The black Bentley pulled into the emergency bay so abruptly that the tyres gave a short screech against the pavement.
Before the engine had fully stopped, Sebastian was already out of the driver's seat.
Hospital staff noticed immediately.
"Pregnant patient!" a nurse called as two orderlies hurried over with a stretcher.
Sebastian opened the passenger door.
Clara hadn't regained consciousness. Her head rested against the window, her breathing shallow but steady.
"I've got her," Sebastian said, sliding one arm beneath her shoulders.
"Sir, let us."
The orderlies eased Clara onto the stretcher while a nurse clipped a pulse oximeter onto her finger.
"When did she lose consciousness?"
Sebastian answered without looking up, "About fifteen minutes ago."
"Any fall? Did she hit her head?"
"No."
"Any bleeding?"
"No."
"Contractions? Abdominal pain?"
A brief pause "Not that I know of."
The nurse nodded and turned to her colleague "Let's move."
The stretcher disappeared through the automatic doors "Page obstetrics."
"Get fetal monitoring ready."
"BP's eighty eight over fifty."
The voices faded down the corridor.
Sebastian followed automatically.
A doctor intercepted him just outside the examination room "I'm sorry, sir. You'll have to wait here."
"I'm coming in."
"You can't."
"My—"
The word reached the back of his throat before he stopped it.
His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.
The doctor mistook it for ordinary concern "We need room to assess both mother and baby. We'll update you as soon as we can."
For a moment, Sebastian simply looked through the narrow glass panel in the door.
Nurses surrounded Clara. The curtain was pulled. The door closed.
He remained where he was. One hand slipped into the pocket of his coat, the other rested loosely at his side.
Anyone passing by would have seen a well dressed man waiting outside an emergency room.
Only someone watching closely would notice how rigid his shoulders had become or how his thumb pressed repeatedly against the edge of the car key hidden in his pocket.
Alaric stopped several feet away.
He said nothing neither did Sebastian.
The corridor settled into the familiar rhythm of a busy hospital.
Doctors crossed from one ward to another.
A child cried somewhere in the distance.
An announcement echoed over the speakers before fading into the background.
Sebastian kept his eyes on the closed treatment room door.
Alaric leaned lightly against the wall "You got here fast."
Sebastian didn't look at him "We were already nearby."
"Were you?"
No answer.
Another minute passed. then Alaric spoke again "How do you know her?"
Sebastian's eyes stayed on the treatment room door "I don't."
"You called her Clara."
"I heard someone say her name."
"You knew she was pregnant before anyone told you."
"I have eyes."
"You answered every question the doctors asked before they finished asking them."
"I used common sense."
Alaric nodded once "Asking about abdominal pain isn't common sense."
That earned him a look. Cold and Sharp.
Sebastian finally turned "I don't owe you an explanation."
"No."
"You've made that mistake before."
Alaric's expression didn't change.
Sebastian took one slow step closer "So let me save you some time."
His voice stayed quiet "It isn't your business."
"It became my business the moment she collapsed in front of me."
"No."
Sebastian's eyes hardened "It became your curiosity."
Alaric held his gaze "They're usually the same thing."
A humorless laugh escaped Sebastian "Still pretending you're everyone's problem to solve?"
"I'm trying to understand why a woman you supposedly don't know looked terrified the second she saw you."
Sebastian's jaw tightened "You read too much into things."
"Do I?"
Another silence settled.
Long enough for the sounds of the hospital to creep back between them.
Finally, Sebastian spoke "Listen carefully."
His tone had lost every trace of politeness "Whatever you think you saw today..."
"...forget it."
Alaric watched him without blinking "I don't think."
"No?"
"I observe."
Something flickered across Sebastian's face only for a second gone almost instantly.
Alaric noticed it anyway "You lied to Elara."
Sebastian's eyes became dangerous "Careful."
"You said you didn't know Clara."
"I said enough."
"You also lied just now."
Alaric straightened from the wall " Lying twice about the same woman usually means she's important."
Sebastian's patience finally cracked His voice dropped into something colder "You really don't know when to stop, do you?"
"No."
"I've noticed."
Sebastian stepped closer until only a foot separated them "You are not my brother."
His words landed one by one "You are a bastard."
The corridor seemed quieter after that.
Alaric didn't react; he didn't get angry or surprised at all.
He simply looked at Sebastian for a long moment then the corner of his mouth lifted almost imperceptibly "You sound nervous."
Sebastian's expression froze.
"Nervous people usually insult first." Alaric said
Neither of them looked away.
Alaric let the silence settle.
The corridor was quiet except for the muffled sounds of monitors and hurried footsteps behind the closed doors.
When he spoke again, his voice was even "You've been lying since we left Virement Apex."
Sebastian didn't answer.
"You told Elara you didn't know her."
"I said I had nothing to explain."
"That's not the same thing."
Sebastian finally looked at him "I don't discuss my private affairs with you."
"I know."
Alaric held his gaze "But you knew her name before anyone introduced her."
Sebastian's expression remained unreadable..
"You answered the doctors' questions like you'd done it before."
"A pregnant woman collapsed. They asked simple questions."
"They asked specific questions."
A beat passed.
Sebastian's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly "You've always enjoyed inventing stories from half a conversation."
"I'm not inventing anything."
"No?"
"You were worried."
For the first time, Sebastian gave a faint, humorless smile "Any decent person would be."
Alaric considered him for a moment "Maybe, but you are not a decent person."
The smile disappeared.
"Most decent people don't deny knowing someone five minutes after calling them by name."
The treatment room doors remained closed.
A nurse walked past without looking at them.
Sebastian broke the silence first "Whatever conclusion you're trying to reach..."
He adjusted the cuff of his suit before meeting Alaric's eyes again "...keep it to yourself."
Alaric said nothing.
Sebastian turned his attention back to the treatment room door.
Alaric looked at Sebastian, Neither trusted the other neither intended to leave.
By the time Elara reached the Montclair estate, the sky had turned a deep shade of blue.
The gates opened, and the familiar driveway stretched ahead of her.
Normally, the sight of home settled her.
Tonight, it didn't.
She parked the car, switched off the engine and sat there for a moment, her hands still resting on the steering wheel.
The image refused to leave her.
Clara collapsing.
Sebastian catching her.
Alaric reaching for her from the other side.
For one brief second... Clara had been standing between them.
Just like—
Elara shut her eyes "No."
She stepped out of the car before the thought could finish itself.
The front door opened before she reached it "Welcome home, Miss Elara."
She gave the housekeeper a small nod and handed over her handbag "Is Father home?"
"Yes, Miss. Everyone's waiting for dinner."
Dinner, She had forgotten "I'll be down in a minute."
She climbed the staircase slowly, intending to change first.
Halfway up, she heard Victor's voice from the dining room "There you are."
She looked over the railing.
Victor was already seated at the table, reading something on his tablet while dinner was being served.
Celeste looked up "Long day?"
Elara nodded "Long enough."
She went upstairs, changed quickly, tied her hair back and returned a few minutes later.
The dining room looked exactly as it always did.
Crystal glasses, fresh flowers, perfectly folded napkins.
Victor didn't look up from the document in front of him "How did the meeting with Sebastian go?"
Elara reached for her glass of water "It was fine."
"You delivered the revised merger documents?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"He wasn't available."
Victor finally looked up "So who received them?"
She opened her mouth to answer.
Instead... A flash A little girl crying, "Stop!"
The voice echoed through her mind so clearly that her fingers tightened around the glass.
"Elara?"
She blinked.
Victor was looking at her "What?"
"I asked who received the documents."
"...No one."
She realised how strange that sounded "I left before he arrived."
Victor studied her for a second, then nodded and returned to his meal "Probably for the best. I'll speak to him tomorrow."
Conversation moved on to business, election schedules, Upcoming charity events.
Usually, Elara contributed.
Tonight, the words drifted around her without meaning.
"...the roses in the east garden—"
Celeste set down her fork "They're blooming again."
Victor didn't respond.
Celeste smiled to herself "Alera always loved those roses."
Elara's fork slipped from her fingers. It hit the plate with a sharp metallic sound.
Another flash.
Sunlight.
A little girl laughing.
Then shouting.
Two boys arguing, "Alera!"
The memory vanished before she could catch it.
Her pulse was suddenly too loud in her ears "I'm sorry."
She pushed her chair back "I... I have a headache."
Victor frowned "You barely touched your dinner."
"I know."
"I'm just tired."
Neither of her parents stopped her.
She left the dining room before either of them could ask another question.
The hallway outside was quiet.
She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes "What is happening to me?"
For years she'd remembered almost nothing about the months before Alera died.
Doctors had called it trauma.
Her therapist had called it the mind's way of surviving.
So why now?
Why today?
She opened her eyes without thinking, she started walking not towards her bedroom towards the end of the corridor.
She didn't realise where she was going until she stopped in front of a white wooden door.
Alera's room.
Elara stared at the brass handle.
She wasn't looking for answers.
She just wanted the memories to stop slowly... She reached for the handle.