Chapter 1: The fluorescent lights of Edinberton Hospital buzzed overhead, casting a sickly pallor over the crowded waiting room. Esteban Rodriguez leaned heavily against the grimy wall, his vision swimming as another wave of dizziness crashed over him. The line stretched endlessly before him—at least thirty people deep, maybe more. He couldn't focus long enough to count.His hands trembled violently as he fumbled for his phone, nearly dropping it twice before managing to open his messages. The screen blurred, doubled, then merged back into focus. Cold sweat trickled down his spine, soaking through his already damp shirt.Still at the hospital. Packed today. Might be late. Already washed and cut the vegetables for you to cook. Love you.He hit send and slumped further against the wall, closing his eyes against the relentless spinning of the room. Twenty-five years old, and his body was destroying itself from the inside out. No diagnosis. No cure. Just an endless parade of tests, sympa

Chapter 3Consciousness returned slowly, dragging Esteban up from the depths of oblivion like a reluctant swimmer breaking the surface of dark water. His eyelids felt heavy, weighted down with lead, but he forced them open.The first thing he saw was a face.Not just any face—the most breathtakingly beautiful face he'd ever seen. Delicate features framed by cascading waves of dark hair, porcelain skin that seemed to glow in the soft light, and eyes so clear and bright they reminded him of polished amber. For a moment, his pain-addled brain wondered if he'd died and this was some kind of angel.Then reality crashed back in, and with it came the realization that made his chest tighten: Miranda, his wife who he'd once thought was beautiful, now seemed utterly ordinary in comparison to this vision before him."Where... where am I?" Esteban's voice came out as barely more than a croak. He tried to sit up, and immediately regretted it as pain lanced through his ribs."Easy." The young woman

Chapter 5The herbal medicine shop sat nestled in a crowded street corner of Edinberton's old district, its weathered sign proclaiming "Harmony Herbs" in faded gold letters. The scent of dried roots and medicinal plants drifted through the air as Josefina's sleek black Mercedes pulled up to the curb.Before they could even exit the vehicle, two figures stepped out from the shadows beside the shop's entrance. The larger of the two—a hulking man with a shaved head and a scar running down his left cheek—blocked their path with crossed arms. His companion was leaner, with greasy hair and a face that seemed permanently fixed in a sneer."Well, well," the lean one—José—drawled, his eyes immediately locking onto Josefina as she stepped out of the car. "What do we have here?"Esteban felt his stomach drop as recognition hit him. These were the same thugs who'd been harassing the shop owner when he'd passed by earlier, demanding protection money. The larger man was Tomás, a local enforcer know