Chapter 8: Cracks in the Ice
1384 Words
Bonny’s POV
The drive to the Knight estate was the fastest ride of my life.
Adrian barked orders into his phone the entire way.
“Which hospital?”
Pause.
“Who is with him?”
Pause.
“Tell them I’ll handle the paperwork.”
Pause.
“No press.”
Every word was clipped, controlled, efficient.
But his hands gave him away.
They were clenched so tightly around his phone that his knuckles had gone pale.
Fear.
Real fear.
For the first time since meeting him, Adrian Knight did not look untouchable.
He looked like a grandson.
I stayed quiet.
There are moments when words only make things worse.
When we reached the estate, Evelyn was already waiting at the entrance in a coat thrown hastily over her dress.
Her face was composed, but her eyes were red.
Adrian was out of the car before it fully stopped.
“Where is he?”
“In the ambulance. They’re taking him to St. Matthew’s.”
“Why didn’t you go with him?”
“Because someone needed to tell you to breathe first,” she snapped.
He froze.
Then looked away.
Evelyn’s gaze moved to me.
“Bonny.”
“Yes?”
“Come with us.”
There was no room to refuse.
---
Hospitals all smell the same.
Clean floors.
Sterile air.
Fear hidden beneath fluorescent lights.
We were led into a private waiting area almost immediately. Clearly the Knight name opened doors.
A doctor entered within minutes.
Mid-fifties. Tired eyes. Calm tone.
“Mr. Knight suffered a mild cardiac episode. He is stable.”
The air in the room changed.
Adrian’s shoulders lowered a fraction.
Evelyn closed her eyes briefly.
“Can we see him?” Adrian asked.
“Shortly. He’s being monitored.”
“What caused it?”
“Stress. Fatigue. Existing heart condition.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Will he recover?”
“We expect so, if he rests and follows treatment properly.”
“Meaning he won’t,” Evelyn muttered.
The doctor gave a knowing smile.
“Meaning he’ll need encouragement.”
He left.
Silence followed.
Then Adrian turned sharply.
“Why wasn’t I informed earlier about his symptoms?”
Evelyn’s chin lifted.
“Because he asked me not to.”
“That was irresponsible.”
“That was love.”
His expression hardened.
“Keeping medical information from me is not love.”
“Neither is building a life where no one can reach you.”
The words struck harder than shouting.
I pretended to study a plant in the corner.
This was not my family fight.
Yet somehow I was in the middle of it.
Adrian looked away first.
“I’m seeing him.”
He walked out.
Evelyn sank into a chair.
For the first time, she looked old.
I sat beside her carefully.
“Would you like water?”
“I’d like men to be less dramatic.”
Despite everything, I laughed.
She sighed.
“He works himself to death because he thinks success can replace grief.”
I turned to her.
“What grief?”
Her eyes softened.
“You really know nothing.”
“No one tells me anything.”
“That sounds like Adrian.”
She patted my hand.
“Years ago, Adrian was engaged.”
I blinked.
Of course he had been.
Someone polished, wealthy, elegant.
Someone who matched his world.
“He loved her,” Evelyn continued quietly. “More than he should have.”
Something tightened unexpectedly in my chest.
“What happened?”
“She left him. Publicly.”
I stared.
The symmetry hit me immediately.
Wedding betrayal.
Abandonment.
Humiliation.
Just like me.
“He was younger then,” Evelyn said. “Less guarded. It nearly broke him.”
I thought of his cold rules.
His distance.
His obsession with control.
Suddenly they made sense.
“He rebuilt himself,” she continued. “But he never forgave vulnerability.”
Before I could respond, Adrian returned.
His face was unreadable again.
Armor back in place.
“Grandfather wants to see us.”
Us.
The word surprised me.
---
Edward Knight looked smaller in the hospital bed.
Still dignified.
Still sharp-eyed.
But human now in a way wealth could not disguise.
“Boy,” he grumbled when Adrian entered. “You look terrible.”
“You had a cardiac episode.”
“And you still look worse.”
Evelyn rolled her eyes.
“Married one day and already burdened by this family,” she told me.
Edward’s gaze landed on me and softened.
“Bonny, dear. Come here.”
I stepped closer.
He took my hand weakly.
“Did he scare you into marrying him?”
“Constantly,” I said.
He chuckled, then winced.
“Excellent girl.”
Adrian stood at the bedside, hands in pockets, saying nothing.
Edward looked up at him.
“You worried?”
“No.”
“Liar.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“You need rest.”
“I need less instruction.”
Then Edward’s gaze sharpened.
“You brought her.”
The room quieted.
“Yes,” Adrian said.
“Why?”
A beat passed.
Then Adrian answered:
“She belongs with family.”
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Even he seemed aware of what he had just said.
I looked at him.
He did not look back.
Evelyn smiled suspiciously into her handbag.
Edward squeezed my hand once.
“Good.”
---
Later, after the doctor insisted Edward rest, Evelyn stayed behind while Adrian and I headed to the parking garage.
Neither of us spoke in the elevator.
Or the hallway.
Or the car.
The city lights passed outside the window.
Finally, I said quietly:
“You loved someone once.”
His head turned slowly.
“My grandmother talks too much.”
“She said she left you publicly.”
Silence.
Then:
“You ask too many questions.”
“You avoid too many answers.”
He looked away.
“She chose money tied to another name.”
I frowned.
“You have money.”
“I had less then.”
Ah.
“She humiliated you.”
“Yes.”
The single word carried old steel.
I swallowed.
“That’s why you needed control.”
He gave me a sharp look.
“You think one conversation makes you insightful?”
“I think pain recognizes pain.”
That stopped him.
The car continued through traffic.
Then, unexpectedly:
“When your fiancé left you…”
His voice was lower now.
“…did it feel like you had become ridiculous in front of the whole world?”
I stared at him.
“Yes.”
His throat moved once.
“Good.”
I blinked.
“Good?”
“It means you understand.”
That might have been the most vulnerable thing he’d said yet.
And he still buried it under terrible wording.
When we reached the penthouse, he moved toward his study instead of the hall.
“Aren’t you sleeping?” I asked.
“I have work.”
“It’s nearly midnight.”
“I’m aware.”
“Your grandfather nearly collapsed from stress.”
He stopped.
I walked closer.
“You don’t get to panic over him and copy him in the same night.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You’re lecturing me?”
“Yes.”
“Bold.”
“Correct.”
For a long second we stood there in the quiet apartment.
Then he loosened his tie.
“Ten minutes.”
“What?”
“I’ll work ten minutes.”
“Then sleep.”
“You negotiate aggressively.”
“I learn from difficult people.”
Something flickered in his eyes.
He stepped closer.
Too close.
My breath caught.
His hand lifted slowly toward my face.
I froze.
His fingers brushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
A tiny touch.
Nothing.
Everything.
“You’re trembling,” he said softly.
“You’re standing too near.”
He didn’t move.
“Noted.”
Neither did I.
Then his phone rang.
The moment shattered.
He stepped back, answered, and his expression turned cold again.
“Yes?”
Pause.
Then:
“Send her in tomorrow.”
He ended the call.
“Who was that?” I asked.
“Vanessa.”
“About what?”
He looked directly at me.
“My ex-fiancée is back in the country.”
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