CHAPTER 2 — THE WOMAN IN THE HOSPITAL
Alexander left the wedding hall through the service entrance.
He didn't wait for his security team.
He didn't wait for the police.
He didn't wait for anyone.
He simply carried Lily in one arm and the baby in the other, moving through the back corridor while the sound of chaos echoed behind him.
His wedding day had become a crime scene.
His bride had vanished.
A man had died trying to stop him from discovering the truth.
And the woman he had spent five years believing was gone...
was alive.
Elena.
He couldn't stop hearing her name in his head.
He couldn't stop looking at the photograph.
Five years ago.
A hospital room.
A newborn Lily.
Him beside her.
And a message written in Elena's handwriting:
YOU WERE THERE. YOU JUST DON'T REMEMBER.
He reached the underground parking garage.
His driver rushed toward him.
"Mr. Blackwood—"
"Where's the nearest hospital?"
"Sir?"
"Saint Martha."
The driver hesitated.
Alexander's eyes hardened.
"Now."
"Yes, sir."
He climbed into the back seat.
Lily sat beside him.
Emma remained in his arms.
She had finally stopped crying.
Lily watched him carefully.
"Are you mad?"
Alexander looked at her.
"At you?"
She nodded.
"No."
"At Mommy?"
His jaw tightened.
"I'm confused."
"Mommy said you'd be."
"What else did your mother tell you?"
Lily lowered her eyes.
"She said you weren't supposed to find us."
"Why?"
"Because bad people were watching."
"Who?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Did they hurt her?"
Lily's little fingers tightened around the edge of her dress.
"Sometimes."
Alexander felt something inside him break.
"Who?"
"Men."
"What men?"
"Men who came to the house."
"What house?"
"Mommy moved us a lot."
"Why?"
"She said they were looking for us."
Alexander looked at the baby.
"And Emma?"
"Mommy said they wanted her too."
"Why?"
Lily didn't answer.
"Lily."
She looked at him.
"Because Emma remembers."
Alexander frowned.
"Remembers what?"
"Everything."
The words sent a chill through him.
"She's eight months old."
Lily nodded.
"Mommy said she remembers before she was born."
Alexander stared at her.
That didn't make sense.
But nothing about today made sense.
He looked out the window.
The city passed in a blur.
His phone continued vibrating.
Messages from his security director.
His lawyers.
The police.
News alerts.
His wedding had already become international news.
BILLIONAIRE WEDDING INTERRUPTED BY MYSTERIOUS CHILD
WHO IS THE GIRL WHO CALLED ALEXANDER BLACKWOOD “DADDY”?
GUNMAN DEAD AFTER WEDDING CHAOS
Alexander turned the phone off.
He didn't care.
Not anymore.
Five years.
He had spent five years believing Elena abandoned him.
He had blamed himself.
He had buried the memories.
He had never understood why his life felt incomplete.
Now he knew why.
Someone had taken something from him.
Someone had taken his daughters.
Someone had taken Elena.
And whoever had done it was still watching.
The car stopped outside Saint Martha Hospital.
Alexander stepped out.
His security team immediately surrounded him.
"Stay here."
"Sir, we should come with you."
"No."
"But—"
"I said stay."
He carried Emma inside.
Lily held his hand.
At the reception desk, he placed the photograph on the counter.
"Where is she?"
The nurse looked at the photograph.
Her expression changed.
"Room 417."
Alexander froze.
"You know her?"
The nurse looked around nervously.
"Go."
"Why?"
"Before they come back."
"Who?"
The nurse didn't answer.
Alexander moved toward the elevators.
Lily followed.
Room 417.
Fourth floor.
He reached the door.
His hand stopped above the handle.
His heart was pounding.
Five years.
He had imagined this moment a thousand times.
But never like this.
He opened the door.
A woman was sitting beside the window.
Thin.
Pale.
Dark hair falling around her shoulders.
A hospital blanket covered her legs.
She turned.
Alexander stopped breathing.
Elena.
Alive.
Her eyes widened.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Elena whispered:
"Alexander."
He couldn't move.
She looked at Lily.
Then Emma.
Tears immediately filled her eyes.
"You found them."
Alexander's voice cracked.
"They found me."
Elena closed her eyes.
"I was afraid this would happen."
He walked closer.
"You knew?"
"Yes."
"That Lily would find me?"
"Yes."
"You sent her?"
Elena nodded.
"Why?"
"Because I was running out of time."
Alexander stared at her.
"What happened to you?"
She looked away.
"They found me five years ago."
"Who?"
"Victoria's family."
His jaw tightened.
"What does Victoria have to do with this?"
Elena looked at him.
"Everything."
Alexander placed Emma in the small hospital crib.
Then he turned toward Elena.
"Start talking."
Elena swallowed.
"Five years ago, I was pregnant with Lily."
"I know."
"No."
She shook her head.
"You don't know."
She pointed toward him.
"You weren't supposed to know."
Alexander frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"You weren't supposed to remember me."
"Why?"
"Because Victoria made a deal."
"What deal?"
"With your father."
Alexander froze.
"My father?"
"Yes."
"What did they agree to?"
Elena looked toward the door.
"Your father wanted your company."
Alexander frowned.
"He already owned Blackwood International."
"Not everything."
"What did he want?"
"You."
Alexander stared.
"What?"
"He wanted you to become CEO."
"I was already—"
"Not then."
Elena took a breath.
"You were twenty-nine."
"You were working on a new technology division."
"You had discovered something."
"What?"
"A memory-recognition system."
Alexander stared.
He remembered something.
A laboratory.
Screens.
Brain scans.
A woman screaming.
He rubbed his temple.
Elena noticed.
"You're remembering."
"What?"
"Don't fight it."
He closed his eyes.
Another flash.
Him.
A computer.
A child's brain scan.
Victoria standing behind him.
His father beside her.
Then darkness.
Alexander opened his eyes.
"What did I discover?"
Elena whispered:
"That memories can be transferred."
He stared at her.
"That's impossible."
"You thought so too."
"Then why did I develop it?"
"You didn't."
She paused.
"Your father did."
Alexander's face hardened.
"My father?"
"Yes."
"What does that have to do with me?"
"Everything."
Elena looked at Lily.
"Because your father discovered that your brain was unusually resistant to memory manipulation."
Alexander felt cold.
"What?"
"You could remember things other people couldn't."
"Like what?"
"Everything."
"That's impossible."
Elena shook her head.
"I watched it happen."
She pointed to the photograph.
"That picture was taken after Lily was born."
Alexander stared.
"Why don't I remember that day?"
"Because they erased it."
"Who?"
"Your father."
Alexander's jaw tightened.
"And Victoria?"
"She helped."
He stepped back.
"Why would Victoria help my father?"
"Because she wanted you."
"She wanted me?"
"Yes."
"She always has."
Alexander shook his head.
"I barely knew her."
"She knew you."
"How?"
"She had been watching you for years."
The door suddenly opened.
A nurse rushed inside.
"Mr. Blackwood, you need to leave."
Alexander turned.
"Why?"
The nurse looked terrified.
"They're here."
"Who?"
She whispered:
"The people who took Elena."
Alexander immediately reached for his weapon.
"How many?"
"Three."
"Where?"
"Stairs."
He looked at Elena.
"Can you walk?"
"Yes."
"Then we're leaving."
Elena shook her head.
"No."
"What?"
"You can't take me."
"Why?"
"They'll follow you."
"Let them."
"You don't understand."
Elena grabbed his wrist.
"If they find Lily and Emma, they will kill them."
Alexander looked at his daughters.
His voice became cold.
"Nobody is touching my children."
Elena stared at him.
"You don't remember what they are capable of."
"I don't need to."
Footsteps echoed in the hallway.
One.
Two.
Three.
Alexander positioned himself between the door and the children.
The handle moved.
He whispered:
"Stay behind me."
Elena nodded.
The door opened.
A man entered.
Black suit.
Gray hair.
Calm expression.
Alexander recognized him.
"Mr. Blackwood."
Alexander's blood ran cold.
"Who are you?"
The man smiled.
"Your father's attorney."
"My father is dead."
"I know."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because he left instructions."
"For what?"
The man looked at Lily.
"To retrieve his grandchildren."
Alexander raised his weapon.
"You aren't taking them."
The man sighed.
"Your father anticipated that."
He pulled a small device from his pocket.
The screen displayed one sentence:
MEMORY PROTOCOL ACTIVE.
Alexander's head suddenly exploded with pain.
He fell to one knee.
Elena screamed:
"NO!"
Lily cried.
"Daddy!"
Alexander clutched his head.
Images flooded his mind.
His father.
Victoria.
A laboratory.
Elena.
Lily.
A machine.
Then another memory.
A man holding a newborn.
The man's face was blurred.
Alexander tried to focus.
The image became clearer.
It was him.
Holding Lily.
He was crying.
He whispered:
"I'll protect you."
Then another voice answered.
"You won't remember this."
Alexander looked up.
The memory disappeared.
The man in the doorway smiled.
"Interesting."
Alexander forced himself upright.
"You did that."
The man nodded.
"Your father designed the protocol."
"Why?"
"To protect you."
"From what?"
The man smiled.
"From yourself."
Alexander's gun remained pointed at him.
"Who sent you?"
"Victoria."
Alexander's eyes hardened.
"Where is she?"
The man laughed.
"You'll see her soon."
Suddenly the lights went out.
Darkness.
Gunfire.
Glass shattered.
Someone screamed.
Alexander grabbed Lily.
"Stay down!"
He reached for Emma.
Elena moved toward the crib.
Another shot.
Elena fell.
"ELENA!"
Alexander caught her.
Blood spread across her hospital gown.
Lily screamed:
"Mommy!"
Alexander pressed his hand against Elena's wound.
"Stay with me."
Elena looked at him.
Her eyes were fading.
"Take... the girls..."
"I've got them."
"No."
She coughed.
"Take them to..."
"Where?"
She whispered a location.
"The old Blackwood estate."
Alexander froze.
"Why?"
"Your father..."
She struggled to breathe.
"...left something there."
"What?"
"The truth."
Her eyes closed.
"Elena!"
Alexander shook her.
"Elena!"
Nothing.
For one terrifying second, he thought she was dead.
Then she breathed.
Barely.
Alive.
Sirens sounded outside.
Police.
Security.
Alexander lifted her.
"Lily, stay close."
He carried Elena.
Lily held his jacket.
Emma cried.
They ran through the emergency stairwell.
Outside, dozens of police vehicles surrounded the hospital.
Alexander's security team rushed toward him.
"Sir!"
"Get Elena into the armored vehicle."
"Yes."
"And the children."
"Sir, what happened?"
"Later."
He looked back at the hospital.
The man was gone.
But on the ground near the entrance was a small black envelope.
Alexander picked it up.
His name was written across it.
He opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
His father.
Standing beside Victoria.
And behind them...
Elena.
Pregnant.
Five years ago.
On the back of the photograph were seven words:
YOUR FATHER DIDN'T ERASE YOUR MEMORY.
Alexander stared.
Then he turned the photograph over.
Another sentence was written beneath it.
YOU ASKED HIM TO.
His blood ran cold.
He looked at Lily.
She was watching him.
"Daddy?"
He crouched beside her.
"Yes?"
"Are you okay?"
Alexander forced a smile.
"Yes."
But he wasn't.
Because he had just realized something terrifying.
Maybe his father hadn't stolen his memories.
Maybe Alexander had willingly given them away.
And if that was true...
there was only one place where he could discover why.
The old Blackwood estate.
The house he had not visited since he was twenty-nine.
The house everyone told him to forget.
The house his father had left abandoned.
And somewhere inside it...
was the truth about his daughters.
The truth about Elena.
The truth about Victoria.
And possibly the reason Alexander had once been willing to erase his own memory.
As the armored vehicle pulled away from the hospital, Alexander looked at the photograph one final time.
Then he noticed something in the background.
A small girl.
Standing behind Victoria.
Watching the camera.
She looked about four years old.
Alexander's heart stopped.
Because he recognized her.
She was wearing the same red dress Lily had worn in the photograph.
But she wasn't Lily.
Alexander whispered:
"Who is that?"
Elena, barely conscious in the back seat, opened her eyes.
She looked at the photograph.
And her face filled with terror.
"Alexander..."
"What?"
"Don't go to the estate."
"Why?"
Elena grabbed his arm.
"Because she's still there."
"Who?"
Elena whispered:
"Your other daughter."
Alexander froze.
"Other?"
Elena closed her eyes.
And the last thing she said before losing consciousness was:
"Her name is Sophie."
The vehicle continued into the night.
And somewhere, far away, inside the abandoned Blackwood estate...
a little girl was sitting alone in a dark room.
She was holding an old photograph.
A photograph of Alexander.
She pressed it against her chest.
Then smiled.
"He's coming home."
May you like
And behind her...
someone slowly locked the door.
