Chapter 4

I hurried back to the ward and sank into a heavy sleep by my mother's bedside.

In the middle of the night, I was jolted awake by the blaring of machines.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was my mother lying on the hospital bed, blood filling her mouth, convulsing without stopping.

The doctor said a blood vessel had ruptured and she needed surgery immediately.

I dropped to my knees outside the operating room, my hands shaking as I tried to call Darrell.

Again and again, but no one ever picked up.

I called my brother, and he hung up on me without mercy.

The next instant, a new post from Maya popped up on my phone.

On the screen, one of them was busy massaging her.

The other was fumbling to hold the child, gently soothing it.

The caption read:

"Thank you to my knights, always at my side whenever I need them."

The composure I'd been forcing collapsed completely, and I covered my face and cried out helplessly.

I don't know how long it was before the operating room door was pushed open.

The doctor looked at me, his face full of regret.

"Miss Swanson, your mother is bleeding badly. She's almost gone."

Panicked and lost, I grabbed the doctor's sleeve and begged with everything I had.

"I have a rare blood type too—can I give her my blood, please?"

"I'm begging you, save my mother..."

But the doctor shook his head, pained.

"Your mother came around once in the middle of it. She held my hand just like this and begged me to give up on treatment."

"She said these past few years had been too hard on you, that she was old and couldn't be a burden to you any longer."

"She also told me to tell you: don't give her your blood, don't trade your child for her life."

I sank to the floor, unable to cry, unable to laugh.

My mother would rather sacrifice herself than lose the baby in my belly.

Her last wish—I couldn't go against it.

I forced myself up and, like a walking corpse, saw to my mother's final arrangements.

I had just returned to the ward, before I could even gather her belongings, when the door was kicked open.

Darrell and my brother stormed in with grim faces, and one of them flung a mango cake that smacked into my face.

"Was it you—did you force Maya to go buy you a cake?!"

"Do you have any idea? She stood in line two hours for you. The doctor said her wound tore badly and she's bleeding heavily—she needs a transfusion right now!"

Cream smeared all over my face.

I raised my hand, wiped it off, and gave a cold laugh.

"Did you two forget? I'm allergic to both mango and cream."

Darrell froze for a beat, but there wasn't a trace of apology in his voice.

"Maya's situation is urgent. You're going to donate blood for her right now."

The bed was empty, but not one of them asked where my mother had gone.

I took a deep breath and lifted my eyes to the two cold-faced people in front of me.

"Darrell, I won't donate blood to her. I'll find a way to have this child, but you—I don't want you anymore."

The words had barely left my mouth when someone seized my wrist.

"I said it—I can do without the child, but nothing can happen to Maya!"

Ignoring my struggling, Darrell dragged me by force to the emergency room.

More and more blood was drawn, and a sharp pain came from my lower abdomen.

Darrell didn't spare me a single glance; he just hurried off with the blood pack, his face full of urgency.

He never once turned back, so of course he didn't know that by then the blood was pouring down between my legs.

Darrell stayed by Maya's side, and only after he watched her finish the transfusion did he smile, as if a weight had lifted.

"As long as you're okay. Catherine gave a lot of blood today, and she's always been afraid of pain—I should go check on her."

He ignored Maya's attempts to keep him there and hurried off.

Only when he reached the emergency room did he learn that I had been taken into the operating room because of a miscarriage.

He wasn't surprised that the baby couldn't be saved.

On the way to the ward, he had even worked out how he would comfort me.

There would always be more children later. If I wanted, having a couple more wouldn't be a problem.

Darrell smiled and pushed open the door, then couldn't help freezing in place.

I wasn't in the ward, and my mother was nowhere to be found either.

On the bedside table sat a document envelope I had left behind.

He opened it, puzzled, and after a single glance, every bit of color drained from his face.