Jane did not lodge in the same hotel as Aidan.
She had considered it for less than a minute after landing in Milan, then dismissed the idea entirely.
He didn’t need to know her whereabouts.
So, she checked into a hotel across the city where she could handle things in the shadows.
From the moment she arrived, she did not rest; she changed in silence, sat on the edge of the bed for a few seconds, and opened her phone.
She found his contact.
An insider, connected to her by a friend.
Someone who had once been paid very well to understand patterns of movement that were not meant to be noticed.
She sent a message.
Any updates?
The reply came within minutes.
Well, he’s been moving between the hotel and the hospital.
The name of the hospital is Necker hospital , and he was seen around the pediatric section about twice too.
Jane read it twice.
Her heart skipped a bit.
Her head was telling her things now, but her head didn’t want to believe.
Her expression did not change.
She only leaned back slightly, phone still in her hand.
Then she asked one more question.
Where’s he now?
The answer came back.
She stared at it for a moment longer than necessary.
Then stood up.
She was headed to that hospital herself.
She was filled with rage already.
“Aidan,” she thought.
“What are you hiding in your sleeves?”
He knew no one here to go visit in the hospital.
Her phone rested on her lap.
She did not look at it again until the car stopped.
Then she got out.
****
Jane walked through the hospital entrance with no urgency.
A cream coat, hair neatly arranged and a neutral expression.
At reception, she paused.
A nurse looked up.
“Good afternoon.ma’am”
Jane smiled lightly.
“I’m looking for someone.”
The nurse waited.
“Mr Aidan Smith,” she continued.
“He was here earlier.
I think he may still be in the building.”
The nurse frowned slightly, checking something on her screen.
“He was here,” she said after a moment.
“But I don’t believe he’s in the ward at the moment.”
”I see.”
Jane nodded once, as if that was enough information.
“Thank you.”
She turned slightly, as if preparing to leave.
But instead of leaving immediately, she walked slowly down the corridor, as though she was still deciding.
The pediatric wing was not difficult to find.
With softer voices, slower steps and the invisible weight of concern.
She stopped at yet another reception desk near the wing entrance but there was no receptionist, just a lady waiting for the receptionist perhaps.
It was Zara.
Jane approached with the same pretenseful calm she used for everything else.
“Excuse me,” she said politely.
“Is this the pediatric section?”
”Yes,” Zara replied.
Her tone was careful, not unkind.
“I’m trying to find someone,” Jane continued.
“A…… colleague of mine.
Aidan Smith.I assume you know him, everyone knows Aidan Smith,” She chuckled.
“He was here earlier.”
Zara studied her for a fraction longer than necessary.
Then said, “He was here yesterday, I didn’t see him today, sorry.”
”Yesterday?”
”Yes.”
Jane nodded slowly, as if processing.
“Thank you.
Sorry to bother you.”
”You’re not,” Zara said, but without warmth.
A pause.
Jane adjusted her coat slightly.
“You work here?”
”No,” Zara replied.
“I work with one of the patient’s family.”
Jane filed it away without showing it.
“I see,” she said again.
Then, as if it was nothing more than passing curiosity:
”Is everything alright with the child?”
Zara’s eyes sharpened slightly.
“Oh yes, all fine.”
”Of course,” Jane said quickly.
“Good because these kids play a lot, don’t they?
Poor things”
Zara did not answer immediately.
Then: “The child is stable.”
”Good,” Jane said softly.
A pause.
Jane gave a small polite nod.
“I think I’ll leave you to it then.
Thank you for your help.”
Zara watched her for a moment, then walked away.
Jane turned away too, rolling her eyes.
***
Hospitals had a way of giving people too much information if they stayed long enough.
Names on boards, rooms half visible through glass, conversations that were not meant to be overheard.
Jane had seen enough already and was more than ready to leave.
She passed a corridor where a nurse mentioned a patient update.
A doctor speaking to a nurse.
“His mother is with him.
Evelyn Cole has not left the ward since her son’s admission.”
Jane stopped walking.
Evelyn Cole.
She turned the name over once.
Then twice.
It was the same name her insider told her about.
She watched as the nurse walked into a specific ward and she followed.
She moved slowly toward the ward.
Not rushing.
She found the room without trying very hard.
The door was half open.
She didn’t go in.
She stood just far enough back that she was looking through the gap in the door— and what she saw was a woman sitting beside a hospital bed. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Her back was mostly turned.
Dark hair.
She shifted slightly.
Just enough to see the woman’s profile.
The whole hospital went quiet, because Jane knew that face.
She had last seen it six years ago in that ballroom, walking out with her head down and divorce papers in her hand.
Evelyn.
Not Cole.
Evelyn Smith.
Aidan’s wife.
His ex wife.
Jane took one step back.
Then another.
Slowly.
Carefully.
The way you stepped back from something you weren’t supposed to have seen.
Her mind was already moving.
Aidan has been to this hospital twice.
And Evelyn Smith is in this same hospital right now sitting beside a sick boy.
She turned and walked back down the corridor, pushed through the main entrance.
The cold hit her.
She got into the car and pulled the door shut and sat there for exactly three seconds.
Then —
”Drive,” she said.
The driver pulled away from the curb.
Jane sat in the back with her hands in her lap and her jaw tight and six years of very carefully constructed security crumbling quietly in her chest.
What is she doing here?
Why was Aidan at this hospital?
Was it her child he was talking about?
Is it a coincidence?
She already knew it wasn’t a coincidence.
She had not gotten this far in life by believing in coincidences.
She picked up her phone and dialed the number
”I need you to find out everything,” she said the moment he answered.
“Evelyn Cole.
That’s the name she’s using now.
She’s been in Milan for — find out how long.
Find out why she is here.
Find out about her son, why he’s in the hospital, his condition, his history, everything the hospital has on him.” Her voice dropped lower.
Not softer.
More serious “And I need to know who that child’s father is.”
A pause.
“I’ll get started tonight —”
”You’ll get started now,” Jane said.
She hung up.
She was not going to let Evelyn come back now.
Not like this.
Not ever.