My eyes jerked open, meeting the high ceiling. For the past few days, I had been slipping in and out of consciousness, but today, it felt like my soul had been punched back inside my body.
I blinked several times to clear my vision; the first thing I noticed was the sound of the heart monitor beeping in the heavy silence. I slowly turned my head to the left.
There were white curtains shielding the daylight, an empty chair at the side of the bed, as if someone had just been sitting there recently, and above me was a crystal chandelier.
Where was I?
I tried to sit up, but my body wouldn't cooperate. My head throbbed, my throat burned, and my limbs felt as though they were held down with rocks.
Slowly, memories of that night flooded my head. I vividly remembered running away from the estate after I overheard my stepmother and Claudia discussing marrying me off to an old man across the country. But I was caught in my escape and chased by my half-sister, Claudia. I had fallen off a cliff and dropped into the water; everything that happened next was a blur.
Suddenly, the door creaked open. I shut my eyes and held my breath as I heard two people enter the room. One of them moved closer to my bed and adjusted something on my IV.
"How is she?"
"She's out of danger. I believe she will wake up soon."
"Does her heart condition still need urgent care?"
"It is chronic. It can be controlled with medication."
It fell silent for a while before the other man came closer and placed his fingers on my forehead. It felt warm, yet cold.
"I hope you wake up soon," he muttered. He must have been the one who pulled me out of the water, but why? How did he even witness it? A part of me was grateful to be alive. But another part, the part that had long grown tired of everything, wished I hadn't. If I could, I would have begged him to leave me alone to die.
"You should keep her checked. I have to leave." And after that, footsteps receded, then the door shut.
****
"She is Steele's daughter." Ethan's words hung in the air, hitting Alexander like a cruel punch in his gut.
"Say that again."
"That girl. Anna Steele. She's George Steele's daughter."
Alexander slowly turned around, his blue eyes meeting Ethan's. "That white-haired thing I pulled out of the water is 'his' daughter?"
"Yes," Ethan confirmed. "I double-checked the hospital records. There's no mistake."
Alexander chuckled humorlessly. This must be some kind of expensive joke. It had to be. Of all people in the world, it had to be her? Why?
"I should have left her," he said in an icy tone. Yes, he should. How could he go through so much trouble to rescue the daughter of a man he spent his whole life planning to destroy, the bastard who killed his mother and rendered his life a living nightmare? "I would have let her drown."
Ethan's brows furrowed, but he didn't speak. He knew better than to interrupt Alexander when he was like this.
"I spent ten years, ten whole years rebuilding everything that man took from me," he paused. "And now, his daughter is under my roof, breathing my air, under my care."
He turned his back to Ethan, clenching his jaw to suppress the anger and frustration. "Do you know what that means? I saved something I should have destroyed along with her kind, something that George probably values."
Ethan tilted his head slightly. "Do you think he cares about her?"
"It doesn't matter if he cares or not. She's a Steele. Her father's blood runs in her veins," Alexander said, and the room went quiet for a moment.
"What do you plan to do with her?" Ethan asked, breaking the awkward silence.
He didn't respond immediately and just walked back to the desk and sat down. What would he probably do with her? He had no use for her.
"I will send her back."
"But you won't," Ethan said.
Alexander's gaze flicked up to him. "Why not?"
"Because you know she's worth more to you here."
"She's a liability," he said.
"She's leverage," Ethan corrected. "If you play this card right, she could be the perfect tool to bring Steele down. You have spent ten years planning his destruction. This could be the final piece of the puzzle. Who knows if this was destiny?"
Alexander's gaze narrowed as he considered Ethan's words. He hated the idea of keeping her here. He hated the thought of her existence being tied to his in any way. But the longer he thought about it, the more he realized Ethan was right.
She wasn't just a liability; she was an opportunity too.
"Fine," he finally said. "She stays. But she stays on 'my' terms."
"And what are those terms?"
Alexander straightened, a dark glint flashing through his eyes. "She will sign a contract. Six months, that's all I need of her. And if she refuses…"
Ethan gave a small nod, already knowing what the implications his boss meant. "Understood."
"Good. Now get the two papers ready. One for George's real estate license and the other for his precious daughter."
"Alright, boss," Ethan bowed slightly before leaving the room.
After Ethan left, Alexander grabbed the bottle of wine on the table and poured some into a glass before taking it to his lips. He was disappointed. Disappointed in himself for thinking he had George Steele's whole world at the tip of his fingers, only to be thrown into another discovery of a second daughter that probably belonged to him. Why didn't he know she existed all this while? Why did George hide her from the public? And how did she end up in the river three nights ago? All these thoughts kept going back and forth in his head, but he didn't care to find answers to them because none of them mattered. What mattered now was that the white-haired thing would serve a purpose.
He didn't regret saving her anymore. Not entirely, though. Her father had done worse to him. And now, fate, or rather a cruel twist of it, had handed him something in return: his daughter.