The CEO's Regret: His Lost Wife's Secret Twins novel Chapter 81

Chapter 81

BLAKE

“Found her! She’s alive-barely!”

ไรต

The security guard’s shout cut through the chaos. My legs moved before my brain caught up.

The fire had finally been contained, leaving behind a scorched skeleton of twisted metal and ash. Aria was half-buried under debris in what had been a pocket protected by fallen beams. Her left leg was still pinned by that damn rebar. But she was breathing.

Barely.

I shoved past everyone. She looked like death-covered in soot and blood, her clothes burned away in patches. Her left leg was a mangled mess of blood and charred fabric. A few burns marked her left forearm and shoulder where the flames had reached her. But her chest

moved.

I dropped to my knees beside her, my hands hovering, not knowing where I could touch without causing more pain.

“Sir, we need to cut the rebar carefully-

“Do it. Now.”

My hand finally settled on her right shoulder, away from the burns. Her skin was cold despite the residual heat around us. Too cold.

The rescue team worked on the metal while I stayed beside her. She didn’t move. Didn’t make a sound. Just that shallow, labored

breathing.

When they finally freed her, I scooped her up as carefully as I could. She weighed nothing. How had I never noticed how small she was?

“Sir, wait for the ambulance-

“No time.”

I laid her across the backseat of my Bentley, wrapping her in the emergency blanket from the trunk. Her skin felt like ice. The smell of smoke and burned flesh filled the car. I gunned the engine toward Redwood Medical Center.

Thirty minutes on a good day. I’d make it in fifteen.

The speedometer hit 120. Other cars blurred past. Red lights meant nothing. My eyes kept flicking to the rearview mirror, watching her

chest for movement.

Then her voice, so quiet I almost missed it: “It hurts… Blake, it hurts so much…”

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Chapter $1

My chest caved in. My hands gripped the steering wheel so hard something cracked. Might have been the leather. Might have been my

knuckles

Hold on. My voice was rough. We’re almost there. Just hold on.”

I tried to tell you… Her words were barely a whisper. About Emma… she…”

Don’t talk. Save your strength.

But she’d already gone quiet again. Her breathing was even more shallow now.

I pushed the car harder. Ninety miles an hour. A hundred. A hundred and ten.

What about Emma? What had Aria been trying to tell me?

The medical team waited at the emergency entrance. They swarmed the car the second I stopped.

“Smoke inhalation, second-degree burns on left forearm and shoulder, metal rod penetration through thigh-

“We’ve got her.” A nurse was already moving her to a gurney. Mr. Morgan, you need to step back-

I’m staying with her.”

“Sir, you can’t-

Then Matthew appeared, his usual composed demeanor completely shattered. He took one look at Aria and his face went murderous.

“You.” He grabbed my collar, slamming me against the wall. “You fucking bastard. What did you do?”

“Get your hands-

“You left her!” His voice cracked. “In a burning building! For Emma!”

“I didn’t know-

“Didn’t know what? That fire kills? That she would die?’ He shook me hard. Or did you just not care?”

“Mr. Redwood!” A nurse shouted. “We need you in the OR! Now!”

Matthew shoved me away and took control of Aria’s gurney. The look he gave me before those doors closed promised violence.

I deserved worse.

(

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Chapter 81

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I wore a path in the waiting room floor. My suit was destroyed-blood, ash, soot. My hands were still shaking. When did my hands ever

shake?

Two hours passed. Then a scream echoed from the OR. Aria’s voice, raw with agony.

My fist went through the wall before I realized I’d moved. Nurses scattered. Security appeared.

“Sir, you need to calm-

“That’s my wife in there!”

Another scream. Weaker this time. Then urgent voices. Someone ran past with blood bags.

I pressed against the OR doors. Two doctors walked by, not noticing me.

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