The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

At the café, I glanced across at the woman and asked, "What's your name?"

She was sipping on boba tea. When she heard me, she quickly set it down and replied, "I'm Sage Turner. I was in the ward next to yours."

"How did you know I was harmed?" I asked.

Sage took a deep breath, then lowered her gaze. "Honestly, I should be the one apologizing to you."

I was puzzled. "Why would you need to apologize to me?"

Instead of responding, Sage kept her head down and slid her phone toward me. The screen displayed a voice recording app.

I hit play and heard Jessica talking to someone. "I need you to bypass the security cameras and pour oil in that spot. Did you hear that?"

The other person sounded unsure. "It's going to be a pain to clean up if we do that. People will definitely notice something's wrong!"

Jessica's voice got sharper. "Don't overdo it—just enough so someone steps on it and slips, and it's easy for you to clean up later. Got it?"

The other person went quiet.

"I'll throw in some extra cash," Jessica said.

The other person finally gave in. "Fine. Anything else you need us to handle after that?"

"I'll get Zachary to lure Annalise over. She's way too cautious. She'll totally turn us down if we ask her directly, but she can't resist kids. If Zachary asks, she'll definitely give in."

The other person sounded like they were torn between being impressed and uncomfortable. "That's pretty shady, you know."

"How else am I supposed to make this happen? I've been waiting forever for this moment. I'm done sitting around," Jessica said.

The recording cut off abruptly.

Sage looked down, avoiding my

gaze as she said, "I meant to tell you right away I followed her to your ward and figured out who you were. I was just about to warn you when the doctor called, saying my mom's condition took a turn for the worse, so I had to leave.

"Turns out it was a false alarm. She started feeling better soon after. By the time I thought about you again, you'd already lost your baby.

"I've been feeling guilty about it ever since. I tried to find you, but all I had was your name.

"I went to your ward, but they said you'd already checked out. I asked for your contact info, but they wouldn't give it to me.noveldrama

"Then, I saw the news-you were married to Zane and working at his company. That's how I finally found you."

Seeing all that Sage had done for

me, I was really touched. "That

must've been hard. By the way, you'll

need to

take care of your mom since

she's still in the hospital. Are you

working, or are you still in college?"

Sage clearly hadn't seen that

question coming, but she answered honestly, My mom had a minor

stroke, but she's almost fully recovered. I've already graduated college and am looking for a job. It's rough for fresh grads right now, but

I'm hoping to find something that'll let me support her."