Chapter 5 Escape Blocked

• Todd's POV:
• Downtown, Hylton Hotel Penthouse.
• I stared darkly at the woman in front of me, who had just returned, sobbing, from her errand. A dull ache was starting to pulse in my temples.
• "So what you're telling me is that Clarity Hospital didn't even bother to line up a doctor for me? And it's nothing like its reputation? It's not even a top-notch hospital?"
• "Yes, Todd, you have no idea. Their attitude was horrible! This random doctor, I only asked her a few questions, and she just started cussing me out! She said she wouldn't treat an evil person, that there are no good people in the mafia!"
• Lilith spoke quickly, her voice seething with anger. I could feel it, and I felt it too.
• For years, I've kept Dark Angel under tight control, reigning in my people, making sure they don't harm without reason. I've gotten used to people's obedience. And now, a mere hospital dares to defy my orders?
• "Who was she?"
• "Nancy! I heard the director call her Nancy. Apparently, she's the only doctor there who knows how to treat sleep disorders."
• Lilith's words tumbled out at a rapid clip, and I noticed something venomous in her eyes. She clearly hated this woman. I didn't dwell on it, though, because my head was throbbing with pain.
• The truth is, I've had severe insomnia for years. I can go entire nights without sleeping, forced to rely on meds to get even a few hours of rest. But everyone knows you can't take those pills for long—the side effects are brutal. They make my temper even worse, leave me with splitting headaches, and sometimes ... make me feel like I'm a second away from killing someone.
• That's why I'd come here, to find a real solution.
• And now, some random doctor's saying she won't treat me?
• A murderous rage simmered in my chest. I called my lieutenant, William, into the room. "Get Ferrero here, now," I ordered.
• Ferrero is the director of Clarity Hospital.
• "Yes, sir."
• "And bring this 'Nancy' with him."
• "Understood."
• William left to carry out my orders, and Lilith came up to my side, watching him leave.
• "Todd, let me massage your temples," she said, her voice dropping to a syrupy tone, sweet and sticky, like a cake made entirely of frosting with no sponge underneath. Disgusting.
• "No," I rejected her offer, ignoring the hurt look in her eyes as I dismissed her from the room.
• ...
• Ariana's POV:
• That night, I couldn't sleep well, a few things weighing heavily on my mind.
• But even though I hadn't slept properly, I didn't notice my phone lighting up again and again in the dark—I'd put it on silent. It wasn't until my alarm went off the next morning, and I groggily reached over to turn it off, that I saw it. Seven or eight missed calls.
• Suddenly, I was wide awake.
• All the missed calls were from the hospital.
• I'm not an ER doctor. There's no reason for them to be calling me in the middle of the night.
• If it wasn't an emergency, then why ... ?
• A string of back-to-back calls like that—like a death sentence—what could it possibly mean?
• Could it be ... ?
• A terrifying thought flashed through my mind, and the next second, I was already leaping out of bed.
• "Griffin, Mirabelle, wake up! Mommy's taking you on a trip today, hurry up or we'll be late!"
• I rushed into the kids' room, jolting my two sleepy little ones out of their dreams in seconds.
• "Mommy ... " Mirabelle mumbled, her voice soft and drowsy.
• Her big, sleepy eyes refused to open, clearly still not fully awake.
• But Griffin perked up the moment he heard the word "trip."
• "A trip? Mommy, where are we going? Don't you have work?"
• "I took a few days off. We're going to Zenovia! Mommy already bought the tickets—I wanted it to be a surprise. Now hurry up!"
• As I answered Griffin's questions, I quickly scooped Mirabelle out from under her cozy blanket, even though she was still clinging to it.
• Seeing this, Griffin didn't waste any time and scrambled out of bed as well.
• Twenty minutes later, the three of us were finally packed and out the door.
• Buzz ... buzz ...
• Right then, my phone started vibrating again. I took it out and saw it was my friend Susan calling, so I picked up.
• "Hello?"
• "Oh my god, Nancy, what is going on at the hospital? Your office is packed with people—it looks like they're tearing the place apart! And it seems like they're looking for you. What's going on? You suddenly called in for leave, and now the whole place is in chaos. Did you piss someone off?"
• Susan's voice rattled off at machine-gun speed, bombarding me with questions the second she started talking.
• Hearing this, my face went even paler.
• "It's nothing, really. They just want me to treat a patient I don't want to treat, so they're probably just searching my office for files. Don't worry. Since they're already there, you should go back before they notice anything."
• "Are you sure?"
• Susan sounded skeptical.
• But I wasn't about to explain anything more to her. I didn't have the time, nor did I see the point.
• I hung up, and without wasting a second, took the kids and sped toward the airport.
• There was no way I was going to let myself be found. Not only did I never want to see that bastard ever again, but for the sake of my children, I would never let him know they existed.
• Because if he found out, he'd definitely try to take them away.
• And with my resources, there was no way I could fight a globally powerful mafia boss.
• That's why, the moment I saw that vile woman at the hospital last night, I'd rushed home to book flights and called Susan to cover for me, erasing any evidence they could find at the hospital.
• But I was still too late.
• I never thought that scumbag would move so fast, showing up at the hospital in the dead of night.
• Did he not even need to sleep?
• All this over such a small matter, and he's going all out?
• Grinding my teeth, I raced to the airport with the kids. It only took about 30 minutes to get there.
• "Griffin, keep an eye on Mirabelle here for a moment, okay? Mommy's going to get our boarding passes."
• "Okay, Mommy."
• Griffin was being so well-behaved. He must've sensed my urgency and tension, and he nodded right away.
• I quickly grabbed our IDs and headed over to the self-service kiosk to print our boarding passes.
• But to my frustration, after I scanned my ticket and ID, the screen flashed: "Unable to process."
• Are you kidding me?
• It's like this stupid machine knew I was in a rush and just wanted to mess with me.
• I forced myself to stay calm, took my ticket and ID, and walked over to the staffed counter, hoping they'd be able to issue the passes manually.
• "Hi, I'd like to check in for Flight XX."
• The staff member took my ID and ticket, looked at the screen, and then, without missing a beat, said, "Nancy Brown, right? I'm sorry, but you've been flagged with a travel restriction."
• A what?
• I could hardly believe what I was hearing.
• "Excuse me? Can you tell me why I'm being restricted from leaving the country?"
• "I'm sorry, I don't know the details. All I know is that we received an alert stating that Dr. Nancy Brown from Clarity Hospital is prohibited from leaving the country. If you have questions, you might want to contact your hospital," the staff member replied.
• I stood there, frozen for a good ten seconds, barely keeping my rage in check.
• Dr. Nancy from Clarity Hospital.
• I didn't need to ask what was going on.
• That bastard. That absolute scum.
• He'd reached out and pulled strings here too, enough to block me from leaving the country? Just like that?
• And what was even scarier—he'd figured out I was flying to Zenovia.
• I was so furious that my whole body was shaking, my vision blurring in and out from the rage.