Lewis Cole was rarely distracted. His ability to focus on a singular goal had helped him to transition from operating room to boardroom, building his billion-dollar company from scratch. But hours after he had taken Anna to the hospital and returned to his office, he was still thinking about how her eyes had flashed when she was defending her work.
"The design team's report, Dr. Cole." Clara placed another folder among the others that crowded his table due to the afternoon's confrontation.
He nodded, but his attention drifted to the copy of her illustration in front of him. He couldn't help studying them. The detail was remarkable. It was not just anatomically correct but somehow alive. She understood the heart's structure in a way most medical illustrators didn't.
Lewis leaned back in his chair, watching his company's new device demo on his computer screen. He knew he should be checking requirement documents for production expansion, not obsessing over an artist.
But try as he might, the tension he'd seen in her shoulders and the dark circles under her eyes nagged him. He needed to check up on her. He removed his suit jacket from the back of his chair as he dashed out.
Seated in her hospital room, Lewis knew that her fainting must have been caused by the financial strain on her. When she wakes, he'll tell her about Stefan's request. He remembered the fire in her eyes when they first met.
Now, that spark has been subdued. He was pondering how to keep her close after he has helped her when his phone rang and he saw his mother's caller ID flash on the screen, but he ignored it. He took a sip from his teacup. She had declined his employment offer, and he wasn't confident she would take his hand of friendship.
He looked at Anna's still form and the steady rise and fall of her chest to assure himself she was breathing perfectly well, even though the monitors would have sounded an alarm if anything was wrong. Her lashes fluttered before she opened her eyes.
"You're awake?"
She turned in the direction of the voice, her eyes widening upon recognizing him. She tried to sit up, but he stopped her.
"Lie still, you're still weak."
She looked around at the patient monitor, IV pole, and bag connected to her left hand, realization settling in. She was in the hospital! And she had no clue as to what happened.
"You fainted," he said, as if he could read her mind. "Doc said it's due to dehydration and exhaustion."
"I'm sorry for bothering you." She couldn't bring herself to look at him. She imagined he would see her as a nuisance. She had been troubling him since she showed up.
"You don't have to be. No one decides when and where they faint. I'm glad I could help." He couldn't tell her he knew the cause of her exhaustion. "I'll go let the doc know you're awake."
"Thank you."
He shut the door behind him, and Anna closed her eyes again. She had been careless with her body since the accident, focusing on how to get money for her mother's treatment. The last thing she had was coffee and a few pieces of biscuits for breakfast the previous day. She had not gone home since then, either.
The sound of Lewis's footsteps had barely faded when the door burst open again. Anna turned, thinking it was the doctor, but instead, she found herself facing an elegant woman in her late fifties.
Her silver-streaked dark hair was styled into a chignon that emphasized her high cheekbones. She wore a cream-colored Chanel dress, the fabric flowing around her as she moved. Diamond studs shone from her ears, and her Louboutin heels made a soft click-clack noise against the floor as she walked.
Her eyes were the same steel gray as Lewis's, only hers did not have that soul-searching look Lewis's had.
"So it's true." Her eyes glanced swiftly around Anna's hospital room, lingering on the IV drip. "My son really did rush a woman to the hospital."
Anna's throat went dry. "I'm sorry, you're..."
"Margaret Cole." She moved closer, her Hermès scarf fluttering against her neck. "Lewis's mother. And you are?"
"Annabelle Bennett." Anna tried to sit straighter, painfully aware of her shabby appearance. "I think there is a misunderstanding..."
"Is there?" Margaret's eyebrow rose. "My son, who has become completely uninterested in a woman since his sour breakup with Sophia, suddenly carries someone to the hospital himself instead of calling an ambulance or having his staff handle it?" Her eyes narrowed. "Are you pregnant?"
"What? No!" Anna's eyes widened in horror. "I collapsed in his office during a business meeting."
"A business meeting," Margaret repeated, her tone suggesting she believed Anna couldn't come up with a more ridiculous excuse. "Really? So what was the meeting about? Which company do you work with?"
"I'm an artist," Anna replied with a sullen look. Now that Margaret put it that way, she also began to wonder why he would trouble himself to bring her to the hospital himself and even stay with her. Surely, he was a busy person who had more important things to do than wait on her.
"Dear, Lewis doesn't have 'business meetings' with women, least of all women like you."
Anna's cheeks burned with embarrassment. "Mrs. Cole, I assure you..."
The door opened again, and Lewis stopped short at the scene before him. "Margaret."
"Darling." Margaret turned, flashing him a warm smile. "I was just trying to get acquainted with Annabelle."
"By interrogating her in a hospital bed?" His voice carried an edge Anna hadn't heard before.
She moved away from the bed as if Anna had suddenly become a forbidden object. "Well, you can't blame me. When Patricia called to say you rushed a woman to the hospital, I just wanted to confirm it with my eyes."
"I've told you to stop having me followed," Lewis said through gritted teeth, opening the door wider. "That will be all, Margaret."
Margaret swept out with elegance, and Lewis followed her. Once they were alone in the corridor, he stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
"What were you trying to do back there?"
She shrugged, feigning innocence. "I was simply curious about the girl you brought in. Can you blame a mother for wanting to meet someone who's captured her son's attention?"
"Stop meddling in my life."
"I'm not meddling." She stepped closer. "But I wonder why you brought her to St. Mary's instead of Cole Memorial."
Lewis's jaw clenched. "Because I can't stand the way you run Dad's hospital."
"Really?" Margaret laughed mockingly. "Well, I'd be more than happy to step aside and let you take over if you can fulfill the conditions in your father's will."
"You think I don't know that marriage clause in the will was your handiwork? I know you connived with the lawyer to manipulate the will."
Margaret's eyebrows rose in surprise. "And why would I do such a thing?"
"Because you love being in control. That's why I left it for you."
"How manly," she said, smiling in mockery. "You didn't leave it for me. You knew you'd lose to me in a legal battle, so you didn't even try."
"So that's what you think? That I left because I was afraid I couldn't win?"
"Yes."
A slow, dangerous smile spread across his face. "Well, then you just dared me."
Margaret regarded him for a moment. Was he serious?
"I don't see you settling down anytime soon."
"I enjoy proving you wrong, Margaret." He raised the corner of his lips in a roguish grin. "Expect a wedding invitation within the month."
She smirked. "Unless you're thinking of marrying that artist in there? Because that's the only way you'll ever have a hope of running Cole Memorial."
"I'll marry whoever I damn well please."
"And stay married," Margaret added pointedly. "The will specifies a stable marriage, not something you enter today and leave tomorrow."
Lewis's grin widened. "We'll see about that, won't we?"
As he turned and walked back toward Anna's room, Margaret called after him, "You are always stubborn and reckless like your father."
Lewis paused at the door, looking back over his shoulder. "I'll take that as a compliment."
Left alone in the corridor, Margaret was filled with uncertainty. She knew Lewis would always rise up to a challenge when provoked, and she had pushed him just then, even though she didn't mean to. She didn't know what to expect from him, but she would start getting prepared in case he engaged her in a legal battle. She pulled out her phone and called the family lawyer.