Chapter 4: The Predator Becomes the Prey
Dominic drove like a madman through the rainy streets of the city, his sleek BMW sliding to a halt in front of the Saint Aurelia Medical Center. He didn't care about the parking rules; he abandoned the car at the curb and ran through the sliding glass doors, his suit soaked, his hair plastered to his forehead.
He had to find her. He had to beg. He had to get down on his knees and crawl if he had to. If Audrey didn't call off her grandfather, he wouldn't just be broke—he would be behind bars.
"Audrey Miller—I mean, Audrey Vance! What room is she in?!" Dominic yelled at the reception desk, slamming his hands down.
The receptionist looked at him with an icy expression. "Access to the Vance Private Wing is restricted to authorized personnel only, sir."
"I am her husband!" Dominic roared. "I have a right to see my wife and my children!"
"You signed the divorce papers, Dominic," a calm, beautiful voice echoed from behind him.
Dominic spun around.
Audrey was standing there. For the first time in three years, she wasn't wearing the simple, off-brand clothes she had bought to fit into his modest lifestyle. She was dressed in a tailored, midnight-blue silk trousers suit. Her hair was styled perfectly, and though she still looked slightly pale from her surgery, she carried herself with an unmistakable, regal authority. She was sitting in a state-of-the-art motorized wheelchair, pushed by Head Nurse Evelyn.
"Audrey!" Dominic fell to his knees right there in the lobby, ignoring the stares of dozens of patients and staff. "Audrey, please! I was crazy! I was under so much stress with the business, and Natalie... Natalie manipulated me! She threatened to ruin me if I didn't leave you!"
Audrey looked down at him, her eyes completely devoid of the warmth that had once comforted him through long nights. "Natalie didn't sign those papers, Dominic. You did. Natalie didn't spell Chloe's name wrong. You did. Natalie didn't cancel my credit cards while I was bleeding on an operating table. You did."
"I can fix it!" Dominic cried, tears streaming down his face, reaching out to grab the hem of her trousers. "We can tear up the papers! I love Liam and Chloe! They are my blood! I want to be a father to them!"
Audrey pulled her chair back slightly, avoiding his touch as if he were covered in plague.
"You called them 'little runts' forty-eight hours ago, Dominic. You told me to find a homeless shelter," Audrey said softly, her voice carrying through the quiet lobby. "My grandfather bought your debt this morning. By tomorrow noon, Apex Medical Labs will be declared insolvent. The court has already frozen your personal accounts due to the embezzlement of my trust fund."
"Please, Audrey... don't do this to me. I'll have nothing. I'll be on the street."
"Then you should take your own advice," Audrey whispered, leaning forward so only he could hear. "Try calling a homeless shelter."
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Before Dominic could utter another word,
two hospital security guards stepped forward, grabbing him by the shoulders and dragging him out into the pouring rain, leaving him sitting in the gutter of the very hospital that bore his children’s secret legacy.
