Candice curled into a ball in the corner of the hospital bed, the darkness of the room a thin, fragile blanket of security.
The image of Julius at a party, laughing with his friends as he called her a "beautiful, but necessary, acquisition," flashed behind her eyelids. The memory was so vivid it made her head throb.
She squeezed her eyes shut, whispering the current date to herself over and over. A mantra to keep the ghosts at bay. It hasn't happened. You can stop it.
Her breathing slowly evened out. The wild panic began to recede, replaced by a cold, clear purpose.
A series of sharp knocks echoed from the door.
"Miss Luna? It's your nurse. I need to check your vitals."
"Go away," Candice said, her voice flat and devoid of emotion. "I don't want to see anyone."
A sigh from the other side of the door. "Miss Luna, avoiding everyone won't solve your problems with the Hansen family. The engagement is still-"
"I said, go away!"
The word "engagement" was like a physical blow. Candice grabbed a pillow and pressed it over her ears, trying to block out the world, to block out his name.
The nurse's footsteps retreated, but they were replaced by another sound. A slower, more deliberate tread. The sound of expensive leather shoes on linoleum. The footsteps stopped directly outside her door, followed by a voice she would never forget-smooth, calculated, and dripping with false concern.
"Nurse, if you don't mind," the voice said, low and penetrating even through the wood. "I'm Mr. Hansen's legal counsel. I need a word with Miss Luna."
It was Arthur Vance. The voice that had, in her other life, calmly read the terms of her family's destruction.
Candice scrambled back, pressing herself deeper into the corner of the bed. It felt like a wolf was sniffing at the door of her cage.
The lawyer knocked, his knuckles rapping twice against the wood. "Miss Luna? My name is Arthur Vance. I'm here on behalf of Mr. Hansen to go over some details of the merger."
Her breath hitched. The merger. The beginning of the end. She stared at the door, her heart pounding a frantic, painful rhythm against her ribs.
When she didn't answer, the doorknob began to turn.
A soft click echoed in the silent room.
The sound was an alarm bell. In a single, desperate motion, Candice threw herself off the bed. Her bare feet hit the cold floor as she launched herself at the door, slamming her full weight against it just as he began to push it open.
The door shuddered but held.
"Miss Luna," Vance's voice was laced with irritation now. "This childish behavior is unproductive. The Hansen family's patience is not unlimited."
Her hands were trembling, but she pressed them flat against the cool wood of the door, her shoulder aching in protest. "Get. Out," she snarled through gritted teeth.
A dry, humorless chuckle from the hallway. "As you wish. Mr. Hansen will be here tomorrow to speak with you himself. Perhaps you'll be more reasonable with him."
His footsteps receded down the hall.
Candice slid down the door, her legs giving out, and landed in a heap on the floor. She gasped for air, cold sweat plastering her thin hospital gown to her skin.
Hiding wasn't enough. As long as that engagement existed, they would never leave her alone. They would hunt her, corner her, and devour her family's legacy, just like they did before.
She staggered to her feet and went to the window, pulling the edges of the blackout curtains together until not a single sliver of light could penetrate the room.
In the suffocating darkness, she thought of her father. She remembered his warmth, the way he always believed in her, even when she didn't believe in herself. A surge of strength, born of love and grief, flooded her veins.
She had to get out of here. She had to get to him.
She found her phone on the nightstand and dialed the number for her father's head of household, the family butler. Her voice shook, but her words were firm.
"I'm discharging myself. I'm coming home. Now."
The butler, shocked, tried to reason with her, but Candice cut him off. "If a car is not here in thirty minutes, I will walk out of this hospital and take a cab. Do you understand?"
She hung up before he could argue further.
In the dim light of her phone screen, she saw her reflection in the darkened window. A pale, haunted face with eyes that burned with a terrifying intensity.
She started throwing her few belongings into a small bag, her movements frantic. This room felt like a tomb, and she had to escape.
As she was about to leave, a commotion erupted in the hallway. Nurses were scurrying, their voices hushed but urgent.
"...Mr. Hansen is awake... in the room at the end of the hall... he's in a terrible mood..."
The bag slipped from Candice's numb fingers, hitting the floor with a soft thud.
Julius.
He was here. On this floor. Just a few doors away.
The devil was awake. And he was close.
