The hospital room was quiet, save for the steady beep of the monitors and the soft rustle of curtains swaying with the air conditioning. Joaquin sat in the chair beside Jasmine’s bed, his leg bouncing with restless energy. His mind wouldn’t settle — not after what Jasmine had told him.Andrew.Joaquin clenched his fists, his jaw tight as the name echoed in his head. He hadn’t wanted to believe it. He thought they were done with Andrew Alvarez — that after the kidnapping, the threats, and the betrayal, the man had finally backed off. But now…“Joaquin,” Serena’s soft voice pulled him from his thoughts.He glanced up as she stepped into the room, her expression a careful mix of concern and exhaustion.She looked like she hadn’t slept in days, and knowing Serena, she probably hadn’t.“Hey,” she said, moving closer. “You okay?”“No,” he answered honestly. There was no point pretending otherwise. “I just… I don’t know how much more of this I can take

Andrew stormed into James Villareal’s office without knocking, his pulse hammering in his ears. The confrontation with Joaquin still lingered in his mind, the rage, the humiliation—he hadn’t expected Joaquin to come at him so aggressively. But what unsettled him the most wasn’t Joaquin’s anger. It was his persistence. Joaquin wasn’t going to back down, and that meant Andrew had a problem. James looked up from behind his massive mahogany desk, his expression completely unaffected by Andrew’s entrance. He barely spared him a glance before returning to the documents in front of him, as if Andrew wasn’t worth more than an afterthought. Andrew clenched his fists at his sides, forcing himself to breathe through his frustration. “We need to talk, Mr. Villareal.” James sighed, taking his time flipping through the last page of his document before setting it down. Then, finally, he leaned

Joaquin sat across from Serena in his office, his fingers tapping restlessly against the desk. His mind was racing, trying to process everything Mikyla had told him. Andrew conspiring with James Villareal. The attempt to remove him from the hospital. And yet, the more he thought about it, the more tangled the web became. Serena, sitting with her arms crossed, was deep in thought as well. The silence between them stretched for a long moment before she finally spoke. “So,” she started, voice measured, “do you believe Mikyla?” Joaquin let out a humorless chuckle. “Believe her?” He leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. “I don’t trust her. Not after what she did. But that doesn’t mean she’s lying this time.” Serena nodded slowly, tapping her fingers against her arm. “That’s what’s bothering me too. Why tell you this now? What does she gain from it?” Joaquin exhaled sharply. That was the qu

Jasmine had been staring at the television in her hospital room, lost in thought, when the door creaked open.She sat up, expecting a nurse to enter. But instead, a man with an authoritative presence stepped inside.Her body went rigid. She would never forget this man.Jasmine’s breath caught in her throat. ‘Why is he here?’“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice sharper than she intended.For a split second, the man looked surprised, but then he smirked.“You know me?”Jasmine raised an eyebrow, her back instinctively pressing against th