The air in the VIP hospital room was thick enough to cut with a knife. Fabian stared at Angelena, the vein in his forehead pulsing visibly.
Before he could unleash his fury, his phone vibrated violently in his suit pocket. He pulled it out. It was an encrypted, urgent email from Alex.
Fabian opened the file. His pupils dilated. His face turned a terrifying, deadly shade of pale.
The report contained a series of blurry paparazzi photos. They showed Angelena walking out of a restaurant, and right behind her was Carlo Meyer. In the sequence of shots, Carlo was seen intimately draping his own suit jacket over her shoulders, leaning in close to whisper something in her ear that made her smile. The attached text from a high-profile financial gossip rag didn't just imply a relationship-it blatantly stated that insider sources confirmed Angelena was Carlo Meyer's secret fiancée, and that a massive corporate merger disguised as a wedding was already in the works.
Carlo Meyer was Fabian's most ruthless, bloodthirsty rival in the corporate world.
The fuse on Fabian's sanity completely burned out.
He hurled his phone across the room. It smashed against the leather sofa with a loud, violent thud. Foy and Leland jumped, shrinking back against the hospital bed in fear.
Fabian closed the distance between him and Angelena in one step. "You are unbelievable," he sneered, his voice dripping with pure, concentrated venom. "Playing the loving mother to my sons, while spreading your legs for Carlo Meyer? Is this his new strategy? Sending his whore to infiltrate my family?"
Angelena stared at him in utter confusion. "Who the hell is Carlo Meyer?"
She genuinely had no idea who he was talking about. But Fabian's words were so vile, so deeply insulting, that she didn't care to ask for clarification.
She tilted her chin up, her eyes blazing with absolute defiance. "Even if I were to sleep with a homeless man off the street, it would be a step up from a narcissistic, paranoid psycho like you."
Fabian's vision went red. He reached out, his large, calloused hand clamping brutally around Angelena's jaw. He forced her face up, making her look directly into his furious eyes.
He leaned in, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper. "If I find out you are using my sons to steal corporate secrets, I will make you beg for death."
The grip on her jaw was agonizing. But Angelena refused to show a single ounce of pain. Her eyes remained cold and unyielding.
Without breaking eye contact, she lifted her foot. The sharp, stiletto heel of her Louboutin slammed down with bone-crushing force directly onto the instep of Fabian's custom Italian leather shoe.
Fabian grunted in sudden, sharp pain. His grip loosened just enough.
Angelena ripped her face away, taking a quick step back. She rubbed her reddened jaw, glaring at him like he was a piece of trash.
Julian rushed forward, grabbing Fabian by the bicep. "Fabian, stop! You're in a hospital, for God's sake!"
Foy suddenly darted forward. He wrapped his small arms tightly around Angelena's leg, placing himself between her and his father. He glared up at Fabian, his eyes identical to the man he was defying. "Don't you touch her! I won't let you hurt Mommy!"
Leland began to wail from the bed. "I hate you, Daddy! I want to go with Mommy!"
The sight of his own flesh and blood turning against him, protecting this woman, hit Fabian like a freight train. A wave of profound, sickening defeat washed over him, quickly replaced by explosive anger. His authority was being completely dismantled.
He pointed a shaking finger at Angelena. "Guards!" he roared.
The two massive bodyguards stationed outside rushed into the room.
"Throw this scheming bitch out of the hospital," Fabian ordered, his chest heaving. "If she ever comes within fifty feet of my family again, break her legs."
The bodyguards lunged forward. They grabbed Angelena by both arms, their grips like iron vices, and began to drag her toward the door.
Angelena struggled violently, her heels scraping against the linoleum floor. "You are a cold-blooded sociopath!" she screamed at him. "You don't deserve those boys!"
Foy and Leland went feral. They threw themselves at the bodyguards, biting, kicking, and punching the men's legs, screaming for them to let Angelena go.
Seeing his sons reduced to sobbing, violent messes completely broke Fabian's resolve. The noise was unbearable.
"Let her go!" Fabian yelled over the chaos.
The bodyguards immediately released her. Angelena stumbled, catching her balance against the doorframe. She straightened her white blazer, smoothing down her hair. She took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing the humiliation and rage down into a tight, cold ball in her stomach.
She looked at Fabian one last time. Her voice was terrifyingly calm. "One day, Fabian Richmond, you are going to pay in blood for your arrogance."
She didn't look back at the crying boys. She knew if she did, she would break. She turned and walked out, the sharp click of her heels echoing down the hallway until it faded into silence.
Fabian stood frozen in the center of the room. A bizarre, sharp pain twisted in his chest as he watched her leave, but he immediately crushed the feeling, labeling it as anger.
Julian sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. "Fabian, I think you've made a massive mistake."
Fabian slapped Julian's hand away. "She is a corporate spy. End of story."
He walked over to the bed, looking down at his two sons, who were glaring at him with pure, unadulterated hatred. A deep sense of powerlessness settled over him.
He pulled out his phone. He needed to cure his sons, and he needed to cure his insomnia. He needed to cut that woman out of their lives forever.
"Alex," Fabian commanded. "I don't care what it costs. Find the real 'Angel'. Now."
