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We Meet Again, After All These Years
img img We Meet Again, After All These Years img Chapter 4 Close Call at the Private Clinic
4 Chapters
Chapter 10 Trapped at the Virginia Estate img
Chapter 11 Captivity and the Dinner Party Showdown img
Chapter 12 Lies Unraveled, The Engagement Truth img
Chapter 13 Family Downfall, A Bloody Warning img
Chapter 14 Abyss of Despair, The Harsh Truth img
Chapter 15 Hospital Corridor, Oath of Submission img
Chapter 16 Corporate Giant, Overwhelming Takedown img
Chapter 17 Refusal to Settle, Survival by Sacrifice img
Chapter 18 Workplace Storm, Standing Her Ground img
Chapter 19 A Fatal Assignment, Conflict of Interest img
Chapter 20 Audit Threat, Invitation to the Abyss img
Chapter 21 The First Whisper of Doubt img
Chapter 22 Gaze From the Abyss img
Chapter 23 Medical Disguise img
Chapter 24 Tenderness in the Cage img
Chapter 25 Desperate Deep Kiss img
Chapter 26 Cold Dinner Table img
Chapter 27 Desperate Counterattack img
Chapter 28 Fatal Crisis img
Chapter 29 Power Crush img
Chapter 30 Forcible Takeover img
Chapter 31 Under Currents at the Banquet img
Chapter 32 Sudden Proposal img
Chapter 33 The Tyrant Arrives img
Chapter 34 Stomach Pain img
Chapter 35 Hidden Track img
Chapter 36 The Pinnacle of High Society img
Chapter 37 Forcible Takeover img
Chapter 38 High-Speed Chase img
Chapter 39 Memory Shift img
Chapter 40 Killers in the Night img
Chapter 41 Bloodshed in the Ruins img
Chapter 42 Capital Stranglehold img
Chapter 43 A Hopeless Slap img
Chapter 44 Sacrificing the Pawn to Survive img
Chapter 45 Suffocating Journey Home img
Chapter 46 Consumed by Jealousy img
Chapter 47 Freezing the Whole Room img
Chapter 48 Humiliation of Her Father img
Chapter 49 Back Hug img
Chapter 50 Caged Confession img
Chapter 51 Would You Shed a Single Tear for Me img
Chapter 52 Underground Interrogation img
Chapter 53 The Old Ring Taken Off img
Chapter 54 The Hidden Agenda in the Square img
Chapter 55 Offshore Account img
Chapter 56 Deadly Trap img
Chapter 57 Death Arrives img
Chapter 58 Surrendered to The Gravity of His Obsession img
Chapter 59 My cousin bites img
Chapter 60 Please Don't Leave Me img
Chapter 61 61 img
Chapter 62 I'm Done Waiting img
Chapter 63 Lonely Christmas img
Chapter 64 Fatal Mistake img
Chapter 65 Secret Talk in the Study img
Chapter 66 Don't Be Like Me img
Chapter 67 All Night Vigil img
Chapter 68 Close-Quarter Positioning img
Chapter 69 Absolute Rule img
Chapter 70 Clash at the Card Table img
Chapter 71 Turnabout on the Card Table img
Chapter 72 Deputy Editor img
Chapter 73 The Tyrant Arrives img
Chapter 74 Forcible Eviction img
Chapter 75 Class Oppression img
Chapter 76 Lethal Whisper img
Chapter 77 Workplace Counterattack img
Chapter 78 Transoceanic Call img
Chapter 79 Fatal License Plate img
Chapter 80 Intimate Reunion img
Chapter 81 Bold Decision img
Chapter 82 The Man in the Guest Room img
Chapter 83 Please Do Not Hurt Him img
Chapter 84 He Is a Psychopath img
Chapter 85 The Absurd Truth img
Chapter 86 Complete Breakup img
Chapter 87 You Make Me Sick img
Chapter 88 You Are Free img
Chapter 89 Empty Nest Withdrawal img
Chapter 90 Stranger img
Chapter 91 The Cruel Truth in the Bathroom img
Chapter 92 I'm The Rule in Washington img
Chapter 93 I am The Liability img
Chapter 94 I Want To Go Home. img
Chapter 95 I Will Never Let You Leave img
Chapter 96 Glass Box img
Chapter 97 Apologize to Her img
Chapter 98 I handle the drinking for this table img
Chapter 99 I want her face ruined img
Chapter 100 Leave nothing img
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Chapter 4 Close Call at the Private Clinic

Alya felt herself being lifted off the ground. The world was a spinning blur of white lights and sterile walls.

Archer carried her through the back doors of the clinic and practically threw her onto the leather examination table in the private suite.

The door swung open. Dr. Callum Jenkins walked in, wearing a crisp white coat. He took one look at Archer's murderous expression and raised an eyebrow.

Callum snapped on a pair of latex gloves. He grabbed a gauze pad soaked in medical alcohol and pressed it to the cut on Alya's forehead.

Alya flinched, a sharp hiss escaping her lips.

Archer stood leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his broad chest.

"Do a full workup," Archer commanded, his voice echoing in the quiet room. "Check her heart. Run her blood."

Alya's eyes snapped open. Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird.

"No!" Alya pushed herself up on her elbows. "It's just a scratch. I don't need a blood test."

Archer ignored her completely. He looked at Callum and gave a sharp nod.

Callum pulled a silver stethoscope from his neck and stepped closer to the table.

Alya's mind raced. If he listened to her chest, he would hear the massive, irreparable damage to her heart valves.

Callum pressed the cold metal disc against her chest, right over her heart.

Two seconds passed. Callum's hand froze.

His brow furrowed deeply. He moved the stethoscope slightly to the left, listening closer. He heard the chaotic, struggling rhythm. The severe murmur.

Callum pulled the earpieces out and looked down at Alya, his eyes full of clinical suspicion.

Before Callum could speak, Alya looked him dead in the eye.

"Viral myocarditis," Alya lied, her voice steady and loud. "I contracted it during a reporting embed in Syria three years ago. It left a slight arrhythmia."

She threw out the medical jargon like a shield, daring the doctor to question a war correspondent.

Callum looked skeptical. He turned his head toward Archer. "I should hook her up to the EKG monitor to be safe. That rhythm is..."

Alya gripped the edge of the paper-lined table. Her palms were slick with cold sweat.

Suddenly, a heavy vibration buzzed in the room.

Archer reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a sleek, encrypted black phone. He glanced at the screen. His jaw tightened.

It was the secure line from the Pentagon.

Archer's gaze flickered from Alya's defiant face to Callum's concerned one. His eyes narrowed with suspicion, a silent message passing between the two men that he wasn't buying a word of her story. But the call couldn't wait. "I have to take this. Hook her up. Don't let her leave."

Archer turned on his heel and walked out into the hallway, pulling the heavy door shut behind him.

The moment the latch clicked, Alya sat up. The feigned weakness vanished from her eyes, replaced by a predatory sharpness.

She looked at Callum.

"If you tell him the truth about my heart," Alya said, her voice dropping to a lethal whisper, "I will publish the import manifests showing how this clinic smuggles unapproved anesthetics from Switzerland."

Callum froze, his hand hovering over the EKG machine.

He was a veteran of the D.C. elite, used to handling scandals, but the absolute certainty in Alya's eyes terrified him. She wasn't bluffing.

Callum slowly raised both his hands in the air, stepping back from the machine.

Ten minutes later, the door opened. Archer walked back in, bringing a wave of cold air with him.

"Well?" Archer demanded.

Callum cleared his throat. He didn't look at Alya. "She has a mild concussion. Extreme fatigue. The arrhythmia is consistent with her old viral infection. I'll prescribe some standard painkillers."

Archer's eyes narrowed. He looked back and forth between the two of them, his instincts screaming that something was wrong.

But he had no proof.

"Put your coat on," Archer ordered Alya.

An hour later, the black Escalade idled outside a modest apartment building in the Northwest quadrant.

Alya shoved her door open. She didn't look back. She didn't say goodbye. She walked straight into the freezing rain.

Inside the lobby, Ginger Battle was pacing the floor, chewing on her thumbnail.

When Ginger saw Alya walk through the glass doors with a bandage on her head, she gasped and ran forward, grabbing Alya's arm.

Ginger looked through the glass. She saw the terrifying silhouette of the Escalade, and the dark, imposing profile of the man in the back seat.

The lobby doors slid open. Marcus walked in.

He didn't look at Alya. He walked straight up to Ginger and handed her a thick, matte black business card with a gold-embossed crest.

"If she exhibits any medical anomalies, you call this number," Marcus stated, his voice devoid of emotion.

He turned and walked back into the rain.

Ginger stood frozen, staring at the card that represented the apex of Washington's dark power, her mouth hanging open.

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