Chapter 3 Caught in his web

Ivana arrived at work and was surprised to see her associates had thrown her a surprise party.

"Congratulations, ma'am!" they exclaimed in unison the moment she walked into her office.

Ivana furrowed her brows. "What's this about?" she asked, making her way through the balloons on the floor as she headed toward her desk.

"We're congratulating you on the case you took yesterday. It was a huge sum," Rosapearl, one of her associates, explained.

"Yeah, fifty thousand is no joke!" Rodney, the only male among them, chimed in.

"Ms. Anderson, can we have a team dinner tonight?" Rosapearl asked, causing the others to erupt in excitement.

Rodney snapped his fingers. "Yeah, we should go to that newly opened restaurant. I heard they have a huge menu." he said, nodding his head in agreement.

When Ivana settled into her chair, she slipped off her heels and leaned back, watching them whisper amongst themselves.

"I didn't take on the case." she announced, picking up a file from the stack on her desk.

Her associates stopped whispering and turned to her. "What? Why?" They asked, surprised.

Ivana sighed and looked up at them. "The case isn't worth the trouble I'd have to go through, so I told them to find a different lawyer." she said after a brief silence.

As her associates remained silent, Ivana pulled out her credit card and placed it on her desk in front of them. "Dinner is on me, but I'm out. I have plans tonight, so enjoy yourselves." she said, gesturing for them to take the card.

Rodney stepped forward and collected the card, while the others stared at him in awe, feeling as if it wasn't real.

"Is this real?" Rosapearl whispered, though everyone heard her. She held the card to her chest. "You are really buying us dinner? With your card, but without you? Do you trust us that much?" she asked, her voice laced with affection.

Rodney shot her a warning glance. "A simple thank you wouldn't hurt." he whispered in her ear.

Ivana paused what she was doing and looked at all of them. "Should I take it back?" she asked instead, ignoring their questions.

Rodney let out a loud laugh. "Thank you so much for your kindness, Ms. Anderson." he simply said, signalling the others to do the same, lest she might actually take it back.

"Get back to work, and ask the maintenance staff to remove these from my office." she said, referring to the balloons and bouquet of flowers.

Rosapearl laughed. "Yes, ma'am."

When it was 7 pm, Ivana left work and drove to the city's hospital after receiving an emergency call. When she arrived at the hospital, she rushed to the VIP's room, gasping for air.

She watched, frozen in horror as the doctors and nurses switched places administering CPR on a patient. Her eyes were glued to the patient, her heart racing with fear.

"God please, no." she silently begged, already losing all hope.

Finally, the machines beeped, and the patient chest rose with a steady breath. She exhaled, relief washing over her.

As the nurses left, she rushed inside the room, and sat on the chair beside the patient's bed, holding his hand, feeling his warmth.

Tears streamed down her face as she buried her face in his palm. "You scared me. I thought I'd lost you too." she whispered, her voice shaking.

"Ms. Anderson, I think it's time to let him go." The doctor said, taking Ivana by surprise.

She turned to him, her eyes red and teary.

"What do you mean by that? Are you giving up on him?" she snapped, her voice rising.

The doctor shook his head sideways, his breathing heavy. "I'm not giving up on him, Ms. Anderson." he calmly said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I have to be honest with you: there's no hope left for him. I know he's your brother, but you need to understand that his condition no longer warrants further treatment."

"Bullshit!" Ivana yelled, standing up to him.

"I'm the one paying for his care, not you. It's my decision, not yours. I pay you to provide proper care, and you're telling me this?"

The doctor gently placed a hand on her shoulder, and guided her back to her seat. Ivana," he said softly, "You have to consider letting him go. He's in pain, and after nine years with no sign of improvement, we've reached a point where we need to discuss declaring him brain dead."

Ivana shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "I can't do that–I can't let him go. He's the only one I have left, please." she begged.

"Ms. Anderson, even if he wakes up, I can't guarantee he'll be able to live a normal life again." the doctor clarified.

Ivana shook her head, wiping away tears with the back of her hand "I don't care, Doctor. I just want him to be with me–by my side." she said desperately.

She turned to her brother, grasping his hand again. "Please wake up. I need you by my side to move forward without breaking down. You are the only one I have left, so don't leave me, please." she pleaded, her voice cracking as tears welled up in her eyes.

After spending hours by her brother's side, Ivana realised it was almost 11 pm and reluctantly decided to leave. As she stepped outside, she noticed the doctor standing by the door, looking different from the man she remembered from nine years ago.

Her eyes held a sad smile. "You've aged a lot," she said, earning a chuckle from the doctor.

He waved his hands dismissively. "Don't worry about me, fifty is the new thirty." he said, gazing through the window, at her motionless brother.

"Alright, let's do it." Ivana said slowly, taking the doctor off guard. Her usual cold, unreadable expression returned.

"His birthday is in three months, if he doesn't wake up by then, we can discuss declaring him brain dead. You're right; he might be in pain." she concluded.

The doctor nodded and patted her shoulder. "Alright, we should do that." he said, before heading back to work.

When Ivana exited the hospital, her car was gone. She realized she had parked it in a no-parking zone, and it had been towed away.

"Today is really not my day," she sighed, frustrated, and pushed her hair back. After that, she hailed a taxi and gave the driver her address. When she arrived at her destination, she noticed someone was following her.

Ivana turned around and was surprised to see two men fully dressed in black suits. She quickly opened her bag and pulled out a pepper spray.

"Who are you guys? Why are you following me?" she questioned.

One of the men stepped forward, but she pointed the pepper spray at his face, causing him to halt. "We are not going to hurt you; we just need you to come with us." he said in a calm tone.

Ivana swallowed hard, deeply scared, but she maintained her composure. "I'm not going anywhere with you. Leave now, or I'll call the police." she threatened, bringing her phone with the other hand.

Before she could dial, someone emerged from behind and covered her nose with a handkerchief. She struggled, but eventually fell into a deep slumber.

Ivana flicked her eyes open and found herself being tied to a chair. She recognised Greg Taylor as the one restraining her and began trembling.

"You did this to yourself. Why did you have to reject the offer?" he sighed, with a hint of pity.

Ivana kept her head high and steadied her breath. "Who exactly are you? Are you going to kill me?" she asked, struggling against the ropes around her wrists.

"Don't bother struggling; you'll only hurt yourself," Ivana heard another voice say from behind her. It was different–mix of beautiful and deadly, sounding utterly dangerous.

Shortly, an older man appeared before her. He stood tall, his imposing height commanding attention. Despite his advanced age, his presence remained striking.

He sat on the empty chair before her, and folded his hand on his lap. "Ivana Anderson, 27 years old attorney and the best graduating student from Harvard." he said, fixed her a burning gaze. "You are quite bold, just as the rumours stated."

Her breath caught in her lungs at his words. When she caught sight of the small glimmer of amusement in his piercing blue eyes, she realised that he'd done a background check on her.

Seconds ticked by as she stared at the man for a long while. At last, she squeezed out, "What do you want from me?" her voice was sharp and firm.

"I heard you're the best at your job, I just need you to get my boy out of prison. Become his lawyer, and get him out." his response was calm and straightforward.

Ivana scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I can't take on your boy's case. Why don't you kill me instead?" she asked, her tone laced with mockery.

His lips curled into a small smirk. "Very well then." he said, leaving her speechless.

He nodded to Greg, who stepped forward and placed a tablet on Ivana's thighs.

As she watched the image on the screen, her body began to tremble: it was her brother, and a wave of fear washed over her.

The man noticed her expression had changed, and a low chuckle erupted from him. "What do you think?" he asked, his gaze dropping. "Killing you won't be fun. How about I kill him instead? I heard you've spent your life savings on him."

When the tablet was taken away, Ivana slowly raised her head to look at him. Her eyes were teary and red, with beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

"Why–why are you doing this to me?" she stuttered, her body trembling uncontrollably.

The man leaned forward, his face inches from hers. "Should I kill him?" he asked in a calm tone.

Ivana bit on her lower lips, shutting her eyes to keep her tears at bay. "I will do it! I will defend your boy, so don't hurt my brother, please!" she blurted out, breathing heavily.

The man remained silent, and she quickly regained her composure, "I'll see you in court in two days." she added firmly.

The man squinted, his eyes narrowing in doubt. "Don't think you're clever enough to play games with me, Ms. Anderson." he warned, his voice low and menacing.

"I won't let you down. Trust me." she spoke with a conviction that hid the tremble in her voice as his fingers closed around her chin.

"Trust is a dangerous game, Ms. Anderson. You don't get it for free; you earn it."