Bound by the Past, Locked by the Heart novel Chapter 193

Willa struggled to open her eyes. Her back was still throbbing with pain.

She turned her head and saw Randal standing by the window, his voice kept low as he spoke on the phone.

"Keep an eye on it for me. Let me know the second you find them."

"Scarlett's side is fine; her dad will arrange for me to enter Vanguard."

"As for the club, handle that for me."

...

The moment she heard the word "Vanguard," Willa's heart skipped a beat.

Why on earth was Randal joining Vanguard Properties out of nowhere?

Before she could untangle the connection, Randal seemed to sense she was awake. He whipped his head around, immediately whispering into the phone, "I have to go. She's awake."

He hung up and walked over, reaching out to feel her forehead. His brows knitted tightly. "Why are you still burning up?"

"What time is it?" she asked, her voice sounding even hoarser.

"Two in the afternoon." Randal pressed the call button by the bed. "You've been running a fever this whole time. I'll have the doctor take a look."

Willa offered a faint "hmm" and closed her eyes, her mind still racing over the word "Vanguard," completely unsettled.

The doctor pushed the door open shortly after. The nurse quickly took her temperature. "A hundred and one point five."

The doctor did a brief examination before speaking. "The fracture doesn't seem to have worsened. If you're really worried, we can do another CT scan, but this persistent fever..."

He paused, looking at Randal. "Has the patient suffered any major illnesses in the past, or does she generally have a weak constitution?"

"Her immune system has always been poor. She catches fevers easily."

The doctor nodded in understanding and sighed. "For someone with a compromised immune system, the body's reaction to trauma is far more severe than in a healthy person. The fracture itself triggers inflammation. With her poor immunity, she's much more prone to fevers, and they're likely to be recurring."

Randal clearly understood the underlying meaning. His grip on her hand tightened instantly, and his brow furrowed.

Watching him, Willa felt a suffocating tightness in her chest.

She remembered when they had first gotten together. Back then, he would have handed her the entire world on a silver platter if he could.

He used to say that she was the sweetest thing he had ever tasted in his life.

She used to believe they could stay in that honeymoon phase forever. But later, she realized his world was perched impossibly high. No matter how hard she fought or how high she reached, she could never truly touch it.

She thought she had walked far enough away to wipe the slate clean.

Five years had passed, yet he still haunted her dreams.

Those dreams were so visceral that every time she woke up, it took her entirely too long to separate the nightmare from reality.

Now, he was right in front of her, holding her hand in a death grip, looking at her with red-rimmed eyes like a puppy that had been abandoned for too long and had finally waited for its owner to return.