Chapter 10
Dawn broke over Manhattan, painting the skyline in brilliant shades of rose and gold.
Julian and I stood outside the hospital’s main entrance on the quiet morning street. He wore a clean dark jacket, the bandage on his forehead hidden beneath his dark hair. A private car waited at the curb.
"Federal investigators will need my testimony in D.C. for the next few days," Julian said, looking down at me with an expression that made my pulse race. "Marcus's defense team is going to fight, but the evidence is ironclad."
"You risked everything," I said softly. "Your family name, your company, your freedom."
Julian smiled, reaching out to gently cup my cheek. "My family built an empire on lies, Mia. Losing it was the easiest choice I ever made. The only thing I cared about protecting was you."
He leaned in, and this time, the kiss was tender, lingering, filled with the promise of something new born out of the ashes of a nightmare.
"I'll be back Friday," he whispered against my lips. "Don't go hugging any more strangers on the sidewalk."
"Only you," I replied with a faint smile.
I watched his car pull away into the early morning traffic, feeling a profound sense of peace settle over my shoulders. For the first time in my life, I wondered if maybe, just maybe, destiny wasn't entirely a myth.
I turned back into the hospital and rode the elevator up to the fourth floor.
The ICU was quiet again, the forensic teams gone, the ward operating under temporary administration. I walked into Room 402.
The early sunlight poured across Sophia’s bed.
The ventilator was off. She was breathing entirely on her own. Her vitals were steady, her neurological markers improving by the hour.
I pulled a chair to the bedside, sat down, and took her small hand in mine.
"We did it, Soph," I whispered, smiling through fresh tears. "Martinez is gone. Marcus Vance is behind bars. You're safe. We're going to go home soon."
Suddenly, the fingers under mine twitched.
My breath hitched. "Sophia?"
Sophia’s eyelids fluttered, straining against the heavy sedation. Her knuckles tightened around my wrist with surprising, frantic force—claws digging into my skin.
Her eyes snapped open.
They weren't calm. They were wide, dilated, and screaming with pure, unadulterated terror.
"Sophia! It’s me, it’s Mia, you're safe—"
Sophia tried to sit up, coughing, tears spilling down her pale cheeks. She pulled me down toward her face, her nails sinking into my forearm, her lips trembling violently against my ear.
"Mia..." she choked out in a ragged, terrified whisper. "Julian..."
May you like
"Julian saved you, Soph. He helped me expose Marcus—"
"No..." Sophia gasped, her monitors spiking into red alert as her heart hammered against her chest. "Julian isn't Marcus's enemy... Julian *is* the board, Mia... He didn't come to stop the merger. He killed Marcus to take it all."
