A sudden stillness hit Ava's body as she leaned against the strong arm of Dominic. His voice had just given the assurance she needed right now, but the moment her relief set in, her knees gave way.
Dominic's voice crackled on the other end of the line. "Ava.....Ava!"
But there was no response.
By the time he found her fighting against the raiden man, half bleeding, her hair clinging to her temple and dirt smudged across her cheek, his heart threatened to rip out of his chest. The second he reached her, he dropped to his knees, gathering her limp form into his arms in a protective princess carry. Her skin was burning faintly—part fever, part exhaustion, part trauma.
He held her tightly as if her body might vanish from his arms.
"You did well, Ava," he whispered into her hair, brushing a strand away from her face. "But now it's my turn."
Without wasting a second, he moved through the crowded street. His car had already pulled up his driver's eyes widened upon seeing Ava, but Dominic's cold command allowed no questions.
"Star Hospital. Now."
---
Even though this city held ghosts of his past, it was still his domain. And unlike the broken boy who had once bled in its shadows, the man he had become had carved his mark here. Power, reach, control....Dominic Vale had built it all, including the Star Medical Centre, one of the top-tier hospitals in the country.
They were already prepared when his car pulled up.
A nurse opened the door. "Emergency room's ready, Mr. Vale."
He nodded, carrying Ava in his arms without letting her go. Doctors and nurses surrounded him the moment he entered, but he only laid her down when she was wheeled into a private VIP suite under the strictest confidentiality.
As the door to her private room shut, Dominic stood at the large glass window, staring out at the twilight sky bleeding into darkness. The city lights blinked like dying stars, and yet his entire focus was one person.....Ava.
A man in a black suit entered quietly, his phone in hand.
"Sir," the man said. "We've searched every route. Raiden Myung is nowhere to be found. He's vanished."
Dominic clenched his fist, his jaw locked in silence.
"Check the airports. Docks. Every border. Get my overseas units on this. And pull all surveillance within ten kilometers of that alley. He made a mistake coming this far. Now he's going to pay."
The man nodded and left without another word.
Dominic ran a hand through his hair in frustration, then looked back through the glass at the girl lying unconscious in the white sheets. Her face had paled, her wrist was bandaged, and even in her sleep, she looked like she was fighting something inside her dreams.
A sharp stab hit his chest.
He had taken a thousand risks in life. Fought men. Betrayed alliances. Broken laws. But this girl's pain...it made him feel helpless.
He murmured under his breath, voice tight and quiet.
> "I told myself I could hide your memories forever… but maybe I was wrong."
A pause.
> "Maybe it's time you remember everything....because this time, I'm not going to lose you."
---
A soft warmth touched Ava's skin, followed by the steady rhythm of a beeping monitor.
Her eyelids fluttered open.
The world was white sterile and quiet. Her lashes blinked against the light above, and her dry throat felt as though it had swallowed dust. For a moment, she didn't know where she was. Then the scent of antiseptic… the weight of bandages on her wrist… and the quiet throb in her temples reminded her.
She had escaped. And someone had caught her.
But she wasn't back with Raiden.
She shifted her eyes slowly to her side.
And there he was.
Dominic Vale.
Sitting quietly in the chair beside her bed, his brows slightly furrowed, lips pressed in an unreadable line… peeling an apple.
The action was so out of place, so uncharacteristic of the man she had come to know that it startled her more than waking up in a hospital. The gleam of the fruit knife danced under the room's low light, and his fingers moved with such concentration… precise, careful, patient.
The apple skin peeled in one continuous curl, like a ribbon slipping away.
He hadn't noticed she'd woken up yet. Or maybe he had but didn't want to break the silence.
Ava stared.
Not at the apple. Not at the knife.
But at him.
And suddenly, the chaos returned.
Memories. Faces. Sounds. All spinning like torn film reels in her mind.
A boy with obsidian eyes.
A room filled with shadows.
Hands gripping hers.
A scream echoing through stone walls.
Blood. Water. And the scent of lillith flowers.
She blinked, her breathing slowly rising.
The hospital room grew suffocatingly quiet.
She whispered hoarsely, "…Dominic."
He paused mid-slice.
Then turned slowly, his dark gaze finally meeting hers surprise flickering in his eyes, then quickly melting into something else. Something softer.
"You're awake." His voice was calm. But there was an undertone like he'd been holding his breath too long.
She tried to sit up, but her body still ached. He quickly placed the knife and apple on the bedside table and reached to support her back, adjusting the pillow behind her.
She let him help but her eyes never left him.
She felt hollow inside. Exhausted beyond reason. But her voice trembled not because of weakness....but the storm in her chest.
"…Were they real?" she asked suddenly.
He looked at her. "What?"
"The memories," she said, swallowing. "The flashes…The place. The boy.....The blood. The screaming… the crying… Were they real, Dominic?"
Silence.
He straightened. Sat down again. Rested his hands on his knees. Didn't answer immediately.
She bit her inner cheek to stop it from quivering.
"Just say it," she said, her voice sharp, bitter. "Say it, Dominic. Did you erase my memories?"
His jaw clenched.
Ava felt something inside her twist.
"Please." Her voice softened. "I'm… I'm tired. I can't keep waking up from dreams that feel too real. I can't keep wondering if I'm going insane or if you're just too good at lying to me."
Dominic looked down at his hands, as if the answers were carved into his palms. Then he picked up the half-peeled apple again. Quietly. Without a word.
Each second of silence pierced her like a blade.