Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

The hospital corridor was eerily silent in the dead of the night. The lone nurse on duty drowsed at the nurses' station, oblivious to the flashing red light from the malfunctioning surveillance camera down the hall.

A figure clad in a white doctor's robe and mask darted past the station, his movements purposeful. He carefully scanned his surroundings before pushing open the door to Natalie's ward and slipping inside.

The patient lay curled up in bed, seemingly fast asleep. The intruder crept closer, a glint of steel catching the dim light as he drew a dagger from his sleeve. He raised the weapon high and stabbed the person on the bed.

All of a sudden, his vision went dark.

Unexpectedly, the person on the bed leaped up and threw the blanket over his head! Panic surged through the assassin. He flailed wildly with the dagger, ripping the blanket free. But before he could react further, the cold muzzle of a gun pressed against his forehead froze him in place.

"Don't move. Not unless you want your head to be blown off." Under the dim light, Axel's eyes glinted with a dangerous glint. A cynical smile played on his lips, sending shivers down the assassin's spine.

The ward door burst open, revealing Sean and Xavier leading a team of men who quickly surrounded the intruder.

"Are you alright, Mr. Axel?" Sean inquired, his voice laced with concern.

Axel clicked his tongue. "I didn't even attack him. All it took was a blanket to take this fool down." With a practiced ease, Axel disarmed the assassin. He sneered. "Sir, you can barely fight, yet you're trying to be an assassin? Try harder next time." The assassin's face was drained of color. His knees buckled, and he crumpled to the floor in a heap.

"Talk," Axel growled, nudging the man's head with the gun. "Who hired you? Reveal his name, and you'll face attempted murder charges at worst. After a decade or two in prison, you can walk free and live a normal life. I can't guarantee that you'll be able to walk out of this ward with all your limbs intact otherwise." "I... I only spoke to him over the phone! I've never met him in person!" the man stammered, sweat drenching his clothes. "But... I have his number and our message history! He wired a million to my account two days ago and promised another after the job! We even spoke just 30 minutes ago!" Burning with fury, Xavier went up to him. He searched the assassin for his phone. He tossed it to Axel after finding it.

"Take him to the station. I'll find a way to unlock this phone." Sean nodded firmly in response. "Thank you, Mr. Axel." The man was escorted away, the silence returning to the ward as if themotion had never happened.

Even though they had helped Alyssa out, a sense of unease lingered in Axel's gut as an oppressive premonition weighed heavily on him.

Just then, his phone vibrated, making his heart skip a beat. He opened the message, his pupils constricting as he read the words on the screen.

It was a text from Amber. Her words were a gut punch, sharp and final. They hurt him so much that his vision blurred, and he nearly lost his grip on his phone.

She wrote, "Goodbye, Axel. I'm leaving Solana City. Don't try to find me. Even if you hear news aboutor you manage to find out where I am, I won't see you." A wrenching pain tore through him. His fingers trembled as he typed and retyped a frantic response. "Where are you, Amber? Tell me." A long tpassed. Yet, there was no reply.

He wasn't satisfied. Eyes stinging with unshed tears, Axel bombarded Amber with messages. It was as if he had gone mad. "Amber, answer me! I know you're there!" "Who do you think I am? Can you avoid seeingjust because you don't want to? Do you think you can control me?" "You're the only one I want in my life, Amber!" "I love you, Amber... Do you love me? Say something. Anything!" A reply buzzed back almost immediately, its words a cold and sharp knife that sliced through his heart and made it bleed.

She replied, "I don't think that's love.

You were just a ray of light that happened to appear in my world of darkness. You showedwhat the light looked like. You simply gavea feeling that I've never had before. ñovels "Love will never disappear, but feelings will don't feel anything for you anymore, Axel. This is all that I'm able to do. If you really love me, don't approachanymore. I just want to live peacefully in a quiet part of this world." The Millennium, once vibrant, was not open for business tonight. The entire place was dead quiet.

There was a chilling sense of foreboding that surrounded all of those at Schmidt Group.

"Everything's prepared, Mr. Schmidt," Carl said, his voice heavy with worry as he watched Jameson play with his pet cockatiel on the balcony. "You can leave Solana City whenever you're ready." "The shell corporation in Kontina holds enough Schmidt Group shares for control," he continued. "You'll maintain power even if you're not in Solana City.

"And even if you lose everything, you can establish a new holdingpany in Solana City and run it from behind the scenes. You'll be back on top in no time. It's just a pity that everything you worked so hard for " Jameson's face, a mask of practiced indifference that hid a storm of emotions, remained unreadable. "Thank you for your hard work, Carl," he interjected.

He unlocked the chain that was tied to the cockatiel's leg. As much as he knew that it wasn't able to fly far, he released the cockatiel into the air and watched as it spread its wings and flew into the night.

"But apany without the Schmidt Group name... what meaning does it hold?" he mused, a hint of bitterness creeping into his voice.

Just then, Carl's phone rang. His face darkened as he answered.

"Mr. Schmidt," he said, voice tight with frustration, "our mission failed. The assassin was captured." Jameson adjusted his glasses, his gaze turning cold and calculating.

"Also... the person we planted to go undercover in the police force has suddenly been suspended and put under investigation," Carl reported through gritted teeth. "Nicholas was the only one who knew about him. It seems he's turned on you, Mr. Schmidt. Aplete betrayal."