"I went to my husband’s hospital, where he works as the chief surgeon, and calmly told the receptionist I was his wife. She looked at me with a strange smile and said that was impossible, because his wife had just checked in minutes before me. I dropped by my husband’s hospital just after lunch, carrying a paper bag with his favorite turkey club from Delaney’s and the blue tie he had forgotten on the bedroom chair that morning.

The cold metal of the scalpel pressed lightly but dangerously against my sensitive skin.

I could barely breathe as I stared straight ahead, feeling my husband's desperate heartbeat against my back.

"Nathan, please do not do this," I begged in a soft, trembling whisper.

The aggressive pounding on the heavy oak door grew louder and far more violent with each passing second.

"Just play along with everything that is about to happen, Clara," he whispered directly into my ear.

"It is the only possible way they will treat you as a terrified victim instead of a willing accomplice."

The heavy wooden door suddenly splintered and crashed completely open under the overwhelming weight of a tactical battering ram.

Four heavily armed police officers swarmed into the office with their black rifles drawn and aimed directly at us.

"Drop the weapon right now, Dr. Pierce!" the lead tactical officer screamed at the top of his lungs.

Nathan tightened his grip around my waist for just a fraction of a heartbeat.

Then he dramatically released me and let the silver scalpel clatter loudly onto the polished hardwood floor.

I collapsed to my knees instantly, perfectly playing the role of the traumatized, weeping hostage.

Two massive officers tackled Nathan aggressively to the ground and secured his hands in heavy steel cuffs.

He did not fight back, simply pressing his face into the carpet as they read him his rights.

A female officer gently pulled me up from the floor and wrapped a warm, thick blanket around my shaking shoulders.

"You are safe now, Mrs. Pierce, he cannot hurt you anymore," she said in a deeply soothing voice.

I watched in absolute shock as they dragged my brilliant, respected husband out of his own prestigious office.

I clutched my purse tightly, feeling the hidden stack of fake passports Nathan had shoved inside just moments before.

I knew I needed to get out of the hospital quickly and figure out exactly what the L. Monroe file meant.

The female officer escorted me slowly down the busy hallway toward the main administrative elevators.

As the shiny silver elevator doors opened, a tall blonde woman in a cream designer coat stepped out.

She was stunningly beautiful, with piercing blue eyes, high cheekbones, and an incredibly confident smirk.

She was talking quietly and intimately with Dr. Sterling, the notoriously ruthless CEO of the hospital.

"Thank you for recovering that vital file before the police arrived, Vanessa," Dr. Sterling murmured to her.

My blood ran completely cold as I heard the name that had started this entire nightmare.

Vanessa turned her head slightly and looked directly into my tear-filled eyes.

She did not look the least bit surprised to see me being escorted by an armed police officer.

Instead, she smiled warmly at me and gave me a small, incredibly mocking wave of her hand.

The Billionaire Put On a Waiter’s Apron to Test His Fiancée, but the Wom...

My father bet twenty dollars that I would walk through his front door al...

My Husband Slapped Me Out of His House for His Mistress, Then the Most F...

Then I noticed exactly what she was holding tightly in her perfectly manicured fingers.

It was the expensive blue silk tie I had just brought to the hospital for Nathan.

Chapter 2 - The Hostage