Kaya's steps were rushed, clumsy even, as she spilled down the marble corridor toward the elevator. She gripped her phone in one hand, the old one that Leon had confiscated and told her not to use, but the screen was lit with one message over and over:
"Mum's been in an accident. Transported to Mercy General. Lost a lot of blood."
Her chest constricted and pressure clamped over her lungs. She couldn't stay put after receiving that information from her sister, and despite Leon's instructions, she had to go.
It had been hard. Yuyan had tried to stop her, but she had narrowly managed to escape by using another elevator.
She darted into the lobby and stumbled into the street, blinking against the afternoon glare. A ride-share car screeched to a halt as she violently threw herself into the backseat.
"What are you doing?! Get out of my car!" The driver yelled, his face twisted in fury.
"Mercy General Hospital," she hissed, her voice tangled with panic. "Now."
The driver opened his mouth to speak again, but he shut it back. Instead, he just nodded and hit the throttle.
Kaya's hands shook so badly she nearly dropped her phone. She kept praying that her mother would remain alive despite what had happened and she quickly tapped a message to her sister:
"I'm coming. Stay with her."
The reply flashed back almost immediately:
"Kaya??? Thank God. Please hurry."
She dropped her phone into her pocket and curled up in her seat, trying to steady herself against the racing pulse in her throat.
Her mother. Already a patient with cancer.
Now an accident?
The car sped through narrow streets, slicing through traffic. Her fingers gripped the phone so hard her knuckles turned white, and she kept praying. Hoping. Wishing. Believing.
When the car pulled to a stop in front of the hospital, she leapt out without even paying and sped down the hospital corridor, the soft slap of her slides echoing with each panicked step.
"Did you just get a patient?" she whispered to the nurse at triage. "My mom… transport…" The words tangled out of her mouth. She was too distraught to notice the way the color drained from the nurse's face.
"She's in Critical Care, Room 412," the nurse said, voice low.
Kaya's legs went weak as she stumbled into the elevator, nearly collapsing against the metal wall. Room 412. She leaned in, took a shuddering breath, and stepped out onto the third floor.
It wasn't long before she found the room, and the door stood open.
Kaya's sister was backing her, sitting beside their mother's bed with her head bowed. The room smelled faintly of antiseptic and something metallic, blood, perhaps, dried and lingering in the air.
Machines beeped steadily beside the unconscious form on the bed, wires trailing like vines, and Naima's hand was clutching their mother's limp fingers like a lifeline.
Kaya stood frozen at the doorway, her chest tight. Her throat burned.
"Naima..." she whispered, her voice cracking.
Naima turned, slowly at first, then her eyes widened in recognition, and she stumbled to her feet.
"Kaya?"
Kaya barely had time to nod before her younger sister launched herself forward. The hug came hard and sudden, arms around shoulders, nails digging in like she was afraid to let go.
Naima's shoulders trembled, her breath hitching as she buried her face in Kaya's neck. "You came," she whispered, voice cracking under the weight of hours spent holding it together.
Kaya tightened her arms around her, eyes wet. "Of course I came. I got your message. I'm here."
Naima shook her head, pulling back only slightly. "I didn't think you'd even see it. Lately, you're always in some place I can't reach."
Kaya cupped the back of her head gently. "But that doesn't mean. I never stopped being your sister."
Naima's eyes flicked to the bed, her jaw trembling.
"They said she lost so much blood," she murmured. "She wasn't even awake when they moved her here. The other car, it just came out of nowhere."
Kaya's chest twisted. She glanced at their mother, pale beneath the sheets, an oxygen tube across her face, bruises blooming across her arms.
"I should've been there," Kaya whispered.
"No," Naima said, her voice suddenly fierce, her eyes rimmed red. "This isn't your fault."
They stood there for another moment, the machines humming around them. Then Naima gave a shaky laugh and wiped at her eyes with her sleeve.
"You smell... expensive," she said, sniffling.
Kaya gave a watery smile. "Oh please. It's from a stylist. One of Leon's people."
Naima tilted her head. "Leon Feng? That's true, you got married to him. How did that even happen? Did he knock you up or what?"
Kaya groaned softly. "Please don't say it like that. Of course he didn't."
"I mean...he's like, Meiran's coldest billionaire. I was so shocked when I saw the news that day. How did you meet?"
Kaya opened her mouth, then closed it again. "It's... complicated."
Before Naima could prod further, footsteps from behind them made both sisters flinch.
But it wasn't a nurse.
It was a man with a phone. And a flash.
And just outside the room, voices were rising. One person gasped loudly, then a woman's voice whispered in disbelief, "That's Leon Feng's wife—!"
Kaya's heart dropped. Her eyes darted to Naima, then to the hallway, where shadows were starting to crowd.
And then the clicks started. Cameras.
Kaya's blood ran cold.
She grabbed Naima's hand. "I have to go."
"What? Kaya, no—"
"I'll call you. I promise."
Naima tried to protest, but Kaya had already yanked her hood up and shoved the door open.
Kaya bolted.
As she fled down the corridor, stunned and breathless, she heard footsteps behind her. Not hospital staff. Not nurses. People running.
Just as she left the building, the man caught up to her, his expression twisted. "I hate that bastard, Leon Feng!" he snarled. "But his wife, warming hearts in hospitals, nice. I'll hurt you both for the game!"
The man's eyes had gone dark, unhinged. People around her shouted, phones out, voices muddled in a growing sea of chaos.
She tried to push past him, but his hand whipped out, catching her by the arm.
"You think you're special 'cause you married that bastard?"
She stumbled back, panic seizing her lungs.
Then—crack.
His hand struck her across the cheek. The sound rang sharp, and Kaya staggered sideways, clutching her face. Heat bloomed instantly where he'd hit her and she screamed.
The man moved to slap her again, and suddenly a sharp, metallic sound cut the air.
The man moved back, howling. Clutching his thigh. A rubber pellet embedded deep into his jeans.
He cursed, spitting fury into the ground as he writhed.
Kaya froze mid-breath, her pulse roaring in her ears. What just happened?
Then she saw them.
Three men in tailored black suits swept forward, coming from the hospital's car-park, one of them lowering a rubber-pellet pistol with mechanical precision.
But it was the man behind them that stopped the air in her lungs.
Leon.
He stood still, his coat long, inky black, and hanging from his broad shoulders like armor. His tie had been loosened, but nothing about him looked relaxed.
His eyes, sharp, unreadable, locked onto hers, and she immediately knew she was in trouble.
Leon stepped forward, the sharp lines of his coat sweeping behind him. His gaze flicked briefly to the man on the floor, then back to her.
The rubber pellet should have been enough. But then he saw Kaya's cheek. The red mark. The way her shoulders were curled in.And that was when he moved.A single, brutal blow.The man collapsed, blood blooming at the edge of his mouth."Touch her again," he said softly, "and I won't aim for the leg next time."