Scars of pain

later Grac

ades slicing through the humid air of the hospital room.

rn in half and yet she didn't scream. She bit her lip unti

ly, clouds heavy with rain and warning.

orry etched on her face.

er eyes searched the room. Feliz face was

rse. Just focus, mada

by a doctor and two nurses. His usually composed fa

ching her side. "You'll

twisted instead in agony. Her f

n't want to die,

aid, but even he

ore through the halls, echoing like the final

hen s

sharp cry of a

no longe

e. Blood soaked the sheets. One of the nurses sti

muttered, froz

er hand it w

mnly. "She suffered a massi

e was.He wanted to run mad but he couldn't.feliz left the ho

, the other clutching at his chest. Something broke insi

ought him back

iny bundle wrapped in a faded pink

down his fac

e stopped crying the moment she was in his arms, nestl

," he said. "Grace... I

oved, thunder rumbled,

Days

dn't come. Just Grace's body, lowered into the earth beside a t

till breathing. One b

it drenched, watching the soil cover the onl

never could," he had once t

to him now, like a kn

Withdrawn. The once proud billionaire now

ght Ama

iet room filled with books and paintings. He placed her bassinet near th

et a nanny hand

he told his assistant.

onths

hattered on

ing, fury radiating from her like a furnace. "S

remained seated, swirling a

said. "An orphan.

ives say behind my back? That my husband kept a mistress like a common tout

" he snapped, standin

kered acro

aid, quieter now. "Grace died because

that we can talk about he

a child, because you di

child common.

eft a

rce papers were served

y, her pride, and a hear

Year

study, rocking Amar

un calling

a strange mix of joy an

were signed. Partners toasted. But h

olding the teddy bear he had once brought to that tiny room in M

l

Years

r resemblance to Grace was subtle her eyes, the shape of her mou

Mr. Ezeal's decisi

cocktail parties. Some said she was the product of a charity project. O

people knew

m was buried s

ears

young woman far beyond her years. Quiet, obser

r father's sanctuary. He had traveled for a busin

ancial ledgers, she found a phot

ipped

n her smile wide, eyes radiant. The

of her, as a baby,

, her breath catching. Th

nds tr

you?" she

her, the d

e, his eyes darker t

ver to come in

he photo. "Is t

answer i

uietly:

n't I k

e photo from her hands. "Because knowing her st

ow," she said

ore his blood, her mother's fire, an

e said. "But

argue. She

art, somethin

tions ha

would ever