Chapter 2 Before the Fall

Zarien was halfway through a meeting when the noise started, whispers, gasps, the sound of rushed footsteps echoing outside his office.

He stepped out into the hallway.

"What's going on?" he asked no one in particular.

Then he heard the name.

Evelyn.

His heart jerked into his throat. Without thinking, he bolted down the corridor toward the dining hall.

The sight stopped him cold.

Evelyn lay on the floor, limp, her body trembling, her lips stained red.

"Evelyn!"

He rushed forward, dropping to his knees beside her. Without hesitation, he gathered her into his arms, her head falling weakly against his shoulder. Blood trickled from her nose and the corner of her mouth.

"No, no, no, Stay with me," Zarien muttered, voice tight with panic.

Cathy was right behind him, her breath ragged from running. She pulled a handkerchief from her side bag and gently dabbed at Evelyn's face, her hands shaking.

"She started seizing," Cathy said through tears. "She's bleeding, Zarien!"

He didn't wait for an elevator. He turned and charged toward the staircase, carrying Evelyn in his arms like she was weightless. Cathy kept pace behind him, wiping the blood as it came, whispering her friend's name like a prayer.

As they burst through the lobby, everything slowed.

Staff froze in place, their eyes wide. Conversations halted mid-sentence.

Some stared in shock. Some stepped back.

Zarien didn't look at any of them. His face was tight with fear, his jaw clenched.

He didn't care who was watching. All that mattered was the woman in his arms - fragile, unconscious, and bleeding.

The hospital doors burst open with a gust of wind and urgency.

"We need help here!" Zarien shouted, his voice cutting through the sterile silence.

Nurses at the reception desk leapt into motion. A gurney rolled in within seconds, pushed by two attendants in scrubs. Zarien gently laid Evelyn down, his hands trembling as he backed away just enough to let them work - but never too far.

"What happened?" one of the nurses asked sharply, checking Evelyn's vitals as the team surrounded her.

"She collapsed. Seizure. Then... she started bleeding from the nose and mouth," Cathy explained breathlessly, still clutching the now-stained handkerchief.

Evelyn's body twitched slightly, her lips pale, her breath shallow.

"Blood pressure dropping," another nurse said urgently. "Let's go. ICU, now."

The gurney rushed down the corridor, wheels squeaking on the tile. Zarien moved to follow, but a nurse stopped him with a firm hand.

"Please wait here, sir."

"I'm not leaving her," he snapped, eyes wild.

"You can't go in. Let us stabilise her first."

Zarien stood frozen in the corridor, fists clenched at his sides, watching as the doors swung shut behind her.

Cathy placed a gentle hand on his arm. "She's strong," she whispered. "She'll pull through."

But Zarien didn't answer. He just stared at the double doors where Evelyn had vanished, his chest heavy with things he hadn't said - and a fear he couldn't name.

The office was quieter now. Whispers still floated through the hallways like smoke, but the panic had passed. What remained was a thick, uncomfortable silence - the kind that settled after something irreversible.

Sandra sat at her desk, staring at nothing. Her hands rested on the keyboard, unmoving. She hadn't typed a word since they rushed Evelyn out of the dining hall.

"They took her to the hospital," someone muttered near the break room.

"They said she was bleeding."

"Zarien carried her out himself..."

Sandra clenched her jaw. She tried to look busy, but her chest felt tight. Something strange stirred inside her, something she didn't want to name.

Why does he care so much?

That thought burned through her like acid.

She remembered the way he held Evelyn, the urgency in his voice, the way he hadn't even waited for the elevator.

And yet... hadn't she wanted this? Hadn't she felt a rush of cruel triumph when the whispers about Evelyn's illness first started?

So why does it feel like I'm the one being crushed now?

A colleague approached her desk. "Did you hear? They admitted Evelyn to the ICU. It's serious."

Sandra barely nodded. "Oh," she said flatly. "That's... unfortunate."

She turned her face back to her screen, pretending to read something important.

But her vision blurred, not with tears, but with something colder. Something emptier.

He never looked at me like that.

She sat in silence, a war waging quietly behind her eyes. Guilt. Envy. Fear. Regret.

But all she allowed the world to see was a blank face... and fingers that still hadn't typed a single word.

"So, you're not even going to the hospital?" A voice cut through the air like a knife.

Sandra looked up. Her friend, Mariam, stood across from her desk, arms folded, eyes sharp.

"Why would I?" Sandra said coolly, forcing a smile. "It's not like we were friends."

Mariam's expression didn't change. But the silence between them grew heavy, judgmental.

"You've been acting... different," Mariam said finally. "Ever since Zarien started giving Evelyn attention."

Sandra's smile faltered. "Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not. And I heard what you said the other day. About how 'maybe now she knows what it feels like.'"

Sandra stood abruptly. "Watch your mouth."

Mariam raised her eyebrows and stepped back with a smirk. "Sure. I'll watch it - especially when I'm talking to HR later today."

Sandra's heart dropped. "You're joking."

"Am I?" Mariam asked, already walking away.

Sandra sat back down, pulse racing. The game had shifted. And this time, she wasn't holding the cards.

The beep of machines echoed steadily in the ICU. Evelyn lay motionless, her face pale beneath the dim lights.

Zarien stood beside her, eyes heavy from lack of sleep, mind knotted with thoughts he hadn't yet unravelled.

Cathy sat in the corner, watching him quietly.

"You should go home for a bit," she said softly. "Get her something comfortable. She'll need clothes when she wakes."

Zarien hesitated, glancing down at Evelyn's fragile form. "You'll stay with her?"

Cathy nodded. "She's safe with me."

With one final glance at the woman in the hospital bed, Zarien exhaled and grabbed his car keys.

"I'll be back in an hour," he said, then disappeared through the double doors.

Cathy turned back to Evelyn and gently adjusted the blanket around her.

"He cares about you," she whispered. "More than you know."

The room was still. Machines hummed softly. Outside the ICU window, the sky had turned to a dull grey.

Cathy sat by Evelyn's bedside, quiet... too quiet. Her eyes weren't filled with concern anymore; they were focused, cold. Calculating.

She glanced once at the door. Empty.

Then she stood.

Gently, she reached into her bag and pulled out a small vial, trembling in her hands, not with guilt, but anticipation.

"I warned you," she whispered, leaning in close. "I told you not to get in the way."

Evelyn stirred slightly, her eyelashes fluttering.

Cathy uncapped the vial and poured a few drops into Evelyn's IV line, her hands steady now, eyes sharp.

But just before the last drop fell, a loud knock slammed against the door.

Cathy froze.

The door creaked open, and in stepped a tall man with dark jeans, sharp eyes, and panic written all over his face.

"Evelyn!" he shouted, rushing toward the bed.

Cathy jerked back, dropping the vial. It clattered to the floor and rolled under the bed.

"Who are you?" she barked, recovering quickly.

"I'm her boyfriend," the man snapped. "Where is the nurse? What were you doing?"

Evelyn groaned faintly, her lips parting.

The man - Malik - turned and saw the slow, creeping red in her IV line. He grabbed Cathy's wrist before she could pull away.

"What the hell did you do to her?"

Cathy yanked free. "I was helping, she was choking..."

But before she could finish, the door flung open again, and this time, Zarien was standing there, holding a bag of clothes... frozen.

The door swung open hard, slamming into the wall behind it.

Zarien stepped in, holding a soft tote bag filled with Evelyn's clothes. But the second he saw the room, he froze.

Malik was gripping Cathy's wrist. Her face was flushed with panic. The IV line dripped slowly with a strange tint of red. Evelyn lay in the bed, her head twitching slightly, lips parting in a whisper.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Zarien's voice boomed like thunder.

Malik let go of Cathy and turned sharply. "You, are you in charge here? She was putting something in her IV!"

Zarien's eyes went straight to the floor, where the small vial lay glinting beneath the bed. His heart dropped.

"Cathy," he said slowly, voice hardening. "What... did you do?"

"Nothing!" Cathy snapped. "He barged in and he's not even family-"

"Neither are you," Malik hissed.

Evelyn moaned faintly. Her fingers twitched.

Zarien dropped the bag and rushed to her side. He grabbed her hand gently. "Evelyn... Evelyn, can you hear me?"

Cathy backed away toward the door, panic flashing across her face.

"You tried to poison her," Malik said, stepping toward her. "You almost killed her."

"It wasn't like that," Cathy breathed, her voice cracking.

Zarien looked at her not with confusion or pity, but with a fire he rarely showed.

"You're done," he said coldly. "Get out. Security will meet you at the front. Don't ever come near her again."

Cathy's eyes welled with sudden, pathetic tears. But no one moved to comfort her.

As she fled the room, Malik leaned over Evelyn and stroked her hair gently.

"I'm here, baby," he whispered. "You're going to be okay."

Zarien stepped back, stunned by the tenderness in his voice and by the word: baby.

Evelyn stirred again. Her eyes opened just slightly.

And the first thing she saw... was the two men standing on either side of her bed.