Chapter 4

I woke up in a recovery room, a dull ache in my arm and a heavier ache in my soul.

The same doctor from before was there, checking my vitals.

"Mr. Carter, you had an unexpected reaction to the sedative," she said, her voice carefully neutral. "But everything is fine. The procedure was successful."

Procedure. Such a sterile word for what they'd done.

"Where's Tori?" I asked, my voice raspy.

"Mrs. Carter-Sterling completed her procedure and left a short while ago," the doctor replied, avoiding my gaze. She looked nervous.

She gestured to a small, insulated cryo-container on a nearby table. "These are the... results. Five viable embryos, cryogenically preserved."

Five. Five potential lives, created out of deceit and coercion.

My heart hammered against my ribs.

The doctor, sensing my distress or perhaps just eager to leave, mumbled an excuse and hurried out of the room.

I was alone.

Alone with the container.

A wave of rage, cold and absolute, washed over me. Mixed with despair, it was a potent cocktail.

I stood up, my legs unsteady. I walked to the table, my eyes fixed on the container.

Northern Holdings. The name echoed in my mind. My adoptive family' s discreet family office. A name that carried immense, understated weight in circles far beyond the Hudsons' and Sterlings' comprehension.

I grabbed the cryo-container. It was surprisingly light.

With a guttural cry, I smashed it onto the tiled floor.

The container shattered. Five small, marked vials skittered across the tiles, then broke, their contents spilling out, invisible and lost.

Gone.

I took a deep, shuddering breath.

The nervous doctor had, in her haste, left a clinic brochure on the table. It listed the clinic director' s direct line.

I picked up my phone, my hand surprisingly steady.

"Dr. Albright's office," a crisp voice answered.

"This is Ethan Carter. I own Northern Holdings. The embryos from my... procedure today are gone. Destroyed. You will record that there were no viable embryos. None. If Victoria Sterling or anyone from her family ever finds out otherwise, I will ensure this clinic and your career are finished. Do you understand?"

There was a choked sound on the other end. The mention of Northern Holdings, a name rarely spoken but universally feared in certain financial echelons, had its intended effect.

"Yes... yes, Mr. Carter. Understood. No viable embryos. The procedure was... unsuccessful." The director' s voice was trembling.

Good.

I needed to clear my head. The Hayes jet wasn't due for two more days.

I booked a flight. Not to Maine, not yet.

To Telluride, Colorado.

To a luxury ski resort, The Silver Peak Lodge, a property the Hayeses had quietly gifted me on my twenty-first birthday. A place of solitude and beauty.

I needed the cold, crisp mountain air. I needed to ski, to feel the burn in my legs, the rush of wind against my face.

As I checked into the lodge, a familiar, grating laugh echoed across the opulent lobby.

Tori.

She was being carried, theatrically, in Blake Hudson' s arms. He was playing the hero, grinning for effect.

Her "squad," Olivia and Chloe, trailed behind them, giggling.

They spotted me.

Olivia pointed. "Blake, look, it's Ethan! Bet he can't even ski, the Philly boy."

Chloe chimed in, "Probably here to mope in the lodge. Poor thing."

Blake, ever the performer, set Tori down with a flourish.

"Tori, darling," he said, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "Remember the legend of the Silver Fox pendant? They say if you find one of the hidden pendants on the highest peak and give it to your true love, you'll be bound together forever!"

He winked at her. Tori giggled, her eyes shining with adoration for him.

A severe blizzard was forecasted for later that day. The mountain would be dangerous.

I, an expert skier, knew these slopes like the back of my hand. I planned a short, safe run before the weather turned.

Later, as the first snowflakes of the blizzard began to fall, I heard panicked shouts from the lodge.

"Tori's missing!"

"She went up the mountain alone!"