Elena's POV
Two days later, I moved out of Lucien's castle. I didn't have much luggage, so I managed with just a dorm room on campus.
My life no longer revolved around Lucien. Everything seemed to return to the way it used to be.
After I signed the papers in his study that night, I didn't see Lucien again. But when I walked out the front door with my bags, I could have sworn I felt eyes on my back the whole way down the drive.
My transfer application to the European research institute came through quickly. Once my internship at Central Hospital was finished, I could board a plane and leave this city behind.
This was something I had always wanted to do. My advisor had pushed the recommendation through the moment she heard what happened, and the whole process was wrapped up inside a week.
I stayed busy, the same as before — only now, I didn't have to rush through my work to get home early. The pace actually felt easier.
I threw myself into my research. Without the weight of a failing marriage, everything seemed to move more smoothly, more quietly.
Until one day, in the middle of an experiment, I collapsed without warning.
I assumed it was exhaustion. But in the instant before I hit the ground, I felt a sharp stab of pain in my abdomen.
I tried to remember when I'd last had my period, and my blood ran cold.
Before the world went black, I heard my classmates shouting.
"Quick! Elena's down! Call an ambulance — who's her emergency contact?"
Oh no.
I'd been so busy.
I'd forgotten — my emergency contact was still Lucien.
