Chapter 70: Backward Rumors
The beeping of the life-support monitor inside Room 104 continued its steady, unbroken cadence, filling the sterile air with a constant reminder of the fragile boundary between life and death.
Beron lay completely motionless beneath the thin hospital blanket, the dense white medical bandages around his head stark against the pale light of the room. Beside his bed, Joyline sat exhausted, her eyes still ringed with a deeply etched exhaustion after days of watching over her comatose son.
Damian Boren stood at the foot of the bed, his spotless white lab coat draped over his broad shoulders as his fingers tapped a final sequence into his digital medical tablet. He checked the Alpha’s neurological stability one last time before setting the screen down on the bedside table.
"His baseline neural responses are showing subtle signs of recovery, Joyline," Damian began, his voice direct, calm, and entirely professional as he adjusted the IV drip line. "The swelling in his cerebral cortex is finally beginning to recede. It is a slow process, but his system is fighting. You need to maintain your own strength so you are ready when he finally opens his eyes."
Joyline let out a long, shuddering sigh, rubbing her tired face with a worn tissue before looking up at the handsome, high-ranking physician. The anxiety that had dominated her expression for the past week seemed to shift slightly, replaced by the lingering curiosity that had been brewing in her mind ever since their last intense conversation.
"Thank you, Doctor Damian... your care is the only reason my boy is still breathing," Joyline whispered, her voice trembling slightly as she leaned forward in her vinyl chair. She paused, her eyes searching his unreadable, handsome features. "But... I cannot stop thinking about what you admitted to me the other day. You told me yourself that there was a secret girl you liked down in the lower sectors. I asked you directly if there was someone drawing you to the dirt of the slums, and you confessed that there was. Tell me, Doctor... who could possibly capture the attention of a brilliant, high-born Alpha like you in a place like that?"
Damian let out a small, quiet laugh, the corners of his mouth twitching into a subtle, enigmatic smile. He stepped away from the monitoring equipment, casually sliding his hands deep into the pockets of his lab coat as he turned his gaze toward the older woman.
"Since you are so deeply concerned about my personal life, Joyline, and since you asked me directly... I suppose there is no longer any reason to keep it hidden from you," Damian said, his eyes flashing with a sudden, intense light that instantly altered the casual energy in the room. "The someone I like down in the slums... the one who has captured my focus entirely... is Jannah Nenth. The girl you all refer to as the Cursed."
Joyline’s entire face went completely slack with pure, unadulterated shock. She froze in her seat, her breath catching in her throat as she stared at the respected physician as if he had just spoken a foreign, terrifying language.
"What... Jannah?" Joyline gasped out, her voice rising in a sharp, panicked register that echoed off the white walls. She stood up from her chair, her hands trembling as she shook her head in absolute disbelief. "Doctor Damian, you cannot be serious! Why on earth would you ever like such a disastrous, wicked woman? She is a complete plague upon our community! She brings nothing but ruin, chaos, and destruction to absolutely whoever gets closer to her!"
Joyline stepped closer to him, her eyes wide with a deep, maternal panic as she gestured wildly toward her comatose son on the bed. "Have you also fallen helplessly for her innocent, beautiful looks, Doctor? Has her face completely blinded your brilliant medical intellect? Have you forgotten what she is? She is cursed, Damian! Every single Alpha who tries to claim her or stand by her side ends up broken, bleeding, or dead, just like my son! She will drive you straight to your premature death sooner or later if you do not stay away from her!"
Damian didn’t flinch at her outburst. His posture remained exceptionally relaxed, his broad shoulders resting loosely against the edge of the medical cabinet as he absorbed her frantic warnings with absolute calmness.
"I don’t mind the risks, Joyline," Damian responded simply, his deep voice dropping into a smooth, entirely unbothered register that sent a chill through the older woman’s chest. "In fact, I intend to try to get to know her much more closely now that she has grown up into a woman. I want to see exactly what kind of misfortune will supposedly befall me when I claim her hand. I’ve lived a very comfortable, highly predictable life as a prominent physician. I like having some dangerous, high-stakes challenges sometimes, and I would thoroughly enjoy discovering what happens when our frequencies finally collide."
He leaned forward slightly, his eyes narrowing into sharp, locked slits as a dark, confident smirk touched his lips. "I do not mind the misfortunes, Joyline. I do not mind the chaos or the danger that follows her shadow... as long as I have her absolute beauty with me in the end."
"This is madness!" Joyline cried out, her voice shaking with genuine terror for the doctor who had saved so many lives in her neighborhood. "You are rich, you are incredibly handsome, and you come from a highly respected lineage! You have everything a man could ever dream of! You should instead find a classy, high-born woman from a prominent Upper District family who can elevate your status and give you a peaceful, elegant life! You are far too handsome and far too brilliant to die young over a gutter-rat witch!"
Damian let out another soft chuckle, reaching out to gently tap the edge of his digital tablet to assure her. "Nothing will befall me, Joyline. You need to calm your fears. Have you ever considered that the rumors are entirely backward? Maybe I am not destined to be destroyed by her. Maybe I am the unique, powerful savior who was uniquely meant to get her completely out of the curse that has plagued her family for generations."
Joyline rolled her eyes dramatically, throwing her hands in the air as she sank back down into her vinyl chair beside her sleeping son. "You are not serious at all, Doctor Damian! You are speaking like a foolish young boy in a romantic fiction novel! You are playing with a deadly fire that will consume you before you even realize you’re burning! Just take my son’s case as an example and learn from it."
"I’m sorry for him having met such a misfortune. I am absolutely not kidding, Joyline," Damian said, his tone instantly losing its playful edge, turning incredibly firm, direct, and unyielding as he stepped closer to the window, staring out at the distant, glittering corporate skyline of the high districts. "She is the absolute singular one for me. I’ve known it for a very long time."
Joyline watched his rigid profile, her mind spinning as she tried to comprehend how an S-tier mind could be so completely ensnared by a girl from the mud. She swallowed hard, her voice dropping into a quiet, suspicious whisper. "Is there... is there something else special about her, Doctor Damian? Besides her dangerous looks and her pale face? What could possibly make a man of your stature disregard his own survival?"
Damian turned his head slowly, his eyes reflecting the cold, sharp light of the hospital room as an unreadable, lethal expression settled over his handsome features.
"There is something very, uniquely special about her, Joyline," Damian whispered darkly, his voice carrying the hidden weight of a dark family secret he had no intention of ever sharing.
