To Love a Shadow, To Be the Sun novel Chapter 30

Brian remembered the way she'd clung to him, her lips mumbling his name—"Ri-an"—even in her feverish delirium.

If she didn't love him, there's no way that, half out of her mind with fever, she'd still be calling for him.

That thought settled something inside him, grounding him.

"Because, she still cares about me," he said quietly.

Charles, visibly frustrated, clenched his jaw. "Find someone else to look after that woman. I'm not going back to Aalborg. If you have any decency left, you'd be more concerned about your wife. She's seriously ill from being out in the cold. If you're thinking about having kids, it won't be so easy now." With that, he turned on his heel and left without a backward glance.

A deep furrow appeared between Brian's brows.

"Mr. Vincent…"

Yves Caldwell hurried in, clearly exhausted from being up all night.

"Miss Vincent… she's back. She's waiting outside the hospital."

Brian's eyes turned icy. He said nothing.

Yves wiped sweat from his brow. "That body they pulled from the river wasn't her—the blood type didn't match. We'd been investigating outgoing travel from Aalborg, but turns out Miss Vincent caught a ride to another city and flew home from there. We only realized when the plane was about to land, so we brought her straight from the airport."

"If you mess up like this again, you can forget about being my assistant. Go find work stacking boxes somewhere," Brian snapped, brushing past him and heading straight for the hospital's main entrance.

The dawn sky was already flushed with pink and gold.

Lina stood waiting at the top of the hospital steps.

She wore a soft pink linen shirt tucked loosely into cream wide-leg trousers, the outfit making her look delicate, almost fragile. Delicate Tiffany camellia earrings danced at her earlobes as she searched the crowd for a familiar face, giving her the air of a cherry blossom just beginning to bloom—fresh, gentle, and utterly unthreatening.

When Lina spotted Brian, she lit up and hurried toward him. "Brian—"

Lina shook her head. "They didn't seem local."

Yves glanced at Brian. "They used fake passports to enter the country. If we want to know who they are, I'm afraid we'll have to ask Mrs. Vincent."

Lina frowned in confusion. "What do they have to do with your wife?"

Brian shot Yves a sharp look. "You've worked for me seven years and still can't tell what matters most. Maybe you'd be better off counting copy paper in the mailroom."

Yves understood immediately—Brian meant that now Lina was back, whatever his wife may have done, he wasn't going to pursue it further.

Before Yves could reply, Brian gave another order. "Take her back to the house."

Lina hesitated, her voice careful. "Brian, I've come all this way… Isn't it strange to leave without seeing your wife?"