Chapter 255

Chapter 255

But Elena quickly dismissed the idea.

Two guards stood at the door. Outside was the middle of nowhere—at least a fifteen-minute drive. They'd catch up to her in no time.

And Nora was running a fever. She couldn't handle being dragged around.

Reason yanked hard on the leash of her impulse.

No. She couldn't force it.

She had to wait for an opening.

Just as her mind raced through possibilities, Indigo's voice cut in from behind her.

"All right, Ms. Reed. You've seen her. The kid's fine—all her fingers and toes intact. Time for us to step outside and talk business."

He jerked his chin at one of the guards.

The man stepped forward immediately, reaching out to take Nora from Elena's arms.

"Don't touch her!"

Elena instinctively tightened her hold on Nora and took a step back, eyes locked on the approaching guard.

Nora let out a wail, burying her face in Elena's neck, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.

"Mommy, I don't want to leave you. I want to go with you..."

Nora's cries stabbed straight into Elena's heart.

Her head went hot. Reason, strategy—all of it vanished. She turned and headed for the door with Nora in her arms.

She couldn't leave Nora in this godforsaken place anymore.

"Stop her!"

Indigo's face darkened. He let out a cold laugh and waved his hand.

Several guards immediately moved to block the doorway. The air snapped tight with tension.

Elena clutched Nora close. Then, from outside, came the sharp wail of sirens—distant at first, then growing louder and clearer.

Indigo's expression changed in an instant. He whipped around to glare at Elena, his eyes venomous.

"You called the cops?"

"I didn't—"

Before Elena could finish, Indigo spat out a curse and lunged toward the wall, slamming his hand down on a red button.

With a grinding roar of gears, the heavy rolling shutter at the entrance began to descend, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Elena's heart sank.

Once that shutter closed completely, the abandoned factory would become a sealed metal box. The police wouldn't be able to get in anytime soon.

Indigo was cornered. There was no telling what he'd do now. She and Nora would be in real danger.

She took half a step back, holding Nora tighter, her pulse hammering in her throat.

Just as the shutter was about to slam shut—only a narrow gap remaining—a pair of hands reached through from outside, fingers locking onto the bottom edge.

A low grunt followed. Then, impossibly, the descending shutter was forced upward from the outside, stopping at about waist height.

It was Kian.

His face was smudged with dust. His shirt collar hung open, his hair disheveled.

"Elena, take Nora and go! Now!"

He braced his shoulder against the shutter, holding it up to clear a path for her.

Elena froze for a second. Then, without thinking, she ducked down and rushed through with Nora in her arms.

As she brushed past him, she caught the familiar scent of cold pine.

She ran out of the factory. Outside, just as she'd heard, several police cars were parked with their lights flashing, officers rushing toward the building.

She'd barely begun to feel relief when a dull 'bang' echoed from behind her—the sound of a makeshift firearm going off.

Elena spun around.

Kian's body swayed. The left shoulder of his shirt bloomed red, the dark fabric soaking through with a spreading stain of blood.

Elena stood frozen, her arms tightening around Nora. Her heart felt like it had been struck by something heavy. For a long moment, she couldn't move.

---

Hospital.

The smell of disinfectant hung thick in the hallway.

Elena had just finished Nora's basic checkup and settled into a chair in the hospital room when two police officers walked in to take her statement.

"Ms. Reed, can you walk us through what happened? How did Indigo contact you? Did he make any specific demands?"

The officer's tone was gentle, but Elena's mind was a tangled mess. Her gaze kept drifting toward the operating room at the end of the hall.

When they'd wheeled Kian in earlier, half his shirt had been soaked through with blood.

The image kept flashing in her mind, over and over. She couldn't shake it.

It felt absurd, even to her.

She'd hated him for five years. Avoided him for five years.

But the moment she saw him take that bullet to shield her, her heart had been gripped by an invisible hand, suffocating her.

"Ms. Reed?" The officer called her name again softly.

"Ah... sorry."

Elena snapped back to attention and forced herself to focus. She recounted everything—Indigo's phone call, the meeting at the factory, his proposal to team up against Kian, and his attempt to hold Nora hostage.

The officers had just finished taking her statement when Dr. White walked in, stethoscope in hand. He'd come specifically to recheck Nora.

He listened carefully to Nora's lungs and checked her temperature.

"She's fine. Just a little rattled, which caused a low-grade fever. Once the inflammation goes down, she'll be good as new. We'll keep her under observation for a couple of days. If she's stable, she can go home."

Elena exhaled in relief and thanked him repeatedly.

Dr. White nodded and turned to leave for the next room. He'd only taken a few steps when Elena's voice stopped him.

"Dr. White."

Her voice sounded dry.

"Kian... how is he? Is it serious?"

Dr. White paused and turned back. He saw the worry she couldn't quite hide in her eyes and let out a quiet sigh.

"It's not looking great."

"The homemade bullet fragmented. The wound is deep, and there's rust contamination, so there's a risk of infection."

"The surgery took over three hours. They got the fragments out, but he hasn't woken up yet. We'll need to monitor him for the next twenty-four hours."

He hesitated, then his tone grew heavier.

"And it's not just about this gunshot wound."

"Mr. Lancaster's health has been deteriorating for years. He's been hospitalized twice for bleeding ulcers. This injury just makes everything worse."

Elena stared at him, stunned.

The Kian she remembered had always been calm, strong, untouchable—like he never got tired, never got sick.

She'd never imagined he'd push himself this far.

Dr. White watched her stunned expression. After a few seconds of hesitation, he spoke again.

"There's something I've kept from you for five years. I think it's time you knew."

"The reason I've been able to come to Astoria so often to check on you—it was all arranged by Mr. Lancaster."

"He gave me extended leave, covered all my travel and medical expenses, and specifically told me not to let you know. He said I should just tell you I was passing through."

The room fell silent.

Elena's fingers slowly released Dr. White's white coat. Her hands dropped to her sides, fingertips tingling faintly.

The block of ice that had been frozen solid in her chest for five years felt like it had been struck by something. A hairline crack appeared, silent and unseen.

She turned her face toward the window, her voice hoarse.

"I understand. Thank you, Dr. White."

She didn't say much, but her hand gripping the hem of her shirt tightened more and more.

Meanwhile, at the police station interrogation room.

Indigo sat in his chair, legs crossed, looking calm and innocent. Not a trace of panic.

When the officers asked about kidnapping the child, he shook his head vigorously, denying everything and distancing himself from it all.