Chapter 2 The Unexpected

Vanessa and I had naever been close, not even when we were children.

After our parents died, the heavy burden of keeping us afloat fell entirely on my shoulders.

I was barely old enough to understand what losing our family truly meant, yet I had to learn to cook, manage our limited finances, and make decisions that should never have fallen on the shoulders of a young girl. All while trying to ensure my little sister never felt the crushing weight of our orphaned reality.

Somehow, despite every sacrifice I'd made, Vanessa grew up believing I was the architect of her misery.

Perhaps I had been too rigid. Or perhaps she simply needed someone to blame for the cruel hand fate had dealt us both.

Whatever the reason, our relationship deteriorated over the years until conversations curdled into arguments, affection became an entirely foreign concept, and spending an entire evening in the same room felt like an impossible chore.

Eventually, she left.

Vanessa would disappear for weeks or even months without a word of warning, only to reappear out of nowhere whenever she needed something. Although I'd long since stopped asking where she went or who she kept company with, the anxiety never quite left me. I never stopped worrying about her.

Her latest disappearance had lasted several months before she suddenly blew back into my life a few days ago, looking suspiciously healthy.

We had barely exchanged a dozen words before she disappeared again.

And now? She was lying in a hospital bed, having narrowly escaped death in a serious accident, while I prepared to drop everything and rush to her side.

I suppose some pathological habits are simply impossible to break.

My phone rang just as my fingers curled around my car keys. Daniel's name lit up the screen.

“Sweetheart, please tell me you're still at home,” he urged the moment I answered, his voice thick with the unmistakable strain of a man drowning in stress.

“I was just walking out the door to head to the hospital,” I replied, checking the time. “The night nurse called to say Vanessa is awake, and I want to check on her before morning rounds.”

There was a pause on the other end before Daniel exhaled a ragged breath.

“Darling, I need you to help me with something first,” he pleaded. Even through the speaker, I could hear the desperation creeping into his voice.

I leaned back against the hallway wall, feeling a sickeningly familiar knot of guilt twist in my stomach.

“What happened?” I asked, tightening my grip on the phone.

“Graves Corps is about to make its big public identity reveal,” he explained rapidly, his words tumbling over one another. “Nobody has ever known who owns that empire, and if they reveal their identity before we finalise our expansion blueprint, we're going to get crushed in the market overnight.”

I frowned, trying to quiet my racing thoughts.

For years, Graves Corps had loomed over Daniel's company like an unscalable monolith. It dominated the sector, while its leadership remained an absolute mystery. Naturally, the entire corporate world was in a frenzy.

“Daniel, you've spent months building this expansion proposal,” I reminded him gently. “Are you certain rushing the final audit before dawn is wise?”

“I know, sweetheart, but we don't have the luxury of time,” he pressed, his voice rising slightly. “You're the only person whose judgment I trust. I need you to find the blind spots and make this work before our competitors catch wind of it.”

I closed my eyes, a sharp pang of longing pulling me towards my sister's hospital bed.

Part of me wanted to scream—to remind him that I was physically exhausted, that I'd barely recovered from passing out just twenty-four hours ago.

Instead, my mind drifted to Daniel's anxious face and the endless nights he'd poured into building his legacy.

“I really need to see Vanessa,” I admitted, my voice dropping to a fragile whisper.

“I understand, darling. The moment I wrap things up at the office, I'll meet you at the hospital and stay by your side,” he promised instantly, his tone softening into persuasion. “Please. Just look over these final files for me first. I wouldn't ask if it weren't an emergency.”

He let out a soft, shuddering sigh.

“Please, Elena,” he murmured, the vulnerability in his voice shattering the last of my resolve. “I need you.”

I swallowed hard, staring blankly at the front door before slowly turning back.

“Fine,” I conceded, defeat heavy on my tongue. “I'll comb through the files tonight. But you have to promise me you'll come to the hospital the moment you're free.”

“I promise, sweetheart,” he murmured warmly. “Thank you. I knew I could always count on you.”

The line clicked dead.

I stood motionless in the silence of the hallway, wondering precisely when my life had transformed into a service station where everyone else pulled in to get fixed.

Then I shoved the thought aside, squared my shoulders, and returned to the desk.

By the time the first grey streaks of dawn began bleeding through the window blinds, my eyes burned, gritty and dry from hours of staring at numbers.

But as I cross-checked the figures repeatedly, a realization suddenly struck me.

An overlooked plot of land.

If Daniel's company secured the deed now, it could earn them millions.

How had nobody noticed this?

“Daniel is going to lose his mind over this,” I murmured, a fresh wave of adrenaline chasing away my fatigue.

I scrambled to gather the documents, sliding them into a folder before hurrying out to my car.

By the time I pulled into the hospital parking lot, however, the adrenaline crash hit me like a physical blow. My limbs felt like lead, a reminder that driving in my current condition was wildly irresponsible.

But this hospital was my second home, and as one of its senior attending physicians, I navigated the corridors on autopilot, keeping the folder clutched tightly against my chest.

I was barely fifty feet from Vanessa's private recovery ward when my pace slowed to a crawl.

Exhaustion was turning my joints to jelly. I stopped beside the doorframe, bracing one palm against the wall as I closed my eyes to steady my breathing.

Then after, I'd walk in, check on my sister, find Daniel, and hand over the breakthrough.

Before I could push away from the wall, a strange sound slipped through the door.

A soft gasp and I froze, my brow furrowing in confusion.

“Oh, baby...”

Another intimate sound followed.

Stepping forward on silent feet, I edged closer to the door, my fingers tightening around the folder. Then I leaned towards the glass observation window.

At first, my sleep-deprived brain refused to process the figures inside.

Then reality slammed into me with the force of a freight train, and the world simply stopped spinning.

Vanessa was sitting upright against the propped-up pillows, her hands buried in a man's hair as she kissed him with an intimacy that left no room for doubt, interpretation, or excuses.

And the man holding her—his hands locked firmly around her waist, his lips moving against hers with desperate familiarity—was my husband..