Chapter 2 - The Rival's Intervention
Julian didn't wait for the building elevators to bring up the medical team. Recognizing the gray hue stealing over Sophia’s skin, he scooped her up into his arms. The movement was smooth and terrifyingly swift. Sophia whimpered as a sharp contraction seized her abdomen, her hands clutching weakly at the lapels of Julian’s coat.
"I've got you," he muttered against her hair, his stride long and furious as he carried her toward the private service elevator he had bypassed to reach her.
Down in the subterranean garage, three emergency vehicles were pulling in, their red and blue lights strobing violently against the concrete pillars. Julian met the paramedics halfway, placing Sophia gently onto the gurney the moment they unloaded it.
"She’s 34 weeks with twins," Julian shouted over the roar of the idling engines, his authoritative demeanor completely taking charge of the scene. "Severe preeclampsia, possibly eclampsia. Blood pressure was critical when I found her. She’s fading."
The lead paramedic threw a quick, sharp look at Julian, then down at Sophia, instantly recognizing the signs of an immediate obstetric crisis. "Get her on high-flow oxygen! Start two large-bore IVs now! We need to pull blood for a full panel and notify St. Jude’s Emergency OB team to prep OR three!"
As they loaded Sophia into the back of the rig, a paramedic blocked Julian’s path. "Sir, only family allowed in the vehicle."
Julian pushed past the paramedic with a look so menacing the man instinctively stepped back. "I am the only person keeping her alive tonight. Drive."
Inside the swaying ambulance, the air was thick with the smell of antiseptic and panic. Sirens wailed overhead, cutting through the midnight traffic of the city. Sophia lay semi-conscious under the plastic oxygen mask, her hand limp on the padded mattress.
Julian sat on the narrow bench beside her, ignoring the paramedics working feverishly around him. Slowly, deliberate in his movements, he reached out and took her freezing hand in his own broad, warm palm.
For years, Julian Vance had been the monster under Marcus Vane's bed—the ruthless financier who bought up distressed debt, crushed competitors, and operated with surgical precision in the boardrooms of Wall Street. To the public, Julian was cold, arrogant, and unreachable. But as he looked down at Sophia, the woman he had secretly watched from afar for three years—the woman who had chosen his bitterest enemy over him—his chest tightened with an agony he hadn't felt in a decade.
"You're not dying tonight, Sophia," Julian murmured, bending close so only she could hear over the screaming siren. "I won't allow him to destroy you."
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Sophia’s fingers gave a microscopic twitch against his. "My... babies..."
"They will live," Julian swore, his thumb gently stroking the back of her hand. "Both of them. I give you my word."
