Isabella’s POV

When I opened my eyes next, I wished that I was dead. All my body throbbed with pain, and a strange sense of emptiness settled within me.

“Oh, Mrs. Pierce. We are so glad that you’re finally awake. We were worried that we would lose you.” A female doctor said from beside me.

My throat burned. My body felt heavy and bruised, like I had been dragged through hell twice

I groaned weakly, blinking at the piercing hospital lights. For a moment, I was confused and disoriented. Why was I here? Why did everything hurt?

Then everything came flooding back.

The abortion, Marcus, Bianca, the transfusion, the intense pain, the chaos, and the fear.

My eyes widened as realization struck me, and I turned my head slowly toward the doctor with fear pounding in my chest.

There was something on her face, like a sorrowful expression.

A chill ran down my spine as dread spread throughout my bones.

I was scared to ask, but I had to.

“My baby…” I croaked, my voice hoarse. “What about my baby?”

The doctor hesitated, and that hesitation was all I needed. My heart sank, and my blood ran cold.

Her lips parted, and she shook her head slowly and gently.

“I’m so sorry,” she said softly. “We did everything we could… but the baby didn’t make it.”

Everything paused for a moment, and I gasped.

My heart pounded painfully against my ribs. I felt like I had been punched in the chest hard, and my lungs refused to work. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think.

I thought I had no tears left. I thought I was numb, but I was wrong.

I released an inhuman cry that tore at my aching throat. My shoulders shook as I sobbed, harder than I ever had in my life.

I cried for the life I never got to meet, I cried for the tiny heartbeat that had been in me, I cried because Marcus had stolen this from me, something I could never get back.

At that moment, I wished that I had aborted the child earlier, because I had become attached so fast that losing it now was ripping me to pieces.

The doctor stayed silent, giving me space to cry my heart out.

After what felt like forever, I wiped at my teary face with trembling fingers. My mind flashed back to Alexander’s offer, and I swallowed.

“What day is it?” I croaked, my voice trembling.

The doctor gave me a sad smile. “It’s Thursday. You’ve been unconscious for two days.”

My eyes widened, and I began calculating the days that Alexander had given me to think of his offer.

“I need my phone!” I cried, frantically looking around for it.

“Calm down, Mrs. Pierce, it’s in the drawer of the table beside you.” She said calmly, trying to soothe me.

My hands shook as I typed a message to Alexander.

— I accept your offer, meet me at the orphanage in three hours. —

His reply came immediately.

—Finally, I was beginning to think that you had changed your mind.—

I replied. — Never —

“Do you need anything else, Mrs. Pierce?” The doctor asked softly.

I gave her a bitter smile as I asked her a question that I already knew the answer to. “Did anyone come to see me?” I asked.

From her facial expression, I already knew the answer.

She shook her head, “I’m sorry, Mrs. Pierce, but no.”

I didn’t feel anything. No pain, no sadness, nothing. All I felt was a hollow ache, like something had been taken out of me, and could never be filled again

I turned away from the doctor silently, and stared blankly at the wall for a long time. I didn’t even notice when the doctor left the room.

Slowly, I pushed the blanket off me. Moving was very painful, but I ignored the pain.

“Mrs. Pierce?” the nurse who just walked in, called softly when she saw me shift. “Please, you need to rest, your body is still in recovery. You lost a lot of blood, and your stitches—”

“I’m leaving,” I said flatly, my voice was cold and emotionless. “I don’t need rest. I’m taking my life into my hands right now.”

She stepped closer, trying to stop me. “You’re not stable enough to be discharged. We haven’t even—”

“I wasn’t asking,” I snapped, my eyes flashing to hers. “Just give me whatever I need to sign.”

Her lips parted, and she hesitated again. However, she must have seen something in me that told her not to argue. She nodded and walked out, and within a few minutes, she came back with the discharge forms.

Every step I took out of that bed was torture. My legs trembled, and my back ached, but like always, I ignored them. I grabbed my phone and all my belongings and walked out of the room.

As I walked down the hallway, something made me pause for a moment. I caught a glimpse of Marcus and Bianca in another room, smiling and completely unbothered.

Isabella’s POV

Marcus was feeding her gently with soup, smiling at her with so much love.

Watching them before would have caused my heart to ache, but now, I felt nothing. I turned to leave to avoid them seeing me, but like always, I had terrible luck.

“Isabella?” Marcus’s voice reached my ears, and I tensed, gritting my teeth in annoyance.

I turned slowly keeping my face blank and emotionless as I stared at him. His expression faltered the moment our eyes met. I could see the guilt burning in his eyes, as if he had just realized that I existed.

“I… I didn’t know you were awake,” he stammered, standing up from beside Bianca. “How… how are you feeling?”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t even blink. I just stared. My silence spoke louder than anything I would have said.

He looked down with shame on his face. “Your sacrifice… it wasn’t in vain,” he said gently, lifting his eyes to look at me. “Look, Bianca is fine. The baby is very healthy and strong. You saved them both.”

I couldn’t help it, I laughed bitterly and humorlessly, and Marcus flinched at the harsh sound.

Bianca rested a hand on her belly, smiling sweetly, but her eyes shone with glee. “Marcus has been taking such good care of me. He never left my side for once.”

I wasn’t interested in hearing any more, so I turned without saying anything, ready to walk away, but Marcus jumped up, reaching out to me. “Wait please, Isabella, just wait.”

I paused, not because I wanted to, but because I wanted to hear the nonsense he would say.

“I’m throwing a party this evening,” he said quickly. “To celebrate your recovery… and Bianca’s safe return home. We all went through a lot, and I just want to bring everyone together. My father will be there, he really wants to see you.”

Still, I didn’t say a word.

He stepped closer, trying to soften his voice. “Let me give you a ride home. We’re all going the same way anyway.”

“I’m not going home,” I said flatly. “I’m going to the orphanage.”

Alexander had promised to protect the orphanage when I agreed to his proposal, so I just wanted to make sure everything was in place. I wanted to make sure no one could ever use it against me again, and that Marcus could never touch the only piece of my father I had left.

Marcus blinked in confusion. “The orphanage? Why?”

I tilted my head, expression still blank. “Because I have business to handle. Don’t bother yourself about it.”

Bianca perked up. “Oh! That’s perfect. I’ve been meaning to visit anyway. It is our father’s orphanage, after all.”

I lifted an eyebrow at her in surprise. She had always wanted nothing to do with the orphanage.

Marcus nodded immediately. “Then we’ll come with you. That sounds great.”

I stared at him, stunned for a moment by the speed of his agreement. This was the same Marcus who always rolled his eyes at the mention of the orphanage. The same Marcus who said it was a burden, a waste of money, an unnecessary sentiment.

But now that Bianca mentioned it, he quickly agreed.

I scoffed under my breath, watching them with a sneer on my face.

“Fine,” I said coolly. “You can come with me. But I need one last thing from you.”

Marcus straightened slightly, looking hopeful. “Anything.”

I reached into my bag, and pulled out the document that I had been carrying since he brought Bianca home. “Sign this.”

He blinked at me, furrowing his eyebrows as he took the papers from me. “What is it?”

“My discharge form,” I replied with a blank expression.

He hesitated for a second.

Marcus had always been very careful with whatever he signed. He made sure he read it carefully, no matter what it was. However, immediately he glanced at Bianca, and she smiled coyly at him, batting her lashes, he forgot all about his carefulness.

“I’m getting tired, Marcus,” she said sweetly. “Let’s go home fast..”

He nodded, barely glancing at the document before signing the document. The moment he finished signing, a small satisfied smirk crossed my lips.

“Thank you,” I said, placing the document back in my bag. “Now I’m free.”

He didn’t understand the double meaning in my words as he kept fussing over Bianca.

Isabella’s POV

When we reached the car, Bianca rushed to open the front passenger door for herself, but to my surprise, Marcus held her back.

“Hold on, Bianca,” he said, then he turned to me. “Isabella… maybe you should sit in the front,” he said, giving me a small hopeful smile.

“Bianca can stay in the back..” He added.

“No,” Bianca protested, pouting like a drama queen. “I’ll get nauseous if I sit in the back. The baby’s been making me so dizzy lately, Marcus”

I rolled my eyes.

Marcus looked conflicted as he tried to think of how to please us both.

“It’s fine,” I said coldly.. “Let her sit in the front.”

Marcus tried to protest. “But—”

“I said it’s fine,” I repeated, my voice was sharper this time. “Let her sit in the front, Marcus. I don’t care.”

There was silence for a moment. Bianca smiled in triumph. Marcus frowned, but he didn’t argue again.

I climbed into the backseat silently, wincing quietly as my body ached furiously.

As I sat in the backseat, the ache in my body increased slightly, but I clenched my jaw and said nothing. I leaned my head against the window and stared outside, pretending I wasn’t here.

After five minutes, Bianca began her little games, hoping to get a reaction from me.

She placed her hand on Marcus’s thigh, and her fingers trailed up in slow circles. I didn’t bother looking, but from the corner of my eye, I could see her giving me a mocking side glance.

Marcus stiffened immediately. “Bianca,” he warned, murmuring under his breath, moving her hand off.

She blinked innocently. “What?”

When he didn’t say anything, she returned her hand, and continued, moving her fingers higher this time.

“I said stop it,” Marcus snapped, more firmly now.

She flinched, and her eyes welled up with tears instantly as she turned away and began to cry softly into her palms.

“Why are you yelling at me?” she whimpered, her voice trembling. “I’m pregnant, Marcus… and you’re yelling…”

He exhaled heavily, his expression softening. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to yell. Just… stop doing that when…when…. she’s here.”

He didn’t mention my name, as if I were a ghost in the backseat, an intruder to their private time.

Bianca sniffed, then she leaned forward, and began searching through the compartment. “I’m just looking for tissues,” she muttered.

What she pulled out was definitely not tissue.

She held up a tiny piece of lace fabric. They were red panties, and she laughed in delight.

“Oh my god, Marcus,” she giggled. “Remember this? When we couldn’t make it to the hotel? You pulled me to your lap right in this car and—”

“That’s enough,” Marcus said tightly, not looking at her.

“Oh, relax,” Bianca said with a roll of her eyes. “Isabella understands that it’s just the hormones. Hormones make one very horny, thankfully… I have you for that.” She murmured softly, placing her hand on Marcus’s thigh again. This time he didn’t say anything.

Marcus glanced at me through the rearview mirror, and for a moment, our eyes met, but I looked away before he could see anything in my eyes.

.

Immediately I got to the orphanage, I stepped out of the car without saying a word, leaving Marcus and Bianca behind.

I walked through the familiar gates and into the building that had been my father’s life’s work. My chest tightened with the memory, but I pushed it aside, I had work to do.

The administrator, Mr. Jackson, looked up as I entered his office. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw me, and then he smiled warmly.

“Miss Isabella,” he said, standing quickly. “You’re back.”

“I need to talk to you,” I said, wasting no time in getting to business.

Just as we were concluding our discussion, a loud, piercing cry echoed through the halls.

My heart skipped a beat. Something was wrong.

I turned and ran out of the room, Mr. Jackson followed behind me.

The stench of smoke hit me immediately I stepped out.

I could hear screams coming from the west wing. I rushed forward, and froze in place as I stared in horror at the scene before me.