The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

The Inpatient Department was packed. Some of the patients were not assigned to a hospital room, and they had no choice but to sleep In the hallway. A majority of them, who had been in the hospital for a long time, were severely ill. They had been around when I was admitted to the hospital, and they were still here when I was discharged. As I walked along the hallway, I saw some familiar faces.

An elderly man asked, "Weren't you discharged? Why are you in the hospital again?"

"Well, I fell down the stairs a few days ago," I said honestly. After all, I wanted to know if any of them witnessed or caught the incident on camera, but I couldn't tell them everything either.

"The staircase was slippery; I think somebody did something to it. I wanted to see if any security cameras may have records of the culprit or if anybody accidentally filmed it."

The old man advised, "Security cameras? There's one in the hallway. You should be able to check the footage in the security room." "Okay, thanks! I'll check it out now," I said happily. The security footage would make everything much easier.

People rarely used the stairway in the Inpatient Department; it was silent. Meanwhile, the place where I once fell had been cleaned, and no trace of blood could be seen.

I looked up and saw a security camera above me. Then, I walked down the stairs. To no surprise, there was a security camera above the place where I previously fell.

This meant that the hospital had a lot of security cameras, even in obsolete places like the stairway. I felt relieved at that discovery.

I went to the security room and told them about what had happened. With the reason of wanting to identify the unknown liquid in the. stairway that led to my miscarriage, I demanded the security footage.

The security team reluctantly showed me the footage from the approximate time when the incident happened. But to my surprise, all the security cameras were covered. I was stunned.

That meant that even if I knew that it was jessica who had been behind everything, I wouldn't have any evidence!

The security guard said guiltily, "When we realized that something was off, we were going to investigate it. But as soon as we arrived, we heard news that somebody fell."

Zachary was a child, and the security cameras would never have crossed his mind. That meant that the only person who knew about everything and was also meticulous enough to think of wiping the evidence...

It would have been none other than Jessica. After taking some time to compose myself, I calmly said, "Sorry for troubling you. Upon arriving home from the hospital, I changed into slippers in the foyer, Zane was working in the living room. When he h door, he said without I sat down across from him. Zane got up and went to the refrigerator. He asked, "Would you like anything to drink?"

I never enjoyed beverages. But since he asked, I answered politely, "Water is fine.

the

Zane got himself a glass of iced coffee, and then he served me a glass of water. After all the busyness in the day, I was getting a little thirsty. I took a few sips of the water that Zane gave me

"It's your first day here. You were getting Willow to eat and even sent her to school, so I had no opportunity to ask if you needed anything. If there's anything you need, you can let me know anytime. I can get the housekeeper to buy what you need."

I had expected Zane to talk to me about Willow, but I hadn't expected him to be concerned for me instead.

After a momentary shock, I answered politely, "Thank you, but I've brought everything I need. I don't need anything right now."

Zane's usual icy, emotionless eyes curved into a slight smile. He said, "You don't have to be so polite with me. Willow genuinely thinks of you as her mother, so you can make yourself at home."

I paused. If this was home...

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