Chapter 2

Anna's POV

Julian's smile froze. He reached for my arm.

"Do you think this is some kind of joke? I've gone to all this trouble, and now you're telling me you want to back out? Get back inside. Right now."

His hand stopped in midair, never quite touching me. I instinctively shrank back into the shadow of the doorframe, watching his fingers curl before he slowly withdrew his hand.

"Julian, I think I'm just too nervous. I keep feeling like I need to use the bathroom, and my stomach hurts. I have to change clothes again anyway. Let me go to the bathroom first. Maybe that'll help me calm down."

I lowered my voice, letting it tremble as tears welled in my eyes.

Julian stared at me. Behind his gold-rimmed glasses, I could almost see his mind working through the numbers.

He was calculating the assets, the trust, the authorization documents, the land east of the city, and the valuation that would increase tenfold after the city council hearing three months from now. He was also thinking about how all of it could make him one of the city's wealthiest men overnight.

I was the key to everything.

A rusted, bent key that was trying to escape. But as long as it could still unlock the door to his fortune, he wouldn't throw it away.

He frowned.

"Fine. Go. I'll wait."

He waved over a nurse to escort me to the bathroom, apparently satisfied with that arrangement.

The moment I was out of sight, I slipped through the bathroom's side exit and hurried along the wall.

Behind me, the nurse's voice rang out down the corridor.

"Mr. Vance, Miss Hartwell is gone!"

My heart pounded against my ribs. My breath caught in my throat. I kept one hand against the wall and pressed the other to my chest, as if I could hold back the cold spreading through my body.

I'd gone twelve hours without food. My blood sugar was dangerously low, and the edges of my vision were turning black. My legs felt like they were moving through cotton, barely able to support me.

Memories surged through my mind: the gurney, the needle, the sharp smell of antiseptic, the wound across my chest that never seemed to heal, and the three years that followed, when I'd lived like a dead woman.

If they caught me and dragged me back to that operating table, if the needle pierced my vein and the anesthetic entered my bloodstream, I'd wake up to find my left breast gone all over again.

And by then, it would be too late.

I couldn't let that happen again.

I forced myself to move faster, but only ended up stumbling.

My body was in no condition to run. At this rate, they'd catch me sooner or later.

What was I supposed to do? Wasn't there anyone who could help me?

I didn't know how many corners I'd turned before I spotted a familiar-looking door.

If I remembered correctly, the man inside was Edward Sterling, the eldest grandson of the Sterlings, New York's most powerful family.

He was known for being ruthless and decisive, showing no mercy to anyone who crossed him. In less than two years at the helm of the Sterling empire, he'd turned it into one of the most powerful forces in New York.

Then, three months ago, he'd been in a car accident and become a man who couldn't move.

The door was slightly ajar, and no one was guarding it.

I gritted my teeth, pushed it open, slipped inside, and quickly shut it behind me.

"Where is she? Which way did she go?"

"Find her! I don't care what it takes!"

Julian's voice and hurried footsteps were drawing closer.

The room was luxuriously furnished, but there was nowhere for me to hide.

Then an idea struck me.

I lifted the blanket and slipped underneath it.

Get out—

A voice suddenly rang out, nearly making me jump out of my skin.

A man in a vegetative state couldn't speak. Was I imagining things?

I must have been.

I pressed myself closer to him again. From outside, the shape beneath the blanket would look like a single person.

No matter how bold Julian was, he wouldn't dare lift Edward Sterling's blanket.

Edward's body was warm. As I lay beside him, I finally stopped shivering. Suddenly, I felt an overwhelming urge to cry.

The woman I'd always loved and respected as my own mother. The husband I'd given my whole heart to. My stepsister, whom I'd loved and cared for as if she were my real sister...

Every single one of them was a devil.

What had I ever done to deserve this?

"Mr. Vance, Miss Hartwell went into Mr. Sterling's room."

Julian and his bodyguards gathered outside the door. They hadn't come in yet, but I could hear them discussing how to get inside.

My heart jumped into my throat.

Edward might have been one of the most powerful men in New York, but he was someone who couldn't move or speak. And none of Sterling's own bodyguards seemed to be around.

If Julian actually brought his men into the room, I was finished.

"Edward," I whispered, gripping his sleeve with trembling fingers. Panic was rising in my chest. "What am I supposed to do?"

"None of my business! Get off me and get out!"

I was so shocked that I forgot to cry.

Edward had actually spoken.

Was he awake?

If he was, then this was wonderful! I could ask him to protect me. After all, we could almost be considered old acquaintances.

"Edward, please help me. That bastard Julian forged a pathology report. He wants to cut off my left breast!"

I scrambled out from under the blanket and turned to face him.

His eyes were closed. He looked as though he were sleeping peacefully.

Was he pretending to be asleep?

I couldn't let this one chance at rescue slip away.

I shook him firmly.

"Edward, I know you're awake. Open your eyes and look at me. It's Anna!"

Anna?

His voice came again.

But his eyes remained closed, and his lips hadn't moved at all.

Yet I could clearly hear him speaking to me.

What was going on?

Was this some kind of ventriloquism?

I placed my hand on his stomach.

It rose and fell faintly with each breath, but otherwise, nothing happened.

How on earth was he talking to me?

Curiosity got the better of me.

"You can talk to me, can't you?"

I waited.

And waited.

But he didn't say another word.

I began to doubt myself. Had he really been speaking to me, or had I just imagined the whole thing?