Chapter 199
The sterile hum of the hospital room droned on like a cold, unfeeling anthem, interrupted only by the rhythmic beeping of monitors struggling to keep pace with Eliana’s fragile pulse. Harsh fluorescent light washed the walls in a muted glow, but nothing softened the heaviness in the air.
Rafael Vexley sat anchored beside her bed, his wheelchair pulled so close his knees nearly touched the mattress. His steel eyes—dulled behind the cloudy contacts he wore to maintain his anonymity—never strayed from her face. The world knew him as a man carved from stone, a billionaire recluse who controlled empires with the subtle flick of a signature. Yet here, beside the woman who had melted every layer of armor he’d built, that control felt pitifully small. It slipped from him like sand pouring through open fingers.
Eliana seemed almost swallowed by the crisp white sheets, her slender body still and fragile, her long black curls fanned out across the pillow like a dark, tangled halo. Her warm brown skin—usually luminous with life—looked pale and waxen. Even in sleep, her parted lips carried the echo of pain. The sight of her like this tore something deep inside him, something he couldn’t silence no matter how fiercely he tried.
Rafael’s posture, once commanding even in stillness, had collapsed into a defeated hunch. His broad shoulders trembled. His jaw—sharp enough to cut glass—was tight with anguish he no longer attempted to mask. Hot tears streamed continuously down his face, tracing desperate lines over the features the world believed incapable of cracking. He didn’t wipe them away. There was no room for pride here. Not when the woman who had become his lifeline lay fighting for two.
“Eliana,” he whispered, the word cracking on his tongue. His voice was raw, strained, threaded with the kind of fear that snatches breath right out of a man’s chest. “Please… you have to fight. For us. For everything we clawed our way through to get here p>
His large hand closed around hers, enveloping her smaller fingers completely. He rubbed slow circles over her knuckles—soft, almost pleading—as though he could guide her back to him through touch alone.
Across the room, James stood by the door like a guardian who couldn’t protect the one person he desperately wanted to. His usually sharp expression had softened, grief tucked into the corners of his eyes. Adjusting his glasses, he took in Rafael’s crumbling composure, then stepped forward.
“Rafael,” he murmured, voice gentle but steady, “you need to rest. You’ve been here for hours p>
His words hung in the air—an invitation, a warning, a kindness Rafael wasn’t sure he could process.
Rafael’s head snapped up so fast the muscles in his neck tightened, his usual stoic mask cracking wide open. His voice came out low and guttural, scraped raw by fear and rage. “Rest? How can I rest, James? Look at her.” His gaze drifted back to Eliana, his eyes burning. “She’s everything to me now. Everything. And that witch His breath hitched, fury choking him. “If Mirabel is behind this p>
His fists curled in his lap, knuckles blanching, legs forgotten entirely as the instinct to move surged beneath the façade he’d maintained for years.
James stepped closer, lowering his voice to something steady, grounding. “About that—should I call Jax? He’s been hovering outside, waiting for your signal p>
Rafael’s jaw flexed. He nodded once, sharp and absolute. “Do it. I need confirmation. Now p>
James didn’t waste a second. He pulled out his phone, fingers flying across the screen.
“Jax, come in. Rafael needs an update p>
The door opened with a soft groan, and Jax stepped inside, the air shifting with him. He moved with deliberate, almost predatory control—every footstep silent, every glance calculated. His sharp eyes scanned Eliana’s still figure before locking onto Rafael.
“Boss,” he greeted quietly, closing the door behind him. “What’s the word p>
Rafael leaned forward in his chair, the intensity of his stare enough to flay a lesser man alive. “Tell me, Jax. Is it her? Did Mirabel order the hit on Eliana and her father p>
For a split second—just a breath—Jax hesitated. His expression tightened, hardened like metal cooling under pressure.
“Yes,” he said finally, voice dropping. “We traced the vehicle. Stolen plates, but the driver was one of her low-level hires. Oliver shadowed him after he ditched the car—he led us straight to one of your own safe houses here in London that Mirabel’s been using behind your back p>
Rafael’s eyes glinted with lethal fury.
Jax continued, “And Will cracked the comms. It was a direct order from Mirabel. She told them to ’send a message’—to scare Eliana back into submission to her demands.” His jaw clenched. “But something went wrong. Frank tried to intervene. They didn’t expect him to be there p>
Rafael’s breath hitched, his steel eyes blazing even through the foggy lenses. His hands gripped the armrests of his wheelchair until the metal groaned. “That cold-hearted bitch,” he snarled, his voice rising in a crescendo of fury. “She targeted my family! Eliana, the baby, Frank—they’re mine to protect, and she dares He slammed his fist down on the chair’s arm, the sound echoing like a thunderclap. Tears mingled with sweat on his face, his composure fracturing further. “I’ve held back too long, playing this game of shadows. No more. She’s crossed the line p>
James exchanged a glance with Jax, his tone measured. “What do you want us to do, sir p>
Rafael’s voice dropped to a deadly calm, his sarcasm biting through the pain. “Begin the preparations, James. Everything we’ve gathered—the evidence, the witnesses, the financial trails. We’re taking her down. No mercy. Jax, tighten the net around her. I want her isolated, exposed. She thinks she’s the matriarch? I’ll show her what real power looks like p>
Jax nodded, his expression grim. “Consider it done. My team’s already on it—Oliver’s melting into her circles, Liam’s reading her moves. We’ll have her cornered p>
As Jax slipped out, letting the door sigh shut behind him, the room seemed to shrink. The silence pressed in on Rafael from all sides. He sagged back into his wheelchair, every bit of fight leaking out of him, his gaze pulled helplessly back to Eliana.
Her stillness hit him like a physical blow.
His throat tightened until breathing felt like punishment. A fresh surge of tears blurred his vision, spilling over even as he tried—weakly, uselessly—to blink them away.
“Damn it he whispered, voice unraveling. “If only she’d agreed to marry me p>
James’s head lifted slightly, eyes softening, but Rafael pushed on, the words trembling out of him.
“Protecting her would’ve been easier. So much easier.” His fingers dug into the armrest as guilt clawed at him. “I could’ve put her under the spotlight, surrounded her with press, cameras, security—made her untouchable. Mirabel wouldn’t have dared to breathe in her direction p>
Emotion cracked through every syllable. His breath shuddered.
“But no,” he choked, bitterness aimed at himself more than anything. “I had to play the invalid. Had to cling to the shadows. Had to keep up this damn lie.” His voice broke entirely. “And now… look what it’s cost us p>
To be continued p>