CHAPTER TWO
Far away, in a dim hospital room, a steady beep echoed from a monitor. A doctor leaned over the bed where a young woman lay unconscious, her body wrapped in bandages.
"How is she?" a man asked.
"Much better," the doctor replied. "She should be waking any…"
Before he could finish, Alina's eyes fluttered open.
The man at her bedside named Alix rushed forward, relief flooding his face. "You're awake!"
Alina's gaze darted around the unfamiliar room, panic rising in her chest. Face paled "Wh-who are you? Where am I?" she coughed, her voice weak.
"You're in the hospital," Alix explained gently. "I'm Alix."
Her bandaged head throbbed, her right leg heavy and immobile. Memories flickered, fire, smoke, her parents' terrified faces.
Her breath hitched. "Where are my parents? I need to see them!" She tried to push herself up, but Alix stepped in, holding her down firmly.
"Relax, miss. You'll hurt yourself," he warned.
"Let me go! Take me to them!" she cried, fighting against his grip, desperation clawing at her chest.
Fear gripped her, the memories of the night kept flooding in one by one.
She struggled with Alix.
Alix hesitated before speaking the words that broke her. "Miss… your parents are gone."
Alina froze. "No…" She shook her head violently, tears blinding her. "No! They're not dead! They can't be!, Y You...you can't be serious right!!!?"
Her sobs filled the room, wracking her fragile body.
The flames.
The explosion.
Her parents' final, terrified glance.
The agony tore through her, suffocating and merciless.
When did everything go wrong, no they ain't dead, maybe….my they're just feigning dead because of Mr Blackwood.
Yes…that must be it.
"Let me please" her voice croaked, she can't stay here when her parents are in despair.
"Miss, please, calm down or you might hurt your baby," the doctor interjected quickly.
Alina stilled. Her wide eyes shot to him. "My… my what?"
The doctor's expression softened. "You didn't know? You're three weeks pregnant."
The words struck her like lightning. Her lips parted, but no sound came.
Pregnant.
She trembled, tears streaming down her face as the weight of everything crashed over her, her parents' deaths, her shattered life, and now the fragile life growing inside her.
Alina was left speechless, everything seemed to be rotating, and her world was crumbling. She could remember how Aidan forced himself on her.
It's been weeks since she woke up and Alina still feels as though it was just yesterday
Alina curled into herself on the hospital bed, looking half alive and half dead. Her head rested on her raised knees, her arms crossed over them like fragile shields.
The world felt as though it were crumbling beneath her feet, too heavy, too merciless to endure.
Tears streamed endlessly down her face. Why was the world being so cruel?
Where had she gone wrong?
Why did every door of happiness slam shut in her face?
Why… just why?
Her sobs were soundless, only the trembling of her shoulders betraying her pain. Her head wobbled weakly, as if her body no longer had the strength to hold itself together. Why had they saved her? She should have died with her parents.
What was the purpose of living when life itself seemed determined to destroy her?
And now, inside her, grew another life. A tiny, fragile being she hadn't asked for, hadn't prepared for. How was she supposed to take care of a child when she couldn't even take care of herself?
The questions circled endlessly, threatening to drive her mad. Was life even worth clinging to anymore?
Hours slipped by, swallowed in grief. The room echoed with her silent torment. Her parents, the ones she had loved all her life, weren't even her parents. The Blackwoods had stripped her of everything, heartlessly, without hesitation.
What was she supposed to do now? Where could she go? Back to the Blackwoods? That would only endanger her and her unborn child.
So she cried, and sighed, and cried again. Hunger gnawed at her belly, but she ignored it. Food no longer mattered. Nothing did.
The door creaked open.
Footsteps approached, but Alina didn't lift her head. She was too weak, too broken to bother.
"You have to eat something… if you want your strength back," a calm voice urged. She didn't move.
"Miss, come on you need to eat, for your baby," the man pressed, crouching beside her.
Her voice rasped from deep within her knees. "Why are you being nice to me? Do you have some motive? I've got nothing to offer you."
Alix chuckled softly. "No motives. Nothing at all. I just want to help you recover… and maybe, if you'll let me, find out how I can ease your pain."
Alina slowly raised her head, searching his face. He smiled, but she couldn't tell if it was genuine or another mask of deceit.
"I don't need your help," she muttered.
"Are you sure?" His gaze narrowed, probing her.
She looked away, her eyes glassy.
"Do you want to abort the child of…"
Alina's palm struck his face before he could finish.
Her chest heaved. Could she kill an innocent child? No. But there was someone else she could kill. Someone who had taken everything from her.
"How did you even find me?" Her voice was low, calm, and strangely empty.
"The ocean," Alix replied simply, unpacking the meal he had brought.
"Does anyone know I survived?"
"Not really. The news reported you were buried beside your parents."
Her lips trembled, but her expression remained hollow. So… Aidan had no idea she was alive. Perhaps that was for the best. It wasn't like he cared anymore. He was a beast.
"I brought you here, to another country, to help you heal," Alix continued, placing the food on the table in front of her.
"What if I don't want to live?" Her words sliced through the air, heavy and sharp.
"Well," he said gently, "you wouldn't want to kill your baby. That child… that's your hope now."
Her head tilted slowly toward him.
"And I know what the Blackwoods did to you."
His words made her freeze. Her breath caught, eyes narrowing in suspicion. Who exactly was this man? Why was he so determined to help her?
"It doesn't matter," Alina whispered bitterly. "I can still go back to Aidan. I can explain what his father did to me."
Alix scoffed, shaking his head. He picked up the remote.
"Don't tell me you're really planning to crawl back to your husband." Mockery edged his tone.
Alina frowned, unsettled by his words.
"You're so naive" he stated
"Are you really just going to sit here, sulking, while they take everything from you? Or haven't you realized that your beloved husband now owns all your parents' properties?"
Her heart lurched violently in her chest. "Wh… what do you mean?" she flickered
Alix didn't answer. He switched on the television. The screen lit up with an image of Aidan, standing in her father's company, smiling as though he had always belonged there.
Alina's breath faltered.
"It's everywhere in the news now. I don't think you'll want to go back anymore," Alix said flatly.
She clamped a trembling hand over her mouth as silent sobs broke free. How could Aidan do this? How could he take the only thing she had left of her family?
"And…" Alix changed the channel.
The screen now showed Aidan… with another woman. A glittering ring on her hand. Their engagement plastered across headlines.
Alina's world collapsed.
She screamed, knocking the food onto the floor. Her sobs tore out of her chest as she hurled the plate at the television. The screen cracked, flickered, then went dark.
Her vision blurred with tears.
"This isn't true! What you're showing me isn't true!!" Her voice broke as she scattered everything within reach.
Alix tried to restrain her, but her grief was too wild, too consuming. In the end, he did the only thing he could, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her as she shook and screamed into his chest.
"How could he do this to me!?" she wailed, "Why is my life a living hell!!!?" her heart shattering into pieces too small to mend.
"Shhh… you'll hurt your baby," Alix whispered, rubbing her back.
But Alina no longer cared. She was left with nothing but fury.
If the Blackwoods thought they could strip her of everything, they were wrong.
They could not be allowed to win.
If they thought they would go scot free after anything then they must be wrong.
She would return…
She would return and destroy them
They would taste the blood of a vindictive woman.