He lunged for the door.

"Sir!" Kieran shouted, trying to grab his arm.

Joseph shoved him aside with a growl. He threw the heavy doors open.

The hallway was empty, save for a stunned Jamin standing by a tipped-over cleaning cart.

"Where is she?" Joseph barked.

Jamin pointed a trembling finger toward the stairwell door that was slowly clicking shut. "She ran away."

Joseph didn't wait. He sprinted, his bare feet slapping against the cold floor. He hit the stairwell door with his shoulder, bursting into the concrete echo chamber.

He looked down the spiral of stairs.

Three floors down, he saw a flash of white. A figure moving fast. Too fast for a normal doctor.

"Stop!" he roared. His voice echoed off the concrete walls.

The figure didn't stop. If anything, she sped up.

Joseph gripped the railing, ready to vault over, to chase her down. But then, the pain returned. It hit him like a sledgehammer to the temple. His vision blurred, turning into a kaleidoscope of black spots. His broken ribs screamed in protest, forcing him to double over.

He swayed, his knees buckling. He gripped the railing to keep from falling.

"Dammit," he hissed through gritted teeth.

Kieran and two bodyguards burst into the stairwell behind him. "Mr. Villarreal!"

"Lock it down," Joseph gasped, clutching his head. "Lock down the hospital. No one leaves."

Three floors down.

Giselle heard the order. Lock down.

Her heart was beating so fast she thought it might explode. She reached the ground floor landing. She couldn't go out the main lobby; they would be watching.

She ripped off her white coat and shoved it into a trash chute. She pulled the pins out of her hair, letting the long, honey-brown waves fall over her shoulders. She took off her glasses and shoved them in her pocket.

She stepped out into the busy waiting room near the pharmacy.

"Attention please," the PA system announced. "We are initiating a Code Yellow. All exits are temporarily restricted for a security check."

Panic flared in the crowd. People started murmuring.

Giselle lowered her head. She spotted a service corridor labeled 'Authorized Personnel Only'. She pulled out a sleek, black keycard-a universal pass courtesy of Hines technologies-and swiped it.

The lock clicked green.

"Miss?" a guard called out from across the hall, spotting the movement.

Giselle didn't hesitate. She slipped through the door and let it slam shut. She was in the loading dock.

A black sedan was already idling by the waste disposal units, its engine purring softly. My brother Asher was behind the wheel.

Giselle dove into the back seat. "Go. Now."

Asher floored it. The car screeched away from the curb just as Joseph's head of security burst out the hospital rear doors, scanning the street.

Giselle slumped against the leather seat, her hands shaking uncontrollably.

"Did you see him?" Asher asked, looking in the rearview mirror. His eyes were tight with worry.

"I heard him," she whispered. "He's looking for me."

Back in the stairwell, Joseph sat on the steps, breathing heavily. The pain was receding to a dull throb.

He closed his eyes. That silhouette. The way she ran. The curve of her neck.

It was impossible. She was gone. She was a fraud who had disappeared into the gutter.

But his gut... his gut told him something else.

"Find that woman," Joseph said to Kieran, his voice low and deadly. "I don't care what it takes. Find her."

---

"You scared her," Jamin mumbled.

Joseph opened his eyes. "She ran because she had something to hide, Jamin. Innocent people don't run."

"She was nice," Jamin insisted, his lower lip trembling. "She held my hand. She felt... real."

Joseph felt a twinge of guilt. He sighed and motioned for his son to come closer. Jamin hopped off the chair and walked over. Joseph placed a hand on the boy's head.

"Listen to me. There are people in this world who will use you to get to me. That woman... she knew who you were. She was playing a game."

"No!" Jamin stomped his foot. "She didn't know! She didn't even know my name until the guards yelled it! She didn't care about the black card either!"

Joseph frowned. That didn't fit the profile of a gold digger. "Kieran."

"Sir."

"The security footage. I want her face. Now."

Kieran tapped on his tablet. He swiped a few times, then frowned. He tapped harder. "Sir..."

"What?"

"The footage from the lobby, the elevator, and the hallway... it's gone."

Joseph sat up straight, ignoring the throb in his head. "Gone?"

"Corrupted. All of it. From exactly 3:00 PM to 3:15 PM. Someone wiped the servers."

Joseph's eyes narrowed. A random doctor couldn't wipe hospital servers. This was professional. High-level.

"It's a corporate espionage team," Joseph concluded, his voice turning cold. "She was a plant. Someone sent her to get close to Jamin, maybe to get a DNA sample or plant a bug."

He looked at Jamin. "See? She wasn't a doctor. She was a spy."

Jamin crossed his arms. "I don't believe you."

Meanwhile, at the Hines Estate.

Giselle walked into the living room and collapsed onto the velvet sofa. Her legs felt like jelly.

Silas was at his computer station, three monitors glowing blue in the dim light. He spun around in his chair. "Done. I scrubbed the hospital feeds. You're a ghost."

"Thank you," she breathed.

Kordell handed her a glass of red wine. "This is getting too close, Elle. Maybe we should just buy Villarreal Corp and dismantle it. Save you the trouble."

Giselle took a sip of the wine, the rich liquid settling her nerves. "No. I don't want to destroy him. I just want to be left alone."

"He saw you?" Silas asked.

"He saw my back. He heard my voice." She rubbed her temples. "But the worst part... was the boy."

"The son?" Kordell asked.

"Jamin," she said. "He's... he's sweet. He's smart. And he thinks he doesn't have a mother."

She looked at Silas. "Can you pull his birth certificate? I need to know. Is Clydie really his mother?"

Silas turned back to the screens. His fingers flew across the mechanical keyboard. "Easy. Accessing state records... wait."

He stopped typing. A red lock icon flashed on the screen.

"What?" Giselle asked, leaning forward.

"It's sealed," Silas said, sounding impressed. "It's not just sealed. It's stored in the Villarreal private medical archives. It's air-gapped and protected by a triple-layer biometric lock. Only Joseph or the attending physician can open it."

"Why would a child's birth certificate be hidden like nuclear codes?" she whispered.

"Because," Kordell said, his face grim, "Joseph Villarreal is hiding something massive. Something he doesn't want anyone-especially Clydie-to know."

Giselle's mind raced. If Clydie wasn't the mother... then who was?

---

"Get dressed," Serena ordered. "We're going to dinner. Le Ciel. I won't take no for an answer."

"I can't," Giselle said. "He's out there."

"He's in a hospital bed," Serena countered. "And besides, I have a lead on that Cordyceps Sinensis you need for the neuro-regen prototype. The supplier is meeting me tonight."

That got her attention. The medicine she was developing needed that herb. It was the key to curing... well, curing people like Joseph.

"Fine," she sighed.

Two hours later, Giselle walked into Le Ciel. She wasn't wearing Dr. Mandy's white coat or Giselle's rags. She was wearing a backless crimson gown that clung to every curve, her hair cascading in loose waves. She wore diamonds that made her old engagement ring look like a toy.

Serena waved from a VIP booth. "Damn, girl. You look like you're ready to kill someone."

"Just ready to do business," Giselle said, sliding into the booth.

We ordered wine and appetizers. Serena chattered about the supplier, a mysterious collector who hung out at a private club called The Vault.

"Don't look now," Serena suddenly froze, her fork halfway to her mouth. "But the devil just walked in."

Giselle's blood ran cold. She slowly turned her head, looking through the one-way glass partition of their booth.

A black Maybach had pulled up to the curb. The valet opened the door.

Joseph stepped out. He looked pale, but devastatingly handsome in a charcoal suit.

And holding onto his arm, looking like she had glued herself to him, was Clydie Woods.

She was laughing, throwing her head back, touching his chest. Joseph didn't smile. He looked annoyed, but he didn't push her away.

"I thought Jamin said he kicked her out," Giselle whispered, gripping the stem of her wine glass so hard she thought it would snap.

"Men lie," Serena spat. "Look at them. The happy couple."

The sight of them together-the woman who stole her life and the man who gave it to her-burned a hole in Giselle's stomach.

"I can't be here," she said, standing up. "If he sees me..."

"He won't," Serena said. "But let's go. The club is safer. It's a masquerade night."

We threw cash on the table and hurried toward the kitchen exit.

As they slipped out the back, Joseph walked into the restaurant foyer. He stopped abruptly.

"Joseph?" Clydie purred, tugging his arm. "What's wrong?"

Joseph ignored her. He lifted his head, inhaling deeply.

A scent. Subtle. Rare. Vanilla and wild orchid.

It was a custom perfume. He had commissioned it for Giselle seven years ago. The perfumer had destroyed the formula. No one else had it.

"Do you smell that?" he asked Kieran.

"Smell what, Sir? The garlic butter?"

Joseph shook his head. He was losing his mind. First the voice, now the scent. She was haunting him.

"Let's go," he said abruptly, turning back to the door.

"But our reservation!" Clydie whined.

"Cancel it," Joseph snapped. "I'm going to The Vault. I need that herb for the headaches. You can go home."

Clydie stomped her foot, but Joseph was already walking away, following the ghost of a scent he couldn't forget.

---