***
It was already midnight when Amara’s phone suddenly rang on the bedside table beside her bed.
She stirred under the blanket, her brows knitting together as the sharp sound cut through the silence of the dark room. Groaning softly, she blindly reached toward the table, her fingers fumbling around until they found the vibrating phone. Without even looking at the screen, she picked up the call and pressed the phone to her ear, her voice thick with sleep.
“Hello…?” she mumbled sleepily.
A tense voice immediately came from the other side.
“Amara, where are you right now?” Elias’s voice rang in her ear, rushed and uneasy.
The moment she heard Elias’s voice, her sleep faded. Her eyes opened, irritation flashing across her face as she pushed herself halfway upright against the headboard.
“What do you think I’d be doing in the middle of the night, Elias?” she muttered, rubbing a hand over her face in frustration. “I was sleeping.”
With an annoyed sigh, she pulled the phone away, ready to hang up, but before she could end the call, Elias’s deep voice came again, sharper this time.
“Don’t hang up. It’s a life and death situation.”
Something in his tone made her pause.
Amara pressed the phone back against her ear, her brows furrowing slightly. “What’s going on?”
“I need you,” Elias said, his tone unusually serious. “Come to the Madison Hotel on West 57th immediately.”
“My family’s hotel?” she asked in confusion.
“Yes. Get here as soon as possible. I’m waiting.”
Before she could say anything else, the line suddenly went dead.
Amara stared at the phone for a second, disbelief flickering across her face.
Then she exhaled sharply and dropped it onto the bedside table.
“Unbelievable…” she muttered under her breath.
Within minutes, she climbed out of bed and rushed out of the house, not even bothering to change out of her sleeveless yellow satin nightgown that fell to her knees.
An hour later, her car pulled up at the entrance of the Madison Hotel.
As soon as she stepped out, the cold night air brushed against her skin. Her heels clicked sharply against the pavement as her gaze lifted toward the entrance.
A familiar cherry red Rolls-Royce was parked a few feet away.
Elias was pacing beside it while speaking on the phone in a tense, clipped voice, one hand resting on his waist while the other held the phone tightly against his ear.
He was dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit, the sharp lines of it emphasizing his broad shoulders and commanding presence. Over it, a long black overcoat hung open, moving slightly with each controlled step he took, the fabric catching faint traces of the night wind.
But he wasn’t alone.
Bianca stood right beside him in a deep red bodycon dress, the neckline daringly low and the hem cut high on her thigh, designed to draw attention with every small movement she made.
The moment Amara saw her, her face instantly changed from concerned to pissed off.
Her lips pressed into a thin line as she slowed her steps.
“Of course she’s here,” she muttered under her breath as she walked toward them. “It’s like she gets summoned every time he breathes. I’ve seen less clingy magnets.”
