Melissa slowly stood up from the hospital bed as Alec’s presence loomed behind her like a shadow she couldn’t outrun. Her heart pounded inside her ribcage as she wiped her tears and turned to face him. The ICU was silent except for the soft beeping of machines, but the tension between them screamed louder than anything.
Alec stood a few feet away, his chest rising and falling with sharp, shallow breaths. His expensive suit was perfectly in place, but his eyes were anything but composed. They were blazing. Ferocious. Every flicker of fire inside them screamed of betrayal, rage, and something deeper—hurt. The kind of hurt a man like Alec Blackwood would never admit.
Melissa instinctively took a small step back, afraid of what he might do—not because he would hurt her physically, but becaus
