Malissa returned to the hospital the next morning, her body aching from exhaustion and her mind heavy with unanswered questions. She had barely slept. Every time she closed her eyes, she heard the nurse's voice again.
Sometimes powerful people can influence things.
The words echoed in her mind like a warning she could not ignore.
She walked through the hospital corridors slowly, the fluorescent lights buzzing above her head, the smell of antiseptic sharp in the air. Nurses moved quickly past her, pushing carts and carrying files, while patients and visitors sat quietly along the walls. Everything looked normal, but nothing felt normal anymore.
She walked straight to the finance office, her bank card clutched tightly in her hand. The same clerk from yesterday looked up when she approached the counter. He recognized her immediately, and his expression turned apologetic.
"Miss Fisher," he said gently, "I told you yesterday. Authorization is still pending."
Malissa leaned forward, her patience gone. "Pending from where? Who decides authorization? I have the money in my account. Why can't you take the payment?"
The clerk hesitated and glanced at the computer screen before answering. "It doesn't come from our department. We just process what the system allows. The authorization comes from higher up."
Her stomach dropped. "Higher up? What does that mean? Hospital management?"
He shook his head slightly. "I don't know exactly. We just receive approval or rejection through the system."
Malissa's voice became quieter but more intense. "So someone outside this office blocked it?"
The clerk shifted uncomfortably and lowered his voice. "I can't say that officially. But the block didn't come from this office."
Malissa stepped back slowly, her heart pounding in her chest.
This wasn't a system error. Someone had interfered.
Someone had intentionally blocked her payment.
She thanked the clerk quietly and walked out of the office, her mind spinning.
Outside the hospital, she sat on a bench and stared at the ground for a long time, trying to think clearly. If someone had blocked the hospital payment, then maybe the other problems were not coincidences either.
Later that morning, she decided to call the lawyer she had spoken to a few days ago. He had sounded interested back then. He had asked for documents and said he would review the case.
She dialed his number and held the phone tightly to her ear.
"Hello?" the lawyer answered.
"Mr Daniels," she said quickly. "It's Malissa Fisher. About my father's case. You said you would review the files."
There was a pause on the other end of the line. When he spoke again, his tone was different. Colder. Distant.
"Miss Fisher," he said, "I'm sorry. I can't take your case."
Her heart sank. "Why not? You said you would review the documents. You said the case might have a chance."
Another pause. Then he sighed. "We were advised to stay away from this case."
Malissa froze. "Advised? By who?"
Silence filled the line. She could hear him breathing, but he didn't answer immediately.
"I can't say," he finally said. "Please don't call again. I'm sorry."
The line went dead.
Malissa slowly lowered the phone from her ear, her hands trembling. Someone had advised the lawyer not to take the case. Someone powerful enough to make lawyers back away from a legal appeal.
Her chest felt tight. The hospital payment was blocked. Now the lawyer was backing out because of advice from someone he refused to name.
This wasn't coincidence anymore.
Someone was controlling it.
That afternoon, she went to the bank to ask about her loan application. She had submitted all the required documents, and her credit history was clean. The rejection did not make sense.
She sat across from the loan officer, her documents neatly stacked on the table.
"I applied for a loan last week," she said calmly, though her hands were slightly shaking. "It was rejected. I want to know why."
The loan officer typed into his computer and reviewed her file. After a moment, he frowned slightly.
"Your application was flagged during corporate review," he said.
Malissa's brows knitted together. "Flagged? For what reason?"
He shook his head. "It doesn't say. Just flagged for review and then rejected."
"That doesn't make sense," she said. "My credit history is clean. I have a stable job. I provided all documents."
The officer hesitated, then lowered his voice slightly. "Miss Fisher, I shouldn't say this, but sometimes certain files get flagged when there is external pressure."
Her heart skipped a beat. "External pressure? What does that mean?"
He looked around briefly before speaking again. "It means someone important got involved."
A pause.
"And once it happens… things stop moving."
Malissa stared at him, her mind racing. "So someone interfered with my loan application?"
He did not answer directly. Instead, he said, "You may want to resolve whatever issue caused the flag. Otherwise, other financial applications may also be affected."
Malissa thanked him quietly and left the bank in a daze.
Outside, she stopped walking and stood on the sidewalk, staring at the cars passing by. Hospital payment blocked. Lawyer refused. Loan flagged. All within the same week.
This wasn't bad luck.
Someone was deliberately closing every door in her life.
By the time she left the bank, the sun was already lower in the sky, and her head was pounding from everything she had heard that day.
That evening, Malissa sat alone in a small café near her apartment.
The café lights reflected softly on the table as the city outside slowly turned from orange to dark blue.
The café was quiet, with only a few customers sitting at tables, typing on laptops or talking softly. A cup of coffee sat untouched in front of her as she opened her notebook and began writing.
Hospital blocked. Lawyer refused. Loan rejected.
She stared at the words for a long time, tapping her pen slowly against the table.
Everything had started recently. Everything had started after a certain day.
She closed her eyes and tried to remember everything that had happened over the past few weeks.
The café collision. The phone swap. The meeting at the café. The nightclub.
The assistant who returned her phone.
And then the name.
Marquez.
Her eyes opened slowly.
One name surfaced.
Alexander Marquez.
The billionaire she had accidentally bumped into. The man whose phone she had taken by mistake. The man whose assistant had warned her about confidentiality. The man who had stopped the drunk customer at the nightclub. The man who had looked at her as if he was trying to figure something out.
Her heart began to beat faster as the pieces slowly came together.
He was rich. Powerful. Connected.
And she had offended him. She had called him arrogant. She had insulted rich people in front of him. She had spoken without thinking.
Her grip tightened around the pen.
Could he really be doing all this because of that?
The thought sounded ridiculous, but everything pointed in the same direction.
She opened her bag slowly and pulled out the business card she had kept since the day she met his assistant. She had kept it just in case she needed to return the phone again or contact them about something. She never imagined she would be staring at it like this.
The card was simple and elegant.
Alexander Marquez
CEO, Marquez Technologies
She stared at the name for a long time, her fingers trembling slightly.
Every door that had closed. Every rejection. Every delay. None of it was random.
Malissa closed her notebook slowly and stood up from the table. Her heart was still pounding, but her mind felt clearer than it had in days.
If he was the one behind everything, then she was not going to sit quietly and suffer.
She was going to confront him.
She picked up her bag, left money on the table, and walked out of the café into the night air.
For the first time in weeks, she wasn't thinking about bills. Or hospital fees. Or rejection.
She was thinking about one person.
Alexander Marquez.
And this time…
she wasn't going to wait for another door to close.
She was going to knock on his.