Chapter 3 - The Secret Sanctuary
hen I woke up, the sound of the freezing wind was replaced by the steady, comforting
beep of a heart monitor and the soft hiss of an oxygen machine. I was lying in a luxurious,
high-security private medical suite inside the Cross Global Headquarters. The room was warm,
smelling of eucalyptus and expensive sterile linen. I immediately looked down at my belly, my heart
stopping in panic. Standing beside my bed, Adrian Cross reached out and gently took my unbroken
hand. His face was pale from sleeplessness, but his steel eyes held a deep, comforting warmth.
“He is safe, Elena,” Adrian said softly, his voice trembling slightly. “Your son is alive. He’s in a
incubator in the adjacent room, resting. The doctors had to perform an emergency cesarean delivery
to save him. He’s a fighter, just like his mother.”
A single, hot tear rolled down my scarred cheek as a wave of pure, overwhelming relief washed
over me. “Thank you,” I whispered, my throat dry and raw. “How... how did you find me?”
“I’ve had a quiet eye on you ever since Victor Hale applied for that massive fifty-million-dollar
policy,” Adrian explained, pulling up a chair beside my bed. “A policy that size always requires my
personal authorization. When my investigators looked into your background, they uncovered your
mother’s identity, and the DNA match from the medical records confirmed you were my daughter. I
was planning to reach out to you, but then my security team flagged Victor’s sudden trip to
Blackthorn Cliff in the middle of a blizzard. We scrambled my private helicopter immediately. We
arrived just minutes after he pushed you.”
“Victor thinks I’m dead,” I said, my fingers tightening around his. “He thinks he won.”
“Let him think that,” Adrian said, a cold, dangerous smile touching his lips. “My legal team just
informed me that Victor has already filed the insurance claim. He submitted a falsified police report
claiming you slipped and fell, and that both you and the baby froze to death in the ravine. He’s
demanding an expedited settlement approval. He wants his fifty million dollars, Elena. And we are
May you like
going to give him exactly what he deserves.”
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