Chapter 6 - The Uninvited Ally
Ethan instinctively stepped back toward the shadow of the doorway, shielding Elena and the child with his body. The high-beam lights illuminated Clara’s white satin gown, which was stained along the hem with asphalt grime and engine soot. In her hand, she did not hold a phone or a bouquet, but a small leather portfolio.
"Get in," Clara commanded, her voice cutting through the hum of the sedan’s exhaust.
Ethan stared at her in sheer disbelief. "Clara? What the hell are you doing here?"
"I said get in the car, you idiot!" she shouted, her voice shaking with adrenaline. "My father and your father are inside the boardroom drafting a statement to the press saying you had a nervous breakdown at the altar. They've already assigned two private security teams to secure the back exits of this hospital to retrieve 'evidence' of your indiscretion."
"Why are you helping us?" Elena asked, her voice faint from the crook of Ethan's neck.
Clara walked forward, her heels clicking aggressively on the damp tarmac. She stopped three feet away, staring down at the newborn in Elena's arms. For a brief second, Clara’s hard expression softened into something resembling profound sorrow. "Because two years ago, Ethan, my father forced my sister to abandon her child in an overseas clinic so she could marry a shipping heir. She hung herself six months later. I swore I would never let my father use a baby as a balance sheet ever again."
Ethan didn't wait for another word. He carried Elena into the back seat of the sedan, carefully laying her across the leather upholstery and adjusting the portable oxygen tank for the baby. Clara climbed into the driver's seat, threw the transmission into reverse, and slammed on the gas.
The car surged backward, clearing the alley just as two black SUVs turned into the service lane, their high-intensity searchlights sweeping over the empty brick walls. Clara shifted into drive, tires screaming against the asphalt, and barreled onto the main avenue.
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"Where are you taking us?" Ethan asked, leaning over the front console.
"To a private clinic seventy miles north," Clara answered, her knuckles white on the steering wheel. "The head surgeon is my sister's former physician. But Ethan... we have a massive problem. The clinic requires a bypass machine that can only be unlocked with Arthur Mercer's biometric key."
