Kaia awoke the next morning alone on the couch. Alex left her a note saying he was going to work early and that the exterminator would arrive soon. She was used to it, so it didn't phase her that much.
Kaia looked in the direction of their bedroom and sighed. "Hopefully, the exterminators will be quick," she said, turning her attention to her phone which Alex had kindly brought from the room for her. Although she did feel slightly bad for the mouse, the scratching noises that it made caused her to lose a lot of sleep.
Kaia continued to stare at her phone absentmindedly before remembering something. She thought back to yesterday night and remembered what Alex said about checking to see who had access to her records. She really wanted to know how her parents found out about her recurring condition. She picked up her phone and looked up the hospital's number. She stopped when she found it because she remembered that she needed to see the doctor, anyway. She ran to the room and quickly changed into the clothes. She pulled on a pair of black pants along with a white button-up shirt, and a jacket to throw over it. She grabbed her purse and left the house, then climbed into her car and drove to the hospital.
--
Down the street from the hospital, Caine sat in his car talking on the phone. He was calling all of his close reporter friends in an attempt to dig up some dirt on Kaia because of how she had embarrassed him in front of an outsider and even walked away with him. He was getting nowhere as he continued on and dialed the next number on his list. Caine sighed, letting it ring until a woman's voice answered. "Hello?" Caine grinned, clearing his throat as he forced a cheerful tone and sweetly said, "Lisa, my dear! I need some info. Do you think you could help me out?" Hearing his words, Lisa blinked. She had been typing up a piece on her computer before Caine had called. She adjusted her glasses. "What kind of info?" she asked hesitantly. Caine smirked and responded. "Anything and everything you have on Kaia Crestfall." Lisa froze. She thought back to the art gala and her stakeout. Her eyes scanned the computer screen in front of her and finally landed on an unlabeled file hidden in a corner of the screen. She leaned back in her chair and said, "I do have something on Kaia Crestfall, but what are you offering for it?" Caine's smirk grew wider hearing that someone finally had useful info on Kaia and seductively replied, "What do you think, babe?" Lisa smiled, satisfied with his response. "The only major info I have at the moment is that she is married to Alexander Sabor. They did a good job keeping it under wraps, but I managed to piece things together after the art gala. I managed to stalk them for a few days without them noticing and they've been going everywhere together. So about your offer, same time, same place?" she asked. But there were only a few muffled curse words and then silence in response.
--
Kaia was now inside the hospital talking to the doctor about her condition. They went over the risk factors, as well as precautions she needed to take. Before getting up to leave, Kaia stopped and looked at the doctor. "Can you check who has access to my medical records?" she asked calmly, placing her hands on her lap. The doctor nodded and went through his computer. He looked back up after typing and clicking things for a bit. "From what I could find, a few specialized doctors from our hospital, as well as a private doctor who works here." Kaia blinked, tilting her head. "Who is this private doctor?" The doctor glanced at his computer, then back at her. "Dr. Sasha Armstrong." Kaia's started to have a bad feeling. "What did you mean when you said that she's a private doctor?" The doctor hesitated before saying, "Although Dr. Armstrong works mainly for our hospital, she also works as a private doctor for prominent families such as yours. She is a leading doctor in her field and has been our consultant in regards to your condition." Kaia's lips twitched. Since the private doctor was able to check her medical records, it was not hard to put two and two together about how her parents found out about her condition recurring. But what she didn't know was that Dr. Armstrong had been the one that went to Alex's office that day when she collapsed to give her a checkup. She also didn't know that her parents had already found out about Alex because of Dr. Armstrong.
Kaia sighed and stood up with a hidden glint in her eyes. "Thank you," she said shaking his hand before walking out. She started to wonder what the private doctor knew about her condition and whether she was a friend or foe. She took a deep breath, pulling out her phone to dial Alex's number.
Alex was in the middle of a meeting and looked down at his phone when it vibrated against the table. He glanced around the room with an indifferent expression before picking it up and texting: "In a meeting. I'll call you back after I'm done."
Kaia read his text and sighed before texting back: "Okay…" She decided to call for a driver because she was starting to feel lightheaded and dizzy. While waiting, Kaia huddled inside her coat as she leisurely strolled around. It was pretty cold because it had snowed last night. She went a little further away from the hospital and ended up in a small playground that was empty.
A small smile spread across her face as she walked over to the swings and sat down. It was nice, a tad bit cold, but enjoyable. She gave a small sigh as she thought about Alex. He was doing so much for her. It was only a few days, and he managed to steal her heart again. In reality, there was no "stealing her heart again" because he had it to begin with, even when it was broken and healing. She sighed, closing her eyes and sucking in the cold air.
Letting her guard down at the wrong time, she didn't notice the angered Caine approaching her. With a swift and rough tug on her hair, she fell flat on the ground. Her eyes opened immediately as she felt a throbbing pain in her head and back. Finally, she notice Caine who was glaring at her, seething with rage. She widened her eyes, trembling as she frantically tried to get away from him despite the pain she felt all over her body. "C—Caine, what are you doing here?" she whimpered out, inching her body away. Caine disregarded her words and took one long stride towards her before crouching down. He tightly grasped her chin and practically spat out, "You bitch! How dare you marry him?!?" His eyes were dark and full of malice. Before she could speak or even react, he reared back and sent a slap with full force across her cheek making her yelp in pain. The slap left a red mark across her pale cheeks while the force of the slap whipped her head to the side. "Are you trying to make a joke out of me?!?! Huh?!?!?!?! Are you?!?!?!" he exclaimed hysterically. He saw her shift around, trying to get up, and relished with delight in her sorry state.
A sinister smile was plastered to his face as he walked up and kicked her in the side, making her double over into the snow once more. She groaned. A few tears involuntarily fell onto her red and bruising cheeks. She fearfully clutched her side and attempted to inch away. Caine instantly had her pinned to the ground; her cries seemed to make him excited. He shifted one of his legs between hers as one of his hands went to her throat. "You held out on me and screwed him instead, didn't you?!" he shouted into her ear before he thought of something. He leaned in closer and grinned wickedly. "Why don't I test it out?" he hissed into her ear before he grabbed her bruised up and tear-stained face and pressed his lips down aggressively onto hers. Kaia squirmed, trying to free herself. She couldn't breathe. She had to do something. She couldn't just let this happen! She let out a small whimper before opening up to the kiss only enough to roughly bite his lip. He cursed before instinctively pulling away with blood on his lips. She was starting to become numb to the pain as she felt adrenaline pumping into her veins. Seeing an opening, Kaia swiftly lifted the leg Caine had trapped under him and brought her knees up. His balls suffered a large blow, possibly enough to leave him childless. He toppled over, screaming in pain as he let out a string of curse words.
Kaia didn't hesitate to kick him while he was down before quickly limping as fast as she could back to the hospital. Seeing all the people on the street who were curiously and fearfully eyeing her, she wanted to cry even more. There was no way no one saw or heard what had happened, so why didn't anyone help?
She reached the main entrance of the hospital and saw her company's car pull up. She readily got into the car, closing the door and locking it tight. As she did, all of her emotions came flooding out and she began to sob uncontrollably. She sniffled, pulling out her phone. Her hands trembled as she went to Alex's number. She stopped herself before she pressed the call button. She didn't want to burden him with any more of her problems.
Taking a few minutes to pull herself together, she wiped her tear-stained cheeks and winced in pain. Her cheeks were becoming more purple by the second. She carefully leaned back in her seat. Thinking for a second, Kaia directed the driver towards the stadium which was the venue for the music festival.
She usually stored an extra bag with makeup and other things in the company's car, so she grabbed it and took out the cosmetics bag. She searched for concealer and did her best to put it on naturally in order to cover up her bruised cheek. She also fixed the rest of her makeup and touched up certain areas so it wouldn't look obvious that she had been beaten up badly. Then she combed her hair with her fingers and did her best to pat it down so that it was still messy but at least looked presentable. She asked the driver to hand her the sunglasses that were in one of the glove compartments and put them on. The driver had wordlessly done everything with the occasional worried glance at Kaia's sorry state. He was used to seeing her like this and couldn't do anything to help her because she had told him not to say anything. He was also afraid of Caine and had a family to support.
Kaia rested her back against the seat, being careful to avoid the spot where she had been kicked by Caine. She looked out of the window at the piles of snow that they went past.
The festival rehearsals were still underway as she slowly walked into the stadium with a slight limp that she tried her best to hide. She had on sunglasses which no one really questioned. She sat down on a seat and looked at the stage, seeing a small figure singing. The young girl looked like she was about fourteen or fifteen. Her voice was outstanding. The girl was the daughter of one of the singers who was performing. The singer was planning to do a duet with her daughter and Kaia liked the idea. She needed to talk to the mom about possibly signing the kid. She was fantastic. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, so she figured she didn't need to further supervise the preparations and rehearsals for the festival and went to her company.
It took her about a half-hour to get to the company despite it being really close by. The holidays always meant heavy traffic. Kaia got out of the car and put on a fake smile, seeing Naomi and her daughter. "Naomi, I see you brought your princess today." She looked down at Naomi's daughter through her sunglasses with a warm smile. "Are you ready for Christmas?" The little girl smiled back and nodded her head with excitement. Kaia smiled and looked up at Naomi, filling her in on some of the festival details.
Hearing her phone ring, she pulled it out and saw Alex's number. "One second," she casually said before answering the phone. Alex's voice had a cheerful note in his voice as he spoke. "You look terrific today...though the fake smile is off-putting." Kaia stiffened slightly and looked around. "Where are you?" she asked, surveying the surrounding area. The fact that Alex could see through her fake smile, even from afar showed just how much he understood her. It also showed how attentive he was toward her.
Sadly, the peace didn't last long. As Kaia had been surveying the area, trying to catch a glimpse of Alex, she saw a black unmarked car with illegally tinted dark windows. She saw a window of the back seat roll down and then what appeared to be a gun barrel slowly coming out. Kaia reacted before her brain processed anything and quickly pushed Naomi and her daughter down on the ground covering them with her body. She clutched them protectively with her eyes shut. Then, a few shots ring out.
One trait she always had was putting others before herself. Screams could be heard all around. A few more precise and rhythmic gunshots could be heard before the screeching sounds of car wheels as well as a speeding engine faded into the distance.
She was confused. She swore she had been hit or at least grazed but didn't feel a bullet shoot through her body. Maybe she was just hurting all over from the blow that she had suffered from Caine. Or maybe the people had lousy aim. But there was an unmistakable wet feeling trickling onto her hands.
Slowly lifting herself up from Naomi and her daughter, she finally noticed that the heavyweight on her back wasn't just her imagination. She blinked, her eyes wide open as she quickly jerked her head around to see Alex's body on top of hers. He slid off to the side from the sudden movement. "OH MY GOD ALEX! No...no...NO!!!!" she anxiously screeched with tears forming. She noticed that Alex's gorgeous face was contorted in pain. Seeing him begin to slump to the ground, Kaia quickly wrapped her arms around him. "Alex! Stay awake! Please!!!" She patted his cheeks lightly, holding him in her arms and lap. The tears started to trail down her face. "Please…" she cried out pitifully before frantically looking at Naomi through her tears. "Call for an ambulance!" Her heart was racing as his blood was slowly drenching her arm and the leg that was under him. His blood stained the snow underneath them. Why her?! First Caine and now this?! Her heart was pounding with terror and anger. It ached so much to see Alex in such a state. Kaia whimpered, hugging him close to her. "You have to be ok… you promised we would stay together forever...you promised!" she said over and over again. Everybody was frantic as they tried to help the others who were shot in the shooting. A doctor that happened to be in the cafe across the street ran over when she heard the gunshots being fired. She calmly stated that she was a doctor and instructed everyone to stay calm and follow her orders. First, she attended to Alex.
The woman got help to lay Alex down flat on the ground and applied pressure to his gunshot wound, instructing others to do the same for those who were injured in a similar area. Throughout everything, Kaia stayed by his side. When two ambulance cars arrived, a bunch of EMTs rushed out of the back with their medical equipment and attended to the rest of the victims. Some of them went to Alex and loaded him up on the gurney and put him inside the vehicle. Kaia was about to step into the ambulance along with Alex before she was stopped. "Excuse me, ma'am but may I ask what your relationship to the victim is?" asked one of the paramedics. Kaia nodded, wiping the tears from her cheeks with a bit of Alex's blood streaked across her cheek. "I'm his wife!" she stated plainly before being allowed to climb into the back. She didn't care who saw or heard what she said in the heat of the moment. All she cared about was making sure Alex stayed alive to make good on his promise to stay with her forever.