured in the
crash.
He clutched his phone, eyes locked on it, waiting for updates from
Xavier.
Then the door burst open.
When he saw who it was, a chill settled in his eyes.
Hattie flinched under the weight of his glare.
Chapter 15
She stepped inside slowly, each stride heavy like walking across a
floor of nails. Her expression shifted erratically love twisted with.
resentment.
“Who told you I was here?” Rowan’s voice was sharp and demanding.
Hattie acted like she didn’t hear him.
She stopped at the edge of his bed and looked down at his injured
leg. Her eyes stayed fixed, unblinking.
After a long pause, she reached out and gently brushed her hand over
the cast.
She whispered, “Does it hurt, Rowan?”
Rowan’s expression was grim, terrifying even. At that moment, he
couldn’t stand the sight of Hattie.
If it hadn’t been for her, Joanna would never have left him.
Hattie’s face darkened when he didn’t respond. Without warning, she
clenched her hand into a fist and slammed it hard against his injured
leg.
“Ah!” Rowan cried out in pain.
The lingering affection in Hattie’s eyes twisted into blazing hatred.
“I asked you, does it hurt?”
Rowan’s eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging across his temple. If he had the strength, he would have gotten up and thrown her out himself.
But he was in so much pain he couldn’t even move, completely helpless as Hattie took her anger out on him.
Seeing that he couldn’t fight back, a slow smile curled across Hattie’s lips, and she let out a low laugh.
But the smile only lasted a moment before her face turned grim again.
“Rowan, do you have any idea how much I love you? You’ve long
stopped caring about Joanna. Why can’t you just be with me?
“We’re already legally married. I’m carrying your child. Why can’t I be your woman openly?”
Every muscle in Rowan’s body trembled, the pain so intense it felt like his entire frame was being torn apart. Sweat dripped steadily from his forehead, soaking into the collar of his hospital gown.
His jaw clenched tightly as he glared at her with pure hatred.
He retorted, “Hattie, you were nothing more than a fling. The only
woman I’ve ever loved is Joanna.
“So what if we got a marriage certificate? I can tear it up any time. You think I care about that worthless piece of paper?”
Her breath caught. The words hit her like a slap.
She clutched her head and let out a high, broken scream. The sound was shrill enough to make the walls shake. “No! That’s not true. You love me, not her!
“If you really loved her, why didn’t you ever give her a real title? Why
didn’t you marry her?”
Then her laughter burst out, manic and broken.
“Oh, right, Rowan. You say you love her, but who would believe that? Joanna? If she believed you, she wouldn’t have left.
“She left you, Rowan! She’s never coming back, not in this lifetime!”
