Chapter 5 The Doctor's Poison

Madison's POV

The door clicked shut, cutting off the sound of Klaus's distant, angry shouting in the hallway.

I stood frozen beside the bed, my fingers still tingling from where I had been gripping Cedric's hand just moments ago.

They kept telling me I was twenty-nine, that a whole decade of my life had simply vanished into thin air like smoke.

"Breath, sunshine," a deep, smooth voice murmured.

I jolted, turning to look at Dexter. In all the chaos of Klaus screaming and Cedric staring at me with those burning, shocking eyes, I had almost forgotten the doctor was still in the room. He stepped closer. He was ridiculously handsome.

"My head hurts," I whispered, pressing the palms of my hands against my temples. The phantom images of a life I didn't remember were trying to force their way to the surface, but they were jagged, broken pieces that didn't fit together.

"What is happening to me? Why am I married to that horrible man? And why does Cedric look so... different?"

Dexter didn't answer right away. Instead, he reached out, his long, warm fingers gently catching my wrists and pulling my hands away from my face. He guided me back to the edge of the mattress, waiting until I sat down before he leaned in close.

"You're overwhelming yourself," he said softly, his thumb lightly brushing across the inside of my wrist. "Your brain went through a massive trauma, Madison. Pushing it to remember things that aren't there is only going to make you spiral."

"But they're out there deciding my life for me!" I exclaimed, my voice cracking as a sudden wave of helplessness washed over me. "That Klaus man... he claims he's my husband. But looking at him makes me feel physically sick. There's this bitterness in my throat that I can't explain. And Cedric... Cedric was supposed to be waiting for me."

Dexter's expression shifted, his dark eyes darkening just a fraction. He let go of my wrists, but he didn't pull away. Instead, he raised his hand, his long fingers reaching up to my face. His thumb brushed firmly against my forehead, right where Cedric had kissed me just minutes earlier.

I blinked, my breath catching in my throat at the sudden intimacy.

"Dexter...?"

"Darling," he murmured, his voice dropping into a low, hypnotic register that made a strange shiver run straight down my spine. "Do you really want to know what is going on out there? Do you want to know the truth about those two men?"

I swallowed hard, nodding slowly.

"Yes. Please. No one is telling me anything."

Dexter leaned down, his face only inches from mine. A dark, intense seriousness took over his handsome features.

"They are lying to you, Madison," he whispered, his eyes locking onto mine with absolute certainty. "Both of them."

My heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean? Cedric wouldn't lie to me. He's my best friend."

"He was your best friend, ten years ago," Dexter corrected gently, though his words felt like sharp little needles piercing through my remaining comfort. "People change, sunshine. The man standing out there today is not the boy you remember. Klaus and Cedric... they are locked in a vicious, bitter war with each other. A war that has been going on for years. And you? You are the prize they are fighting over."

"I don't understand," I stammered, pulling back slightly, but Dexter's gaze held me trapped.

"Klaus doesn't love you," Dexter said, his tone brutal in its honesty. "He married you for your inheritance, for the power it gave his company. He treated you like an object, a commodity to be owned. And Cedric? Cedric wants to take you away from him simply to prove that he can win. They are using your amnesia, Madison. They are using the fact that your mind is blank to rewrite history, to manipulate you into throwing yourself into their arms so they can hurt each other through you."

A cold dread pooled in the center of my stomach. Was I really just a pawn to them? Was the sweet, mature Cedric who looked at me with such longing just trying to use me to get back at his brother?

"They nearly killed you," Dexter continued, his voice dropping to a harsh, protective whisper. "The trauma that put you in this coma? The reason your mind broke and erased the last ten years? It was because of the emotional wreckage they caused you. I was the one who saved you, Madison. I am the one who spent the last three months keeping you alive while they were busy playing their corporate games."

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes, blurring his handsome face. I felt entirely untethered, floating in a dark ocean with no anchor. But Dexter was right here. His hands were warm, his eyes were steady, and he was the only constant I had known for the past month.

"Who do I trust?" I whispered, a single tear escaping and rolling down my cheek.

Dexter smiled, a soft, incredibly beautiful expression that instantly made the tight knot in my chest loosen just a bit. He leaned forward, and before I could process what he was doing, his lips pressed gently against my forehead.

The kiss was soft, lingering for a second too long, leaving a trailing warmth on my skin.

"Trust me," he murmured against my skin, pulling back just enough to look down at me. "Believe just me, and no one else, darling. I won't let them hurt you again."

Before I could say a word, before I could ask him what he meant by calling me darling or why my heart was suddenly hammering against my ribs for a doctor I barely knew, Dexter stood up straight. He flashed me one last flirty, mischievous grin, patted my blanket, and walked turned toward the door.

"Rest up, sunshine," he said over his shoulder. "We have a long road ahead of us."

The door slid shut behind him, leaving me completely alone in the quiet room, my mind spinning into absolute, terrifying chaos.