Chapter 2

/-Claire-/

My eyes fluttered open and the light almost blinded me. 

I let out a wince, suddenly aware of the consistent pounding of my head.

“She's awake,” I heard a strange voice say. 

Where am I?

The smell of drugs hit me and I felt the sudden urge to throw up. 

I blinked to clear my vision and the blurry faces became clearer. They were different from the personnel attending to me back at the mansion. 

Did Regal change his mind? Did he get Annabelle to donate blood?

My heart rate picked up as I pushed myself up. 

“Easy…” the strange doctor said, and just then, I felt a sharp pain in my vagina. They had this baffled look on their faces as they watched me. 

“What is going on?” I asked weakly. 

“A lot, Miss Claire. You are indeed a miracle,” he exclaimed. 

“I… I don't understand…” I muttered. 

“You were declared dead an hour ago and your family just left a few minutes ago,” he said.

The information sent my head spinning. I died? I looked at him in confusion.

“We understand you are confused. I don't want to overwhelm you with too much information at once, but…” he was saying when I interrupted.

“You said I died? How?” 

The only thing I remembered was falling unconscious. I couldn't have died then, right? It couldn't have been that swift. 

“You were rushed here at the brink of death. We had to send requests to about twenty hospitals for a type AB negative while stopping the bleeding. We almost gave up on finding a match until the last hospital gave a positive response. We had you transfused as soon as we could, but you stopped responding,” he answered.

I tried my best to digest everything he related. 

“My husband…” I started. “Did he bring me here?”

“No, in fact, none of your family members showed up despite our attempts to reach them until you were declared dead,” he answered, and my heart bled all over again. 

“You don't have to worry, we will call them now to inform…”

“No!” I cut him off. “Don't please…” 

“Why?” He was genuinely curious but his question reminded me of the heartache I couldn't recover from. 

He didn't show up while I was dying but suddenly made time when he found out I was dead.

“I… I just want to be away from them. If they come for my body, I don't know… maybe you can…”

“They won't,” he interrupted and I looked up, immediately. I must have misheard him. “They told me to add you to the list of bodies for cremation.”

“What?!” I half-yelled. “Does Regal know about this?” 

“I don't know who Regal is but your husband and immediate family signed the consent form,” he answered.

Even a dagger wound didn't hurt as bad. 

“Thank you, Doctor,” I sniffled, wiping my tears. “I needed to hear that.” 

His eyes dampened with pity and I looked away. 

“How soon can I be discharged,” I asked. 

“As soon as we've conducted all the tests to ensure you are fit to go then you can be discharged. Don't worry about the bills, your family already cleared it,” he answered. 

Right! Of course, they would.

“There is one more thing you need to know, Mrs Henshaw…”

“Call me Claire please,” I interrupted.

“Alright, Claire. You might not like this, but it was the only way to save your life,” he paused, and my palms became sweaty. 

I knew then that whatever it was wouldn't favour me. 

“What is it, Doc?” 

“We had to take out your uterus,” he informed me, and for a second, I went completely still. “The damage was severe and if we didn't take it out, you were going to bleed to death.”

His explanation didn't make me feel better. I was never going to have kids again. All for what? A man who didn't even want my body?

The tears poured down my cheeks in torrents. 

“You can't mean that…” I blurted out, unable to control my sobs. Suddenly, this miracle didn't seem like a miracle at all. 

What was I living for if I couldn't have my kids?

“Take it easy on yourself, Claire. Everything will be alright, okay? Don't beat yourself,” he told me. 

I just wanted to get out of here. I was sick of being here. Everything was choking me up. 

“Can you run your tests now? I… I just want to leave,” I said grimly. 

“I'm afraid that will be tomorrow. You need to rest.”

There was no strength left in me to argue with him so I lay back on my bed. A few minutes later, they exited the room. 

I gave it an hour then got out of the ward. The plan was simple yet crazy. I was going to get out of this hospital and never return. 

I was going to leave New Jersey behind in general to start my life afresh. 

It wasn't until I left the hospital that I realised how unrealistic my plan was. How do I start afresh with no money?

Everything I had was back in the Henshaw mansion and I couldn't possibly go back there because my sister was possibly there already.

I didn't put it past her to replace me the very day I was declared dead. 

A horn blew immediately, snapping me out of my thoughts. I was in the middle of the streets, stunned to see the car heading towards me. 

The tires screeched while I remained rooted on the spot unable to move. The car came to a stop and the driver stomped out of the car in annoyance. 

“Do you have a death wish?” He barked. I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. 

The passenger door opened and a dark-haired man stepped out. His back was facing me at the moment but the aura he exuded captured my attention immediately. 

He shut the door and walked to us. My jaw dropped as the lean, muscular load of sexiness strolled toward us. I couldn't even blink as those mysterious grey eyes rested on me. 

His facial features were sharp and prominent and he certainly had the stance of one who commanded power. 

Did I mention that cologne?

I used to think that Regal had the best collection but apparently, I was wrong.

I couldn't stop my eyes from shamelessly trailing down. He was clad in a black shirt with the first three buttons off. It clung to every inch of his muscles and…

“Miss, I have a meeting in three, and you are blocking our way,” the deep, rich tone had my mind spiralling.

“I… I…” I stuttered helplessly realizing they were expecting me to say something. I moved aside quickly, “Sorry.” 

“Thank you,” he walked back into the car. 

The driver shot me a glare and entered the car. I stood there, waiting for them to leave. 

The car moved, then reversed for no reason. Or so I thought.

From what I could see, it wasn't the driver's doing because he had that irritated expression on his face. 

“Do you need a ride?” 

“Yes,” I blurted before I could stop myself. “Desperately.” 

“Get in,” came that honey-like tone. I didn't waste time getting into the backseat. 

It was so unlike me to trust strangers randomly but I trusted this man. For some crazy reason, I felt an odd sense of security around him.

Aside from that, I just couldn't get enough of his insane beauty. 

“Where are you headed?” The driver asked and I cursed myself for responding so rashly. 

Even if I did pick a location, I would still be stranded. Not to mention that my core was hurting and it was affecting my movement.

“Miss?”

“Uhm…” I glanced at the grey-eyed man. “I uhm…”

“She's with me. Focus on the road, Tim,” he said. 

A smile formed on my lips before I could stop it. When I realized what I was doing, I scolded myself for falling so cheaply for another man after the last one went so badly. 

They pulled up at a skyscraper which was otherwise Gray Enterprises. My eye shifted to the man in the car and my jaw dropped lower than it did earlier.

No way I was in the car with Asher Gray. Not only was he the most eligible bachelor in NYC but he ranked number one on Forbes list as the youngest trillionaire. 

“Wait here,” he instructed and stepped out of the car. “Get her something to eat, Tim. We're out of refreshments.”

I watched him walk into the company. The driver shot me a look before leaving the car. I was glad that the glasses were tinted and the inside was quite comfortable.

I decided to explore the car while waiting. There were a lot of compartments and even a TV.

I opened the cabinets curiously. The first one I opened contained a suitcase. 

I pulled out and opened it. A loud gasp fell off my lips. 

Remember when I said I needed money to start a new life? 

Well, there were tons of it here. 

My logical brain told me to put it back. There was simply no way he would put me in a car with such a huge amount of money and just forget about me. 

But survival instincts kicked in and I did the one thing I never thought I would in my life. 

Steal.

/-Asher-/

I loved her audacity. 

As insane as it sounded, I was amused by the fact that after almost losing her life due to her clumsiness, she went ahead to steal from me after I offered her a ride. 

I stood by my office window, watching her sneak out of my car with my suitcase. She looked around frantically before sprinting away.

I took out my phone and called the security men.

“Yes, boss?”

“A sneaky woman is coming towards you with a suitcase…” I glanced at my watch. “Let her pass.” 

“Yes, boss.”