THE BILLIONAIRE'S BETRAYED BRIDE

CHAPTER SEVEN

Sunhee was halfway through a glass of wine when her phone rang.

She almost didn't answer it an unknown number, probably a scam. But something made her pick up anyway.

"Hello?"

"Is this Sunhee Park? I'm calling from Seoul General. Your sister was brought in a while ago

She had a fall, a fracture, and she lost consciousness on the way here."

The wine glass slipped from Sunhee's hand and hit the counter,Wine spread dark across the marble.

"What? What do you mean by unconscious? Is she"

"She's stable, but you should come as soon as you can. She also asked us to reach her son."

Sunhee was already moving, grabbing her keys with a shaking hand, barely remembering to end the call before she was dialing again.

Alexander picked up on the second ring.

"Aunt Sunhee?"

"It's your mother." Her voice cracked. "She's in the hospital. Seoul General She fell, Alexander; they said she's unconscious; you need to"

"I'm leaving now."

The line went dead before she'd even finished the sentence.

Alexander didn't remember grabbing his keys. He didn't remember the elevator ride down, or getting into his car, or the first several blocks of the drive. His mind had gone somewhere far away. The only thing cutting through it was his aunt's voice.

Unconscious.

He sped through the highway; part of him knew he was driving too fast, that this was reckless. He pushed the thought away and kept driving.

She was fine two nights ago. She made japchae. She told me to be careful.

He'd told her he would be.

His hands gripped the wheel hard enough that his knuckles had gone white by the time he reached the hospital. Tires screeched as he pulled into the emergency entrance. He didn't bother finding a proper space. He just left the car half-parked and ran for the doors.

"My mother", he said the moment he reached the front desk. "Hayes. She was brought in after a fall; a fracture, she was unconscious"

The nurse's eyes lit up at the name. Everyone knew the name Hayes in this city

"Mr Hayes, of course. Right this way" She was already coming around the desk, waving over a colleague to take her place. "Your mother's been moved to a private room. Dr Kang is overseeing her treatment personally. I'll take you up now."

Alexander barely noticed the shift in treatment, the doors that opened faster for him than anyone else, the second nurse who appeared to walk half a step behind. None of it mattered. All that mattered was the word unconscious, still echoing louder than anything else in the building.

He followed her up in a private elevator, down a quiet hallway with far fewer people than the floor below, until she stopped outside a closed door and pointed to a small seating area beside it.

"Dr Kang will come speak with you the moment there's an update," she said. "She's stable, M Hayes. Truly, please sit"

Alexander didn't sit. He stood there staring at the closed door until movement in the seating area caught his eye.

A young woman sat alone against the wall, knees drawn up, like she was waiting for news about someone she barely knew and still couldn't leave. Dark hair. A worn backpack at her feet, out of place against the polished floors of the private wing. Something about her tugged at a memory he couldn't place.

She looked up and caught him staring.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

"Are you", she started, unsure. "Are you her son?"

You know my mother?

"I don't know, not exactly" She stood slowly, wringing her hands. "I found her on the floor of a grocery store. I called the ambulance. I rode here with her because she didn't have anyone else, and I didn't want to leave her"

"You stayed with her." It wasn't a question. Something in him, wound tight since the phone rang, loosened a little. "The whole time?"

"The whole time."

He looked at her properly then. Something about her face, the way she stood, tugged at the edge of his mind again. Faint. Gone before he could grab hold of it.

"Thank you," he said, the words rougher than he meant. "I don't I don't know how to thank you enough."

"You don't have to thank me." She glanced toward the door his mother had disappeared through. "I just wanted to make sure she wasn't alone."

Before he could answer, the door beside them opened, and a doctor in a white coat stepped out, already searching for him.

"Mr. Hayes."

Alexander was at the doctor's side in an instant, his heart in his throat, the strange, half-formed recognition of the woman behind him forgotten for now beneath the much larger fear of what the doctor was about to say.