Chapter 5

"You own this hospital?" Reese barked out a harsh, echoing laugh. He looked around the crowded lobby as if waiting for an audience to join in on the joke. "Alicia, you have completely lost your mind."

I didn't blink. I didn't flinch. I just stared at the man I had loved for six years. I remembered how that exact laugh used to make my heart flutter when we were young. Now, it just made my stomach turn. He looked like a complete stranger.

"I am not joking," I said.

Reese shook his head. His amusement morphed into a vicious sneer. "You are pathetic. You followed me to London, and now you are trespassing at my workplace. I am an attending surgeon here. You are a diner waitress who can barely afford a train ticket. You do not belong in a place like this."

He turned to the reception desk. He slammed his hand flat against the marble counter.

"Call security," Reese snapped at the wide-eyed receptionist. "Get this crazy woman out of my hospital before I press charges for harassment. She is unhinged."

The receptionist swallowed hard. She didn't reach for the phone. She was looking past Reese.

Heavy footsteps echoed across the marble floor. A tall, balding man with a stern face walked briskly toward us. It was Dr. Sterling, the chief hospital administrator. Two of Johansen's massive security guards flanked him like shadows.

Reese sighed in relief. "Dr. Sterling. Thank God. This woman is harassing me. Have security remove her immediately."

Dr. Sterling stopped. He didn't look at me. He looked directly at Reese with absolute disgust.

"Step away from her, Dr. Castillo," Sterling ordered.

Reese frowned. "What? She is stalking me."

"She is your new boss," Sterling said loudly. His voice carried across the dead-silent lobby. Every nurse, doctor, and patient stopped and watched. "As of this morning, Ms. Dela Vega is the sole owner of this hospital. You will address her with respect, or you will be escorted off the premises."

All the color drained from Reese's face. His jaw went slack. He stared at Dr. Sterling, then turned his horrified gaze to me.

"That is impossible," Reese whispered. "She has nothing. I know her."

"She has everything," Sterling corrected coldly. "And you, Dr. Castillo, are suspended."

Reese flinched as if he had been struck. "Suspended? You cannot do that! I am a lead surgeon! I bring in millions for this facility!"

"Your attending status is revoked pending a full review of your medical practices," Sterling continued. "Hand over your badge. You are no longer authorized to treat patients here."

"Alicia, please," Reese choked out. The arrogance was completely gone. Pure panic replaced it.

I stepped closer to him. The hatred in my chest felt like solid ice.

"Give him your badge, Reese," I said softly. "Before I have you thrown out like trash."

Reese's hands shook violently. He unclipped his ID badge and dropped it onto the reception counter. He turned and practically ran down the hallway toward his private office.

---

Reese slammed his office door shut and locked it. His heart hammered wildly against his ribs. He paced the length of the room. He felt like the walls were closing in on him.

This was impossible. Alicia was a nobody. She was a naive, desperate girl who sent him her tip money. How could she possibly own a private hospital in London? He had spent years building his perfect life. He had married into wealth. He had secured his position. He could not lose it all to the girl he had discarded.

He pulled his phone from his pocket. His fingers fumbled over the screen as he dialed his wife's number.

Chloe answered on the second ring. "What is it, Reese? I am busy."

"Alicia is here," Reese hissed. He pressed his forehead against the cool glass of his window. "She bought the hospital, Chloe. She just suspended me in front of the entire staff."

Chloe let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Are you drunk? Alicia Dela Vega doesn't have two pennies to rub together. She is a pathetic diner waitress. She used to cry when she couldn't afford her heating bill."

"I am telling you the truth!" Reese shouted. "The chief administrator confirmed it. She brought her own security. She has power, Chloe. She is going to ruin us."

"Stop whining," Chloe snapped. Her voice dripped with absolute venom. "She is probably sleeping with some old, senile man who bought her a little title to play with. She is nothing. She has always been nothing."

"You didn't see her face," Reese whispered. "She looked like she wanted me dead."

"Good," Chloe said. "Let her try. I am sick of this little orphan thinking she can interfere with my life. I am coming down there right now."

"Chloe, wait—"

"I will put that bitch in her place," Chloe interrupted. "I will remind her exactly who she is dealing with."

The line went dead. Reese stared at his phone. A cold sweat broke out on the back of his neck.

---

I stood in the center of my new executive office. The space was massive. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the busy London streets. I didn't care about the view. I only cared about the destruction of the man who had stolen my life.

The door opened. Johansen walked in.

He moved with a lethal, quiet grace. His presence commanded the entire room. He stopped beside me and looked out the window. We did not touch. We did not exchange warm smiles. We were bound by vengeance and nothing else.

"Reese is suspended," I said.

"It is only the beginning," Johansen replied. His voice was a low, dangerous rumble. "We will strip him of his license. Then we will strip him of his freedom."

My desk phone buzzed. I pressed the speaker button.

"Ms. Dela Vega," the lobby receptionist said. Her voice trembled slightly. "There is a woman here demanding to see you. She is causing a massive scene. She says her name is Chloe Castillo."

My blood ran cold. My former best friend. The woman who had mocked my existence on the phone just days ago.

"Send security," I started to say.

Johansen reached over and pressed the mute button. His eyes darkened with a violent, terrifying rage.

"No," Johansen said. "I will handle Chloe."

I looked at him. The raw grief and hatred in his expression were suffocating. This was the woman who had run over his fiancée and left her to die.

Johansen turned and walked out of the office. I followed him immediately.

We reached the mezzanine balcony overlooking the main lobby. Down below, Chloe was screaming at the receptionist.

"Do you know who I am?" Chloe shrieked. She slammed her hand onto the counter. "Call Alicia Dela Vega down here right now! Tell that pathetic little waitress to face me!"

Johansen walked down the sweeping marble staircase. Chloe turned around with a sneer on her face. She was ready to tear into whoever was approaching her.

Then she saw him.

Chloe froze. The angry flush drained from her cheeks in a single second. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She stumbled backward until her spine hit the reception desk.