Chapter 4

A primal fear, cold and sharp, shot through Ava. But it was quickly overwhelmed by something stronger, a mother' s fierce, protective rage. She flattened herself against the glass door of the ICU, her body a flimsy shield for the son who lay fighting for his life on the other side.

"You are not touching him," she snarled, her voice low and dangerous.

The men stopped, surprised by the venom in her tone. They were used to a tearful, pleading woman, not this cornered animal.

"We don't want the kid," the first thug grunted, his eyes scanning her. "The boss wants you. You're coming with us. To the clinic."

"I'm not going anywhere," Ava said, her eyes darting around, looking for an escape, for a weapon, for anyone who could help. The hallway was deserted.

The second thug, a bigger man with a scar down his face, stepped forward. "Look, lady, we can do this the easy way or the hard way." He reached for her arm.

Ava recoiled, slapping his hand away. "Get away from me!"

The man' s face darkened. He grabbed her arm again, his grip like iron. "You're making a mistake."

He started to search her pockets with his free hand, pulling out her phone and the few dollars she had. He found nothing else.

"She's got nothing, boss," the first thug said into a walkie-talkie. "Just the phone."

A crackle of static came through, and then a voice. Liam' s voice. Cold and impatient.

"Is she on her way to the clinic yet?"

"She's putting up a fight. Says the kid is sick," the thug reported.

There was a pause. Ava' s heart hammered against her ribs. She could hear the muffled sound of Scarlett' s whining in the background on the other end of the line.

Then Liam' s voice came back, devoid of all emotion.

"Forget the clinic. Scarlett can wait. I have a better idea. Take the kid. Leave her."

The words hung in the air, more brutal than any physical blow.

Take the kid.

Leave her.

The thugs looked at each other, confused. "Boss? You want us to... take the baby?"

"He's collateral," Liam's voice snapped. "A walking blood bag, just like his mother. He has the same rare blood type, doesn't he? We can use him directly. It's more efficient. Bring him to me. Now."

The full, monstrous truth of it all crashed into Ava. It wasn't just that Liam didn't love their son; he saw him as a resource. A biological asset. A spare part for his mistress. The blood she had been giving wasn't just for Scarlett; it was to keep Leo healthy enough to be a viable backup donor.

A sound tore from Ava's throat, a sound of pure agony and madness. She launched herself at the thug holding her, scratching, biting, kicking.

"NO! YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HIM! I'LL KILL YOU!"

She fought with a strength she didn't know she had, a wild, desperate frenzy. But she was weak and malnourished. The second thug easily grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms.

"Calm down, lady! You're making this worse!"

The first thug started toward the ICU door. Ava screamed, a raw, continuous sound of horror.

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare go in there!"

Suddenly, she stopped struggling. An idea, a desperate, wild gamble, formed in her mind.

"Wait!" she yelled. The thug at the door paused. "You work for Liam, right? The Gambler?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Does he pay you well?" Ava asked, her voice shaking but clear. "Because I know something he doesn't want you to know. Something that could make you a lot richer than he ever will."

The thug scoffed. "Yeah, right. What are you gonna do, paint us a pretty picture?"

"Scarlett," Ava said, the name tasting like poison. "Liam thinks she's his queen. But she's playing him. She's not sick. Her doctor is a fake. They're just bleeding him for money. He thinks he's the player, but he's the one getting played."

The men stared at her. They had seen how obsessed Liam was with Scarlett, how he poured millions into her care.

"You're lying," the first thug said, but there was a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.

"Am I?" Ava pressed, her mind racing. "Why would he suddenly want the baby? Because Scarlett is getting more demanding. She needs more money, more 'treatments.' She's getting sloppy. Ask him. Ask him right now if he's ever actually seen her medical records himself. Ask him if he knows the name of her doctor's medical school."

The first thug hesitated, then pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Boss... the woman... she's saying some crazy stuff about Scarlett. That she's faking it."

Liam' s furious voice erupted from the device. "What? That's ridiculous! She's a delusional, lying bitch! I told you to take the kid! Are you questioning my orders?"

"No, boss, it's just..."

"DO IT NOW!" Liam roared.

The thug flinched. The order was clear. He turned back to the ICU door.

It was over. She had failed.

Just then, a tiny, weak voice came from the intercom on the wall next to the door. A nurse inside had flicked it on. It was Leo. He had woken up.

"Mommy?" he called out, his voice thin and reedy. "Is... is Daddy there?"

The sound hit the walkie-talkie, which was still on. There was dead silence from Liam's end. For a single, stretched-out second, the entire world seemed to hold its breath.

The thug holding Ava loosened his grip, just slightly. The man at the door froze. Even through the static, they could feel the impact of that small, innocent question.

"Daddy?" Leo asked again, his voice filled with a child's simple hope.

A choked, strangled sound came over the walkie-talkie. It was a sound of conflict, of a man being confronted with something he had tried to bury.

That was all Ava needed.

She stomped down hard on the instep of the man holding her. He grunted in pain, his grip faltering for an instant. She tore herself free, shoved the other thug against the wall, and burst through the ICU doors. She scooped Leo out of his bed, tubes and all, wrapped him in his blanket, and ran.

She didn't look back. She ran past the stunned nurses, down the hallway, past the elevators, and slammed through the emergency exit into the stairwell. She ran down flight after flight of concrete stairs, her lungs burning, Leo's small, warm body clutched to her chest.

She burst out into the cool night air of a back alley and didn't stop running. She ran until her legs gave out, and then she stumbled into the shadows, gasping for breath.

She looked down at her son. He was looking up at her, his big eyes full of confusion. He was safe. For now.

She thought of Liam's voice on the walkie-talkie. The rage, the cruelty, and then that one, single moment of choked silence. It wasn't love. It wasn't remorse. It was the sound of a carefully constructed lie being pricked by a tiny, sharp truth.

She felt no love, no pity. Only a profound and weary disgust.

As she huddled in the alley, trying to figure out what to do next, she heard two nurses walking by, their voices carrying on the night air.

"Did you hear? That VIP patient, Miss Scarlett, she had another emergency. They're prepping her for a transfusion right now. The poor thing, with that rare blood disease."

The words confirmed everything. Liam had hesitated for only a second before his priority snapped back into place. He would never stop. He would hunt them down, not for love, not for revenge, but for the precious, rare blood that flowed in her son's veins.