Shadows Of A Forgotten Spring

Chapter 94

52%.

The moment Alexander walked through the doors that evening, his presence commanded the room, as always. Annie wasted no time. She approached him with hurried steps, a practiced smile gracing her lips, and immediately wrapped her arms around him. Her voice was soft, deliberately tender, as she murmured into his ear, "I'm so proud of you."

Alexander didn't move, didn't hug her back. The tension in his body was solid under her grasp, and he just stood there, not hearing a word she said. His mind went somewhere else, to places Annie knew nothing about. Alexander didn't have to say it out loud-the woman he desired, the one whose memory haunted his thoughts and even his dreams, wasn't Annie..

She did not let his distant demeanor deter her. Her voice was sweet and laced with mock sincerity. "I'm proud of what our foundation is doing for those poor kids. Adám Hersel is an animal. What he's done is incomprehensible. I'd love to be of help, you know. Perhaps I could-"

Alexander cut her off by firmly stepping back, his arms falling away from the hug. He was expressionless, voice e don't have to. Leave everything to me." even. "You

For an instant, Annie faltered; her disappointment flashed before she masked it. She wrapped her arms protectively around her still-flat stomach, playing her next card. "We're going to be parents soon, Alexander. As an expecting mother, I find it hard to stomach that anybody would harm such innocent children like that. I need to do more. I'm going with you to the hospital tomorrow."

Alexander's eyes went cold. "For your health's sake, I think it is best you remain at home. Hospitals are not the right place for you presently, considering your condition. And please remember, you are barred from that hospital..

laugh, "I insist. What do you think the world will say when they see me going for

out a little too loudly for her liking. It's time I play my role as your future

in the air, but Alexander didn't say a word. He simply turned his gaze away, his mind still elsewhere. Annie

hands quivered, just a little, not from fear, but from the knowledge that her scheme had begun.

hum of distant voices, the rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor quiet intruder into the stillness. And then, in one fast-flooding wave, there was the rush of hot memories that terrified him. His breath clogged in his throat in

single backward glance. He can still feel the cold sting of betrayal, the sticky warmth of his blood seeping into the ground beneath him. His vision had blurred, darkness clawing at the edges, and

room. A moment in his mind, be thought he was dead, that this was some hell where his sins had brought him. He opened his mouth to speak, to cry out, but a sharp, searing pain radiated through his body, silencing him. No sound escaped his cracked lips, his throat

he tried to move, only to feel the cold, nyielding bite

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Tue, Dec

Chapter 91

anew, his heart pounding like a war drum. He tugged against his restraints with all the strength he could muster, but his battered body