Two days later,
Eva has not been able to do anything for the past two days. All she did was sleep, eat soft slurpy food Evan, the doctor, had strictly instructed the nurses to give her, and then forced herself to sleep once again which was close to being impossible.
Evan had been monitoring her health for the past few days, and they'd been significant improvements but they weren't enough for him to discharge her, at least not now.
Eva couldn't sleep the night before because this was the day she would meet Dante, her savior. She'd reminded him the previous day, and he'd assured the man would see her that day.
After an endless day, Eva decided to turn on the TV and watch something.
A year had already passed since she went missing from the public eye. A year since she'd last appeared on television, on the runway, a year since everything had changed. There was a chance everyone had already forgotten about her and moved on from her case. Either way, she was still curious and wanted to find out.
Pushing her wheelchair to the remote, she picked it up and pressed a button.
She switched from business channels to a few news channels. A few were talking about her disappearance, wondering what had happened to her.
Then she saw her adoptive parents, Monica and Paul Montclair. Despite not being their biological daughter, they took care of her like she was one and never made her feel unwanted even though they had their own children.
There were eye bags under her father's eyes, which meant he hadn't been sleeping properly. Her mother's eyes were red and swollen with tears. She didn't even bother to hide them with makeup as her father spoke about a ransom for whoever held her hostage.
Eva's eyes watered, and before she knew it, tears started streaming down her face. She wiped them off quickly.
She decided to switch the channel with a silent promise to contact them as soon as she was out of the hospital.
Eva switched to an entertainment channel. She'd been an icon in the modeling industry, so her disappearance was going to make a big impact. And that was where she saw them, the two people she despised till the depths of hell.
Nathan was dressed fancy in a suit she'd never seen him wear before. He looked different since the last time she'd seen him—a year ago. He'd gained some muscle, a glow on his face, with his arm wrapped perfectly around Katherine's waist.
Just like him, she was glowing and looked nothing like someone who was capable of murder. She was all smiles, shining her pearly white teeth at the camera while responding to the reporter's questions coquettishly.
It made Eva cringe.
"Is there a reason you decided to get married only a year after Evangeline Cross's disappearance?" The reporter asked.
Katherine laughed as if the reporter had cracked a joke with her. "There's no reason at all. Besides, she and Nathan had already gotten divorced after she cheated on him. I mean, after what happened, I'm sure Eva went to recuperate after getting divorced from him. When she's ready to appear to the public, she will," Katherine replied.
Eva gritted. She and Nathan never got the chance to get a divorce. She never had the chance to contact her lawyer and send him the divorce papers. They even lied that she'd cheated on him when it was the other way around.
And most importantly, why would she need to recuperate from a divorce when she could spend the rest of her life on her private island without a flash of his memory coming to her head?
However, Eva couldn't deny how her heart pricked in pain. That was supposed to be the man she would spend the rest of her life with if he hadn't cheated on her.
The reporter gave Nathan the microphone to speak into. Before he parted his lips, Eva smashed the TV by throwing the remote at it.
The screen crashed and the image became distorted.
"Fuck you, Nathan and Katherine!!" She cursed through gritted teeth.
"You sure have a lot of anger in you."
Eva's head snapped towards the voice. She hadn't heard any sound, making her wonder just how long the man had been standing there, watching her.
It wasn't Evan, the doctor.
The man standing there wore a bored expression, the kind that made it difficult to know what was going on in his head. He was wearing a suit, two buttons of his inner shirt hanging open, revealing his muscular chest.
'Disgusting,' she thought.
He had a huge body that made it obvious he worked out. But his body wasn't what she wanted to be thinking about.
How did he enter the room without her hearing the door open or his footsteps? She looked down at his shoes. They were designer-made with a familiar logo she recognized. They seemed to be high on the heels too, adding at least one inch to his height.
Walking in those without her hearing his footsteps could either mean he intentionally snuck up on her, or she'd been too engrossed in the television to hear him at all.
With her years of training, she should have at least heard something.
"Now, what are you thinking about?" His deep voice echoed, sending chills down her spine.
"Who are you?" She questioned, her fingers tightly curled around the wheelchair.
Dante took two steps towards the woman before him. He'd been informed by Evan about the woman he'd brought to the hospital a year ago—she'd woken up.
He didn't think she would wake up. He'd forgotten he brought a woman to the hospital.
After making plans to return, he found her glaring at the couple on the TV screen. He didn't hear much but something told him they were involved in what had happened to her.
She looked so weak, so fragile yet this fire burned behind her gaze. She wasn't scared of him. She wasn't wary of him. She looked like she would kill him at that moment if she could.
"I'm Dante De Rossi."