Chapter 636

"Evelyn!"

Alexander Hamilton shot up from his chair, his voice laced with panic. His eyes darted around the empty hospital room. The bathroom door stood wide open, revealing no one inside.

He raked a hand through his disheveled hair, his eyes red-rimmed as he bolted into the hallway. Visitors carrying breakfast trays glanced curiously at the well-dressed man who looked utterly distraught.

"Have you seen a young female doctor?" Alexander rasped, stopping a nurse.

When she shook her head, he spun toward the elevators. Impatient with the wait, he shoved open the emergency stairwell door and took the steps two at a time. His dress shoes echoed sharply against the concrete as he nearly tripped on a landing, ignoring the scraped palm he got from breaking his fall.

The morning mist still clung to the hospital garden where a few elderly patients practiced tai chi. Alexander gasped for air, the metallic tang of blood rising in his throat. "Excuse me," he stopped a morning walker, "have you seen a young woman in a white coat?"

The negative answer made him remember something. He turned on his heel and sprinted toward the outpatient building.

The door to Olivia Lightfoot's office crashed open with a bang. The young doctor dropped her patient files in shock as Alexander appeared, sweat-drenched and wild-eyed.

"Has Evelyn been here?" His voice sounded like gravel.

Olivia set down her clipboard with a sigh. "She's gone."

Alexander swayed, bracing himself against the doorframe—the same one he'd damaged not long ago.

"She asked me to tell you," Olivia handed him a water glass, "she needs time alone."

His knuckles turned white around the cup. "Where did she go?"

"She didn't say." Olivia shook her head. "But she was very clear—don't look for her."

The office clock's ticking filled the silence. Alexander suddenly realized Evelyn might never have slept last night. She'd simply waited with closed eyes until he drifted off before slipping away.

He pulled out his phone and dialed Grace Anderson. After endless rings, Emily Anderson's tearful voice answered.

"Alex?"

"How's your mother?" His voice trembled.

"Just fell asleep." Emily sniffled. "Evelyn called this morning... said she's going away..."

Alexander's stomach dropped. He tightened his grip on the phone. "Did she say where?"

"No." Another sniff. "Just told us not to worry."

Back in the empty hospital room, sunlight streamed through the curtains but couldn't dispel the chill.

After instructing his assistant about hospital matters, Alexander drove straight to Hamilton Group. His secretary Emily Zade took one look at his ashen face. "Should we send someone to—"

"No." He cut her off. "Let her have her space."

He opened a file, forcing himself to work. But his pen hovered over the paper, unable to form a single word. Finally, he set it down and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows. The city pulsed below, traffic flowing like blood through veins.

Yet somewhere out there, his Evelyn was gone.