Chapter 82 Chapter 82
Hailey’s POV
I woke slowly, my eyelids heavy and reluctant to open. The room was dimly lit, evening light filtering through curtains I didn’t recognize. For a disoriented moment, I had no idea where I was or how much time had passed.
Then it all came rushing back the argument at breakfast, confronting Sophia, talking with my mother, and then… nothing. Just darkness.
“She’s awake,” I heard my mother’s voice, sharp with relief.
Suddenly there were people around my bed. My mother on one side, gripping my hand tightly. Benita on the other, her face pale and worried. And Damien standing at the foot of the bed, his expression carefully controlled but his eyes revealing his concern.
“What happened?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
“You fainted,” my mother said. “You’ve been unconscious for hours. We called a doctor.”
As if on cue, an older man in a white coat appeared in my line of vision. He had kind eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses, but there was something nervous about the way he held himself.
“Miss Hailey,” he said gently. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired,” I admitted. “Dizzy.”
He nodded, pulling out a small flashlight to check my eyes. “That’s to be expected. You’ve suffered severe stress and exhaustion. Your body essentially shut down to protect itself and the baby.”
“The baby?” I asked, panic flaring in my chest. “Is the baby okay?”
“The baby is fine,” the doctor assured me quickly. “Strong heartbeat, no signs of distress. But you need to understand that your body can only take so much. The level of stress you’ve been under is dangerous for both you and your child. If you continue at this pace, there could be serious complications.”
“She won’t continue at this pace,” my mother said firmly, her eyes fixed on Damien. “Because we’re making changes. Immediately.”
“You…” Damien started.
“Don’t,” my mother interrupted sharply. “Just don’t.”
The doctor cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I’m going to prescribe bed rest for the next few days. Plenty of fluids, nutritious meals, and absolutely no additional stress if it can be avoided.”
He scribbled something on a prescription pad, then handed it to my mother.
“Thank you, Doctor,” Damien said, his voice carefully polite. “Kai will escort you out.”
Two guards appeared, and to my shock, one of them pulled out a blindfold.
“What are you doing?” the doctor asked, alarm clear in his voice.
“Standard security protocol,” Kai said smoothly. “I’m sure you understand. We can’t have you knowing the exact location of this property.”
The doctor’s face went pale, but he didn’t protest as they secured the blindfold over his eyes and led him from the room.
The moment they were gone, my mother exploded.
“This is INSANE!” she shouted at Damien. “You have to blindfold doctors? You can’t even let medical professionals know where you are? How is Hailey supposed to get proper care in this environment?”
“She’ll get care,” Damien said, his voice tight. “We have doctors on call who…”
“Who have to be blindfolded and escorted like prisoners!” my mother interrupted. “This is no way to live, Damien! This is no way to raise a child! Hailey is literally making herself sick from the stress, and you’re standing there acting like this is normal!”
“I never said it was normal,” Damien shot back. “But this is the reality of our situation right now. Until the threat from the Morellis is…”
“The threat will never be gone!” my mother screamed. “There will always be another enemy, another danger, another reason why Hailey and the baby can’t have a normal life!”
“Please stop,” I said weakly, my head starting to pound. “Both of you, please just stop arguing.”
But they weren’t listening to me.
“My daughter almost died yesterday,” my mother continued, her voice breaking. “She was hunted through your home like an animal. She watched a good man die. And today she collapsed from the stress of it all. When is enough going to be enough?”
“I’m doing everything I can…”Damien started.
“IT’S NOT ENOUGH!” my mother roared.
“STOP IT!”
The shout came from Benita, so loud and fierce that everyone in the room froze.
She stood from her chair, her hands clenched into fists at her sides, her face flushed with anger.
“Just STOP!” she continued, her voice shaking. “Both of you! You’re supposed to be adults! You’re supposed to care about Hailey! And all you’re doing is making everything WORSE!”
She turned to look at my mother. “Mrs. Cooper, I get it. You’re scared. You want to protect Hailey. But screaming at Damien isn’t helping.”
Then she looked at Damien. “And you need to accept that what you’re offering isn’t good enough. Hailey needs safety, real safety, not just armed guards and safe houses with bad memories.”
Her voice broke on the last words, and I saw tears start to stream down her face.
“She needs to not feel like she’s going to die every single day,” Benita continued, her voice dropping to something quieter but no less intense. “She needs to not wake up terrified. She needs to not wonder if today is the day the Morellis finally succeed in killing her.”
The room fell silent.
Looking at Benita now, I realized something had fundamentally changed in her. The bubbly, vibrant girl who’d been my best friend was gone. In her place was someone harder, colder, shaped by grief and fear into something I barely recognized.
Was this just grief? Just the immediate aftermath of losing Marco?
“You’re right,” my mother said quietly, her anger deflating. “I’m sorry, Hailey. I shouldn’t have been fighting in front of you.”
“I’m sorry too,” Damien said, though his eyes never left my face. “I’ll… I’ll leave you to rest.”
He turned and walked out without another word, without coming closer, without touching me or saying anything comforting.
Just scanning me from a distance like I was a problem he needed to solve rather than someone he cared about.
“Weird,” my mother muttered, watching him go. “He’s acting so weird.”
She turned back to me, her expression softening. “Come on, Benita. Let’s let Hailey rest. She needs sleep.”
“Okay,” Benita said quietly, giving my hand one last squeeze before following my mother out.
The door closed behind them, and I was left alone in the dim room.
I tried to settle back into the pillows, tried to close my eyes and sleep like the doctor had ordered.
But the moment I closed my eyes, the nightmares started.
Gunfire. Screaming. Running through hallways while bullets tore through walls around me. Tyler’s cold smile as he pointed his gun at us. Marco’s body on the ground. Blood spreading across pristine marble floors.
I gasped, my eyes flying open, my heart racing.
The room was darker now, full night having fallen while I’d been trying to sleep.
I reached for the lamp beside the bed, but before I could turn it on, the overhead light suddenly flicked on.
I nearly screamed, my hand flying to my chest.
Sophia stood by the light switch, her expression unreadable. She was still wearing yesterday’s clothes, her hair unbrushed, dark circles under her eyes that matched mine.
We stared at each other for a long moment, neither of us speaking.
Then Sophia moved slowly across the room, her hand extended.
She was holding something. A chocolate bar, expensive-looking, the kind with gold foil wrapping.
She set it on the nightstand beside my bed without a word, then turned and walked back toward the door.
“Wait,” I said, my voice hoarse. “Sophia, what….”
But she was already gone, the door clicking shut behind her, leaving me alone with the chocolate bar.
I stared at it, my heart still pounding.
Was this an apology? A peace offering? Some kind of acknowledgment of what had happened?
Or was it something else entirely?
I reached for it slowly, my hand hovering over the gold foil.
Then I stopped.
Paranoia flooded through me, cold and immediate.
Sophia had tried to have me poisoned. Had brought Tyler into our home specifically to kill me. Had given him access and information and opportunity.
And now she was leaving me food?
My hand snapped back like I’d been burned.
No. No way.
I grabbed the chocolate bar and threw it across the room, watching it hit the wall and fall to the floor.