The Billionaire’s Hidden Rose

Chapter 2: Unraveling Truths

Austin’s expression faltered, his guilt making his eyes dull. But he didn’t say a word.

Anna felt her anger ignite. She wiped away the tears that had begun to fall, her voice breaking as she confronted him. “What about me, Austin? Did you ever think of me? What about my innocence? My life? "What about everything Geena has done to me?”

Austin was silent, his face pale. Slowly, he reached out to Anna, his hand trembling. “I know you’re in pain. Let me take you to the hospital. "We’ll figure it out, I swear…”

But Anna couldn’t listen anymore. She pulled away from his outstretched hand, her voice rising. “Don’t touch me!” she screamed, her voice echoing in the cold air.

She started to laugh, but it wasn’t a joyful laugh. It was manic, almost as if she had lost her grip on reality. The laughter was sharp, bitter, and hollow. She had worked so hard to please Austin. She had sacrificed everything …. Her dreams, her family …. Just to fit into his world. And now, she realized, she had nothing.

“Do you think I’ve lived my whole life for nothing?” she cried, her voice breaking. I gave up everything for you, Austin. My family, my dreams. And now you’ve taken everything from me. Geena has stolen my identity, my parents, and now she’s taken my future. And you… you’ve chosen her.”

Geena, standing behind Austin, watched the scene unfold, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

Austin looked at Anna, his heart torn, but his gaze still fixed on Geena. “Anna, I never wanted to hurt you, but Geena …...”

Before he could finish, Anna turned and walked toward the street. The sound of tires screeching filled the air as she stepped into the road, oblivious to the world around her.

“Anna!” Austin shouted, but it was too late. As he moved to run after her, Geena grabbed his arm.

“Austin! Don’t!” she cried, pulling him back.

But in the split second of hesitation, everything changed. A loud crash echoed through the night, followed by the sound of screeching metal. Anna was struck.

Austin’s heart stopped as he watched Anna collapse to the ground. Blood spilled onto the pavement, the world around her turned into darkness.

The coldness seeped into Anna’s body like ink in water, slow and unstoppable. Her blood felt like it had turned to ice, her fingers numb, her heartbeat faint. Consciousness slipped from her grasp like a silk scarf caught in the wind.

Sirens wailed in the distance, faint and fading, like echoes from another world. Somewhere nearby, she could barely register Austin’s panicked shouting, Geena’s false sobbing, her mother’s heartbroken cries. Voices blurred into meaningless noise. Her world spun. She could feel the betrayal, the heartbreak and the pain. She felt so bitter because all this was too much. It was too sharp, heavy and cruel for a girl like her.

Maybe this was better. Maybe fading into the darkness would set her free from this torment. The people she trusted the most had destroyed her. What more did life have to offer her now?

A soft, broken whisper left her lips.

“I’m sorry… baby…”

When Anna finally closed her eyes, she was sure she would never open them again.

******

Hours passed.

Inside the sterile white walls of the emergency room, a team of doctors worked frantically under harsh fluorescent lights. Anna’s body, bloodied and still, lay motionless on the operating table. Monitors beeped in rhythmic tension, counting down her dwindling chances.

But then…

Flat line.

The shrill, unbroken beep filled the room. A sound that no medical team ever wanted to hear.

“She’s gone,” one of the doctors said grimly, her voice taut with exhaustion and defeat. He pulled off his gloves with a sigh: “Time of death: 2:17 AM.”

Nurses bowed their heads, the atmosphere was heavy and suffocating.

None of them noticed the quiet figure watching from the shadows outside the ER.

A man with silver hair tied loosely at the back, and eyes that had seen centuries of pain and wisdom. His name was Mr. Lee, unlike everyone else in that hospital, wasn’t surprised.

He had seen it coming.

He had watched the entire incident from afar: the betrayal, the fall, the desperate fight to survive. And at that moment when Anna’s spirit hovered between life and death, he saw something rare. Something fierce, a spark for her. She wanted to live, she had the unyielding will to live.

Before her body could be wheeled to the morgue, Mr. Lee moved swiftly, silently, like a shadow in the night. No one noticed when the lifeless body of Anna vanished from the hospital and no cameras caught it not even any alarms were raised. It was as if Anna never existed.

******

Anna woke up to the scent of medicinal herbs and the soft, flickering glow of lantern light.

Her body ached everywhere. Pain throbbed through her limbs, her head, her chest. Her eyelashes fluttered as her surroundings came into focus. Her eyes opened to a wooden wall, hanging herbs, the faint bubbling of water in a pot nearby.

She winced, a gasp escaping her lips.

“My baby…” she croaked weakly, instinctively reaching for her stomach, dread surging through her veins.

A warm, firm hand gently rested on her forehead.

“Shh, child. Rest, you are safe now.”

The voice was deep, calm, and ancient, a voice that commanded trust.

Her blurry vision slowly cleared to reveal the face of an older man with silver hair and tranquil eyes. He looked nothing like the people from her world. He looked… timeless.

“Who… are you…?” she whispered, fear and confusion gripping her.

“I am Lee Wenqian,” he replied. “But you may call me Mr. Lee. I saved your life… and the life inside you.”

A breath hitched in Anna’s throat. She stared down at her belly, trembling.

Alive?

Was her child still alive?

Tears spilled from her eyes, soaking the pillow beneath her. She was alive. Her baby was alive. Somehow, impossibly, she had been given a second chance.

And at that moment, something flickered to life inside her shattered soul - not anger, not yet revenge, but hope.

******

Weeks turned into months.

The recovery was slow, brutal, and painful.

There were nights Anna woke up screaming, drenched in sweat, haunted by Austin’s cold gaze and Geena’s smug smile. There were days when she couldn’t speak, couldn’t eat, could barely move. But every time she looked down at her growing belly, she found a reason to keep breathing.

She had someone to protect now.

A life more important than her pain.

A future worth fighting for.

Mr. Lee was more than just a healer. He became her guardian, her guide. He taught her the old ways, how to brew teas that healed wounds of both the body and the spirit, how to calm her mind through meditation, how to see beyond what the eyes showed.

One evening, as they sat by a koi pond surrounded by blooming plum blossoms, Mr. Lee turned to her.

“You have suffered a lot, child,” he said. But suffering… can be the seed of greatness. If you let it.”

Anna turned to him, her eyes burning with determination. “I don’t want to be weak anymore.”

“I am willing to take you in as my disciple,” said Mr. Lee said solemnly.

Anna dropped to her knees, fists clenched tight. “Master,” she whispered, tears falling freely. “I’ll make sure you never regret choosing me.”

He reached forward, gently lifting her up. “Then rise, my child. There will be no more tears today. "It’s time to serve your master tea.”

She wiped her face quickly and prepared the tea with practiced grace. Kneeling once more, she presented it to him with a 90-degree bow.

“Thank you, Master. Please have some tea.”

******

The night Anna went into labor, she was drenched in thunder and storm.

Lightning cracked through the skies above the mountain villa as the winds howled like wild beasts. Inside the birthing room, Anna gritted her teeth through waves of blinding pain.