Briony threw back the covers and stood up. "It''s gettingte-I should go," she said briskly.
She headed straight for the door,pletely oblivious to the sudden shift in the man''s expression behind her.
An instantter, a sharp pain shot through the back of her neck—and then everything went ck.
Ferdinand caught Briony''s limp body as she copsed, the madness he''d been holding back now breaking through in his eyes.
"Bryn, if you won''t listen, I''m afraid I have no choice but to do this."
...
Briony drifted in and out of consciousness, her mind foggy and her body feeling oddly weightless. Though her senses hadn''t fully returned, a flicker of awareness began to stir.
She struggled, brow furrowing as she forced her heavy eyelids open.
Streetlights slid past in blurred streaks, their glow flickering through the windows of a dimly lit car interior.
Was she in someone''s car?
Briony tried to sit up, but exhaustion dragged her back under, and she slipped into darkness again.
...
The city streets were nearly empty in the dead of night.
A ck sedan trailed behind Ferdinand''s car, keeping a careful, steady distance.
Twenty minutester, Ferdinand pulled into the parking garage of a private hospital.
In the underground lot, he carried the unconscious Briony into the elevator.
The ck sedan rolled to a stop a short distance away.
A man in ck stepped out, his face mostly hidden beneath a baseball cap and a ck mask. He moved stealthily, slipping through the emergency stairwell door.
Inside the hospital''s surgical suite, Ferdinand ced Briony on a gurney.
A young doctor nced at him uncertainly. "Mr. Ellsworth, are you sure you want to proceed with the egg retrieval?"
"Yes," Ferdinand said, his gaze locked on Briony''s unconscious form—a manic possessiveness shining in his eyes. "She''s at the perfect stage in her cycle. Be careful, and work quickly."
Briony had spent time under Ferdinand''s care before; he knew her medical history inside and out.
A nurse pushed Briony into the operating room.
Down the hall, the man in ck lingered in the shadows, watching. After a moment, he slipped into a side corridor and dialed a number. "She''s just been brought in. Get your team ready."
...Half an hourter, Briony was wheeled out of the operating room.
Ferdinand was waiting. "How did it go?"
"Everything went smoothly, Mr. Ellsworth. You can rest easy," the doctor assured him.
A rare smile flickered across Ferdinand''s face.
He leaned down, brushing Briony''s cheek with his hand. "Bryn, you''ve done well. Don''t worry-I won''t let you bear the burden of pregnancy. I''ll find someone else to carry our child."
Brionyy in a deep sleep, unaware of anything that had happened.
Ferdinand pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Soon, Bryn, we''ll have a child of our own."
When Briony finally came to, she found herself in a hospital room.
A nurse was changing her IV bag.
"Awake, are you?" the nurse said warmly. "Once this bag''s done, you''ll be able to go home."
Briony blinked at her. "What happened to me?"
"You fainted from low blood sugar. Your friend brought you in."
"My friend?" Briony echoed, confused-just as the door opened.
Ferdinand walked in.
At the sight of him, shes ofst night''s events flooded Briony''s mind-fragments
of memory, impossible to piece together. Was it a dream, or had it really happened?
"Ferdinand?” she asked warily, her eyes narrowing. "You brought me here?"
"Yes," Ferdinand replied, untroubled. "Have you been staying upte
again? You.copsedst night. When I checked, your pulse was weak and you looked pale.
Combined with your low blo-vel
pressure and anemia, I figured the safest thing was to get you to the
hospital."
It was true-Briony had been working herself raggedtely. Late nights were
practically routine.
"Thank you for bringing me here," she said quietly.
"You need to take better care of
yourself," Ferdinand said, his voice gentle but firm. "Your health was just
starting to improve. If you keep pushing yourself like this, you''ll end
upright back where you started."