The antiseptic smell of the hospital room felt suffocating as Mark closed the door behind him. He looked nothing like she remembered; his uniform was rumpled, his movements stiff from the lingering injuries of the shipyard ambush, and his gaze remained firmly fixed to the sterile floor.
"Where's Adrian?" Ivy asked sharply. "Why are you standing here instead of him?"
Mark let out a heavy breath and finally raised his eyes to meet hers. They were filled with guilt.
"He isn't hiding from you, Miss Hayes," he began, his voice trembling slightly. "Not long ago, following the false lead about Alex's whereabouts, he rushed into an abandoned shipyard, not knowing it was a trap. He was heavily ambushed by a dozen rogues, and during the struggle, he took a severe blow to the back of his h
