To Love a Shadow, To Be the Sun novel Chapter 29

Yves Caldwell realized he'd made a serious mistake at work.

"This is important—why didn't you report it?" he demanded.

Mrs. Archer shrank back, intimidated by his anger.

"The madam forbade me to say anything," she stammered.

Yves stamped his foot in frustration. "Mr. Vincent, every car in Platinum Bay has a tracker. I'll check where the car is right away."

Brian's expression didn't change; he glanced at Mrs. Archer with a cool, indifferent look. "Loyal to her, aren't you?"

With that, he turned and headed for the basement.

…

Elara felt completely numb, her mind drifting in and out of awareness.

At first, she'd shivered from the cold, but now she couldn't even feel the temperature around her. Maybe she'd simply gotten used to it.

But now, her throat burned with thirst. She was parched, and there was no water or food anywhere.

Gradually, the darkness faded, and she suddenly found herself standing in a narrow alleyway.

She hadn't seen this place in over a decade.

When she was thirteen, she'd escaped that hellish place with nowhere to go. The trash bins in this alley had kept her alive—at least until…

"What are you doing here? Come with me."

She spun around, searching for the person who'd spoken—but there was no one there.

It had been years since she'd heard that voice.

Hadn't he died long ago?

She called out his name and stumbled toward the mouth of the alley, which was swirling with smoke.

But as she ran, a sudden flash of white light blinded her. Suddenly, her whole body felt unbearably heavy, every breath an effort.

After all, she barely knew Charles—just that he was Brian's childhood friend and a renowned doctor.

Why was he standing up for her like this?

"I covered for you," Charles snapped. "I deleted the record of her miscarriage during surgery—a breach of ethics and my own conscience. And what did you do? You locked her in the basement, nearly killed her! Had I known, I'd have let her learn the truth herself. At least then, she might have learned to take care of herself."

Elara yanked off her oxygen mask, jolting upright in shock.

So those occasional stabbing pains in her abdomen weren't just cramps—they were the silent goodbye of a child she never knew she'd lost. With every message blocked, her body's pain was the only sign that a little life had once been there.

The heart that had once ached for Brian was now being torn apart, each fragment reflecting his cold, unfeeling face.

She pressed a hand over her mouth, fighting back the sob rising in her throat.

Charles was furious, but Brian's voice remained icy calm.

"Telling her about the miscarriage would only make it worse. I'll help her recover, and someday we can have another child."

Charles laughed bitterly. "You let her burn with fever and starve in that basement. You almost killed her. What makes you so sure she'd ever want to have a child with you again?"