The Billionaire's Mistake (Anya and Daniel)

Back in the hospital, Marcus was snacking on some apples. He glanced at the time a few times wondering when Hazel would get there. He had not called her over to come see him on her lunch breaks today. Should be have called her? He glanced at the clock a few more

times and picked up his phone to call her, only to put it back down.

He was not sure why he was slightly restless. He admitted that he somewhat liked to tease her, but he was not sure why he wanted to see her. When she had left he hospital last night clearly angry it pleased him greatly. But when she left, he wanted to order his men to

bring her back.

The door to Marcus Green's private hospital room opened and two doctors entered, followed by a nurse. Their typical confident strides were replaced by cautious, almost fearful steps as they approached the man lying in the bed. Despite the casts on his left arm and leg, the bandages covering portions of his face and torso, and the various wires and tubes attached to him, an unmistakable aura of power and danger seemed to emanate from Marcus.

"Good morning, Mr. Green," one of the doctors greeted, keeping his tone carefully polite. "How are you feeling today?"

Marcus slowly turned his head towards them, his icy blue eyes scanning their faces briefly before responding in a deep, gravelly voice.

"I've had better days, Doc. But I'm still breathing."

The nurse stepped forward, placing a tray with some fruit and a cup of juice on the rolling table beside the bed. Her hands trembled slightly as she adjusted Marcus' bed into a more upright position. "We'll need to change your bandages," the other doctor stated. "And I have a few questions to go through with you as well."

Marcus gave a curt nod, leaning back against the pillows as the nurse began unwrapping the soiled bandages from his torso. The doctors watched in silence, one of them jotting notes occasionally.

"How was the pain through the night? Were you able to get any sleep?" the first doctor asked once the nurse had finished re-bandaging the wounds.

"The pain meds helped," Marcus replied flatly. "But I didn't sleep much."

The doctor made another note, his expression revealing little. "Any nausea, dizziness, blurred vision?"

"No."

"No hallucinations or confusion?"

A faint smirk played across Marcus' lips. "I'm always perfectly clear on reality, Doc."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room for a moment before the doctor cleared his throat. "Well, your recovery is progressing as expected given the extent of your injuries. But we'll need to keep you here for at least another week for observation." Marcus' eyes narrowed slightly at this. "A week? I should be out of here in a couple days."

"I understand your eagerness to be discharged, Mr. Green," the doctor replied evenly. "But with the trauma you suffered, it's critical that we monitor you closely for any complications or delayed symptoms."

Before Marcus could respond, a firm knock at the door interrupted them. It opened to reveal a large, muscular man in a crisp black suit - clearly one of Marcus' guards.

"Forgive the intrusion," the guard said gruffly. "But there's been an incident I need to inform Mr. Green about immediately."

The two doctors exchanged worried glances while the nurse quickly busied herself gathering up the soiled bandages. Marcus gave a subtle nod and they all hastily made their exit, leaving Marcus alone with his guard.

As soon as the door closed behind them, the guard's expression grew grim. "It's your wife, sir. There was an attack."

Marcus showed no visible reaction beyond a subtle clenching of his jaw. "Details," he stated flatly.

"From what I've been told so far, four armed men ambushed her shortly after she left a restaurant downtown. Her driver was killed instantly but she managed to get away, leading them on a chase through the city." The guard paused, tension creasing his brow. "They cornered her eventually...shook her up pretty bad from what I hear.

"is she alive?" Marcus asked.

"she's alive."

"Where is she?" he asked.

"At the estate now under guard."

Marcus remained silent, staring straight ahead impassively as he processed this information.

"You can go," Marcus said, dismissing the guard.

A sudden, sharp rap at the door

made them both turn. It opened and another man bustled in - handsome, well-dressed, an air of wealth and privilege surrounding him. This was Jerry Graziano, a close friend and advisor to Marcus. The guard greeted him and left, closing the door behind both of them.

"Wife?" he blurted out, looking bewildered as his eyes fell on Marcus in the hospital bed. "You got married? When the hell did that happen?"

Marcus turned his gaze slowly towards Jerry, not betraying even a hint of emotion. "Hello, Jerry," he said evenly, almost bored. With a slight nod towards his guard that had just left, he added, "Miguel was just filling me in on the situation."

"So it's true then? You have a wife now?" Jerry persisted, still appearing utterly dumbfounded as he stepped closer to the bedside. "I feel like I missed something kinda huge here!"

"Yes, you did," Marcus stated simply, reaching for a piece of fruit from the plate beside his bed and taking a bite of apple.

Jerry stared at him, clearly bursting with a million questions. "Well?" he finally managed. "What's her name? Who is she? How did I not know about this?"

Marcus chewed slowly, seemingly unfazed by Jerry's impatient curiosity. After sighing, he replied in that same infuriatingly casual tone. "Her name is Hazel Lily Greyson."

The effect was instantaneous and dramatic. Jerry's jaw dropped, his eyes going wide with shock and disbelief.

"That Lily Greyson?" he sputtered. "As in the one from what...8, 9 years ago? No...no way. How the hell did you end up marrying her?"

A faint smirk played across Marcus' lips as he took another bite of apple, chewing leisurely before responding.

"Lily found me bleeding out on the

street after that shootout with the Riccios. Instead of calling an ambulance, she brought me to a doctor she knew who stitched me up." Hepaused, finally meeting Jerry's incredulous gaze. "She lied, and her lies just...grew from there.

She told the doc and nurses she was my wife."

Jerry shook his head slowly, his expression a mixture of awe and utter confusion. "So...because she lied about being married to you...you actually went and married her? Just like that?"

"No, Jerry." Marcus tsked softly, sounding almost bored. "We didn't actually get married. We're only pretending."

"Pretending?" Jerry echoed. "Wait...so if you two aren't really married, why the hell are you still keeping up this ridiculous lie?"

"Because my enemies now think she's my wife," Marcus stated matter-of-factly. "Which means they'll keep coming after her like they did today. So she has no choice but to keep pretending in order for me to protect her."

Jerry frowned deeply, staring at

Marcus in disbelief. "But that makes

no sense! Marcus..." he said at last, his voice lowered in deadly seriousness. "Please tell me you're not saying what I think you're saying. This woman saved your life for

god's sake!"

A tense, heavy silence fell over the room as Jerry absorbed this. His expression slowly morphed from confusion to dawning horror.

Marcus shrugged nonchalantly, still calmly eating his apple. "She's a that girl. I couldn't let her Samaritan act go unrewarded."

"You hateful son of a bitch," Jerry could not help but laugh. "So let me get this straight, you leaked the lie that she's your wife...Even though she is that girl, she saved your life."

"I don't like leaving debts unpaid," Marcus stated flatly.

"So, the news it out and they are coming for her?" Jerry asked.

"Exactly," Marcus said coolly. "She's the perfect bait."