Crossroads

Chapter 55

“Wait, just a moment…”

Stephanie abruptly halted the taxi, but soon, a tinge of embarrassment crossed her face as she said, “Never mind, please continue.”

“Miss, you seem a bit pale,” the taxi driver remarked, casting a concerned glance her way.

Phanie offered a strained smile and assured him, “I’m alright.”

Her gaze drifted to the left window of the car, her expression tinged with disappointment.

A fleeting uncertainty gripped her, ‘Was it him, or was it not?”

“Why am I even concerning myself with him?” she murmured, her head bowed in frustration.

Upon returning to her suite in Royal Park Hotel, Stephanie checked the time. It was already eight in the evening.

Restless, she suddenly recalled something and rushed to the bed, grabbing the hotel phone to dial the internal line. “Hello, has anyone visited me during my absence?”

Despite the polite response from the hotel staff, her disappointment deepened. “Oh, I see. Thank you.”

She was even worried that he might miss her while she was out at the milkshake shop and had rushed back for him.

“Wait, why would I be worried that he missed to catch me here?” she thought.

An inexplicable stir of emotions coursed through her, leaving her bewildered.

“What is he so busy with?” Stephanie pondered, perched at the bed’s edge, eyeing her suitcase hesitantly. “Should I wait for him to return to Havencrest with me?”

Finally, after washing her face in the bathroom, she made a resolve. If Dominick failed to contact her tonight, she’d secure a flight back to Havencrest the next morning.

“Is it work or another’s company that consumes him?”

Knowing Dominick’s demanding schedule and the weight of responsibilities atop his shoulders, Stephanie couldn’t help but empathize with him. She often saw him working late into the night in his study

She was his wife, but

it she grappled with expressing

ssing her concern for him amidst his hectic life.

Lying on the bed, Stephanie scrolled through her phone, hesitating with something. “Would I disturb him now if I called him?”

Suddenly, a sharp pang

gwracked her abdomen, causing her to double over and drop her phone.

“Ouch, it hurts…” Stephanie winced, her complexion drained as she clutched her midsection.

Labored breaths escaped her as the pain intensified.

Beads of cold sweat dotted her forehead as trembling overtook her frame, thwarting her attempts to rise

Stephanie gasped, grappling with the agony. Perplexed by the sudden onset of discomfort despite her normalcy throughout the day, she mumbled, “Why is this happening

10:37 Sat

Chapter 55

turned her blurred vision toward her phone on

Dominick…

yet his

of the bed, using

to reach

disarray, her body weakened. With a sudden twist on the bed, she

were now bleeding from being bitten, she crawled forward in a frenzy, finally reaching for her phone. Her trembling fingers swiped the screen several times before

dial his number.

weak and trembling, called out

come to the Royal Park Hotel. I’m not feeling well.

call connected, but it was a woman

flirtatious, carried a hint of intimacy. “Dominick is busy with me right now, and we’re quite occupied. He’s spending the night with

he doesn’t have time for you right now. Is there anything you need me to tell

call was

a word, felt something choking her throat, making it hard to

her eyes as she lay in a frantic heap on the floor, clutching the phone tightly in her right hand, feeling utterly hopeless and humiliated. With another wave of pain in her stomach,

face turned ghostly white, her eyes widening

of her heart, she was met with a horrifying sight–a dark red pool gushing from between her

thought echoing in her mind, and it was

was overwhelmed with fear, forgetting the pain in her body as

losing her

reached for the phone again, and even her breaths became uneven. Panic seized her, clouding her mind as she continued to

save

the phone, “Jessica, give the phone to Dominick! Give it

Chapter 55

can raise

won’t disturb your lives. Please, I beg you, save me…” She choked on

me, save my

phone you have

repeated, each iteration plunging Stephanie’s heart into the abyss, as if there was

“Save me…

hollow gaze fixed on the dark red pool between her legs as the heavy scent of blood filled the room. Was that the

with tears as she gazed at the phone screen, her trembling fingers poised to dial 911, but suddenly, all sound

beside it remained motionless,

phone screen illuminated the room,

entire suite

“Save my child…”

“What’s wrong?”

room, a woman lay on the bed, her voice sweet as she addressed the man outside the

have something urgent to attend

phone and glanced quickly, finding no missed

don’t leave me alone in

leave, she panicked. She scrambled from the bed without a care for the IV drip and threw herself at

observation

Dominick’s right arm tightly, her voice faint with

don’t leave.”

face,

your duty to accompany your girlfriend. Sir, you should stay with her. Plus, you

School when, by a twist of fate, his car collided with

looked up at

gaze, calmly stating, “She’s fine physically, with a

anxiety. “What

10:37 Sat, 22 Jun

Chapter 55