The hospital's sharp, sterile scent of antiseptic engulfed Eliana Bennett the moment she rushed through the sliding glass doors. Her chest tightened as her heart hammered wildly, each beat echoing in her ears. Just hours ago, she'd been drowning in worry, trying to figure out how to keep her father's treatment going when every penny had already been stretched beyond its limit.
Then the calls came—first from the hospital, then from Rafael Vexley's secretary. Each word had felt like lightning striking her still heart. Her father's bills… paid. All of them. Cleared without a trace. By him.
Rafael Vexley.
The very man she'd woken up beside not too long ago, her mind foggy with regret and humiliation, convinced she'd given away a part of herself she could never get back. She could still feel the icy disbelief this morning, the crushing guilt as she fled his estate.
