ra looked like she''d just stepped out of a rainstorm, her hair damp and her skin sticky with sweat. "Can you get me some painkillers, please?" she asked quietly, her voice thin with exhaustion.

    The housekeeper hurried off and came back with a couple of pills and a ss of water.

    ra swallowed them, then let herself sink back onto the bed.

    She''d been feeling off for days now. Little shes of memory kept flickering through her mind, never staying long enough to make sense. She couldn''t shake the feeling that something important was about to surface.

    Tonight, after Megan''s pointed words, her head was throbbing so badly she could barely think straight.

    Dn sat by her bedside in silence, watching her.

    ra didn''t have the energy to ask any of the million questions swirling in her head: Was Walter okay? Why had Dn shown up so suddenly? Why hadn''t the old man''s people made a move tonight like everyone expected?

    There were just too many questions. It was overwhelming.

    The room was quiet. The housekeeper slipped in and spoke in a low voice, "Sir, aren''t you going to get some sleep?"

    Dn looked out the window, where night pressed against the ss. It was four in the morning, and there was still over an hour before sunrise.

    "No," he said simply.

    The housekeeper seemed like she wanted to say more, but she just nodded and left, closing the door softly behind her.

    Dn stayed there until seven, not taking his eyes off ra until she finally woke up.

    But she only managed to keep her eyes open for a few seconds before they fluttered shut again, her body too tired to fight it.

    He curled his hand into a fist, then let it go, repeating the motion again and again, restless and tense.

    By noon, the housekeeper knocked gently. "Sir, you should eat something. Your stomach''s acting up again."

    Dn lowered his gaze, pressing a hand to his stomach.

    It did hurt. He''d barely slept or eaten, too busy dealing with the mess at Ferguson Corporation.

    He didn''t respond. The housekeeper just sighed, things used to be different he always listened to Mrs. Ferguson. Now, with her

    unconscious and Aiden mic not

    the

    whole Palm Bay estate felt cold and empty. It was unsettling.

    ra stayed in bed for two days. When she finally woke up for real, Dn was gone.

    She hurried through washing up, went downstairs, and forced herself to eat a little. Then she turned to the housekeeper.

    "When did Dn leave?"

    The housekeeper shook her head. "Ma''am, I''ve been wanting to

    say-you and Mr. Ferguson should really talk things out. You were. unconscious for two days, and he watched over you the whole time. His stomach started bothering him again, but he refused to take his medicine. He left just half an hour ago. I don''t know where he went."

    ra stared down at her soup, not sure what to say.

    She finished eating, took out her phone, and hesitated.

    She honestly didn''t know what was going on with Dn. He''d stayed by her side

    for two days. Did that mean he remembered?

    But he hadn''t said a word to her. Did he remember, or not?

    She stared at her phone for a long time before finally calling him.

    This time, it wasn''t his assistant who picked up. It was Dn himself.

    "What is it?"

    His tone was t, giving nothing away.

    ra suddenly remembered the other night-how she''d torn apart the study, searching for whatever Megan had hinted at. Dn had seen the whole thing. He must''ve been hurt, thinking she didn''t trust him.