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

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Chapter 55

complexion, she turned her blurred vision

Dominick…

yet his name echoed relentlessly

welling with tears and jaw clenched, she struggled to crawl towards the edge of the bed,

to reach

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

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

dial his number.

Her voice, weak and trembling, called out his name as if grasping for

Hotel. I’m not

connected, but

is busy with me right now, and we’re quite occupied. He’s spending

you right now.

call was

word, felt something choking

heap on the floor, clutching the phone tightly in her right hand, feeling utterly hopeless and

she looked down, her face turned

the frantic thumping of her heart, she was met with

in

incoherent whispers. She was overwhelmed with fear, forgetting the pain in her body as a greater terror engulfed

her child to a

Panic seized her, clouding her mind as she continued to call

me, save

the phone to Dominick! Give it to him!

Chapter 55

want the baby, but I want, and I can raise my child by myself…” Her voice trembled in

I beg you, save me…” She choked on tears as she pleaded in a

me, save my

you have dialed is turned

repeated, each iteration plunging Stephanie’s heart into the abyss, as if there was no

“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 phone screen, her trembling fingers poised to dial 911, but suddenly,

beside it remained motionless,

phone screen illuminated the room,

enveloped the entire suite

“Save my child…”

“What’s wrong?”

the bed, her voice

have something urgent to

his phone and glanced quickly, finding no missed calls. Yet, an inexplicable agitation

leave me alone

from the bed without a care for the IV drip and threw herself at him.

you’ve been in an accident and your body is weak. You must stay in the hospital for observation tonight, so you can’t leave,” the nurse said, rushing to her aid as she got

adamant, clutching Dominick’s right arm tightly,

don’t leave.”

glanced at her tear–stained face, his expression a mix of

interjected, “It’s your duty to accompany your girlfriend. Sir, you should stay with her. Plus, you

earlier, Dominick had just left Elite High School when, by a twist of fate, his car

is she?” He looked up at the approaching

“She’s fine physically, with a minor concussion and a fractured right wrist.

Jessica tore up in anxiety. “What if the crew thinks I’m slowing them down and

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Chapter 55