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

pale complexion, she turned her blurred vision toward her

Dominick…

her heart, yet

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

needed to reach

weakened. With a sudden twist on the bed, she tumbled to the

that were now bleeding from being bitten, she crawled forward in

dial his number.

out his name as if grasping for

come to the Royal Park Hotel. I’m not

to?” The call connected, but it was a

of intimacy. “Dominick is busy with me right now,

you right now. Is there

call was

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

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, she wailed in

she looked down, her face turned ghostly white, her eyes

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

one thought echoing in her

whispers. She was overwhelmed with

losing her

for the phone again, and even her breaths became uneven. Panic seized

me, save

desperately, shouting into the phone, “Jessica, give the phone to Dominick! Give it to him! My child! Ask him

Chapter 55

I want, and I can raise my child by myself…” Her voice trembled

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

save my

you have dialed is turned

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,

the woman beside it remained

illuminated the room,

entire suite

“Save my child…”

“What’s wrong?”

that moment in the hospital emergency room, a woman lay on the bed, her voice sweet as she addressed the man outside the

something urgent to attend

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

leave me alone in the hospital.

panicked. She scrambled from the bed without a care for the

observation tonight,

the nurse’s insistence, Jessica was adamant, clutching Dominick’s right arm tightly, her voice

don’t leave.”

tear–stained face, his expression a mix

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

car collided with the one driven by Jessica at a turn while

is she?” He looked up at the approaching

at Jessica before meeting Dominick’s stern gaze, calmly stating, “She’s fine physically, with a minor concussion and a fractured right wrist. She shouldn’t exert

tore up in anxiety.

10:37 Sat, 22 Jun

Chapter 55