CHAPTER 40: WHAT HAPPENED IN THE HOOD.

The constant beeping of the heart monitor woke me up from my peaceful slumber, and when I opened my eyes, the first thing I noticed was the high ceiling and crystal chandeliers hanging above my head. The room was bright and smelled of antiseptic, and the white curtains... They looked familiar. This place looked familiar. Then, it clicked and my eyes widened.

It was the same place I woke up from after falling into the river about two months ago. How did I end up here?

I tried to move my body, but couldn’t. There was pain everywhere. My head throbbed, my chest felt heavy and my limbs felt weak.

Touching my head, I noticed the rough texture of bandage wrapped around my skull, and under my hospital gown, I could feel two defibrillator pads attached to my chest.

Suddenly, memories came rushing in. I remembered returning from visiting my mother, then our car was hit by a van.. What happened after that? And my mother...? My stomach twisted in panic as I thought of what might happen to her. Was she alright?

Despite the pain, I forced myself to sit up on the bed and swung my feet over the side of the bed. I didn’t know where I was going, but somehow I needed to be sure that nothing bad had happened to my mother.

Just as I was about to push myself up, a voice suddenly came into the room.

"Where do you think you are going?"

I froze, my head snapping towards the source of the voice.

And there was The Satan... Alexander.

He was standing by the wall-length window with his hands in his pocket. His face was calm and devoid of any emotions.

"What... are you doing here....?" I managed to ask with my cracked voice.

"Imagine asking a house owner what he’s doing in his own house," he casually said.

Wait... his house?

"Did... Did you save me?" I asked, staring at him with a frown.

He shrugged as if to say ’isn’t it obvious’.

"If not me, then who?"

For some reason, his response made my blood boil. Was he implying that he was the only one who could save me?

"I never asked you to save me. I would rather die if you were to be the last person in this world," I spat.

His expression remained unfazed, but knew my words hurt his ego, and I wanted to continue. "Besides, why did you save me? Isn’t this what you wanted? For me and my family to disappear? Why didn’t you just let me die?"

He removed his hands from his pocket and began to move slowly and deliberately towards me. As he drew closer, my anger melted away, replaced by fear. My body leaned back on its own, but I forced myself to sit tall, and told myself not to show him any sign that I was afraid of him.

Standing in front of me, he grabbed my jaw, firmly but not rough, then lifted my chin so that I could look straight into his midnight blue eyes.

"I saved you..." he began. "So that I could kill you with my own hands."

A shiver crept down my spine.

Then he continued, "If I let you die like that, you win. And I don’t let anyone win over me."

"So, do me a favour and heal completely. Because when I kill you, I want it to be satisfying. I don’t deal with scraps. I like my things full and with life."

I felt the blood rush back into my face once he released my jaw. He took a step back and nodded towards the landline telephone next to my bed. "If you need anything, call the number. They will bring it to you."

And with that, he turned and walked out of the room, leaving me alone.

I sat there, completely confused. One moment, he was threatening to kill me, and the other moment, he was offering help. Or maybe he was helping me so that he could kill me in return, just like he said. I couldn’t trust him at all.

****

"What did you find on the CCTV footage?"

"Quite interesting. The accident didn’t look natural," Ethan replied.

They were both in Alexander’s bedroom. Ethan was standing a few feet away, looking skeptical, while Alexander leaned against the table in his sleeping robe.

"What did you mean?" Alexander asked.

"I mean... the white van was parked at the roadside, but suddenly picked up when he saw the car your wife was in. It was as if he was waiting for her," Ethan explained.

Alexander nodded thoughtfully. He also had the same doubt, because immediately after the crash, the driver of the van zoomed off. But what he still didn’t understand was who would do such a thing to her. As much as he knew, no one even knew she existed. Basically, she has no enemies. So who was after her?

"It’s strange, right?" Ethan crossed his arms around his chest, then made a questioning look at Alexander. "Who do you think it might be?" he asked.

"No idea." Alexander slowly shook his head. "It couldn’t be her family. They won’t harm her now that they think she could help them."

"I guess..." Ethan nodded. "What about her half-sister, though? I don’t trust her..."

"It can’t be. There is no reason why her half-sister would want to kill her."

"Boss, you literally forgot you broke the engagement with her. She might be angry and want to take it out on your wife. Besides, she once left her to drown to death in the river. So..."

Right. But even though Claudia was angry, he didn’t think she would want to get rid of her sister just because he broke their engagement. Anyway, whatever it was, it had to be investigated.

"No false claims. Just run the investigation and keep me updated."

Ethan nodded in response. Just as he was about to leave, the door flew open and Linda stormed in.

Her red hair looked like a bird nest and her face wasn’t plastered with tons of makeup, which was rare. It was as if she raced down there in the middle of a deep slumber.

Ethan, sensing the rage emanating from her, glanced at Alexander with a half smile, as if to tell him ’Good luck’, then silently escaped the room.

"Why did you take her there?" Linda spat as soon as the door closed behind Ethan.

"Take who where?"

"Take George Steele’s daughter to the vacation home," she clarified, distastefully. "You bought that place for ’only’ the two of us to spend time in. You said no other person was allowed there except me. Then why her of all people?"

"Calm yourself, Linda," Alexander said in a low tone. He didn’t know how she found out about Anna recuperating in the vacation home, but he knew this was going to be hell.

"How can I... calm myself?" Her voice cracked as she looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Have you forgotten what her father did to you?" She took a step closer to him. "Have you forgotten what happened at the hood?"

Suddenly, she closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around him. Alexander’s body stiffened. He hated being touched, he had warned her several times never to do that to him. Why would she never listen? But thankfully, he didn’t push her away and let her be as she cried in his chest.

"Don’t forget about what happened to your mother, how she was killed, and what happened to Noura."