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 toward her phone on

Dominick…

heart, yet his name echoed relentlessly in her

eyes welling with tears and jaw clenched, she struggled to crawl towards the edge of the bed, using her elbows for support. Her trembling hand reached out for the phone

needed to

breaths came in disarray, her body weakened. With a sudden twist on the bed, she tumbled to the

being bitten, she crawled forward in a frenzy, finally reaching for her phone.

dial his number.

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

Royal Park Hotel. I’m not feeling well. Please

call connected, but it was

voice, sweet and flirtatious, carried a hint of intimacy. “Dominick is busy with me

time for you right now. Is there anything you need me to

was hung

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

on the floor, clutching the phone tightly in her right hand, feeling utterly hopeless and humiliated. With another

down, her face turned ghostly white, her eyes widening in

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

thought echoing in

with fear, forgetting the pain in her body as a

she losing her

uneven. Panic

me, save

almost desperately, shouting into the phone, “Jessica, give the phone to Dominick! Give it to

Chapter 55

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

disturb your lives. Please, I beg you, save me…”

save my

have dialed

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

“Save me…

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

with tears as she gazed at the phone screen, her trembling fingers

the woman beside it remained motionless, her eyes

screen illuminated the room,

enveloped the entire suite

“Save my child…”

“What’s wrong?”

the bed, her voice sweet as she

have something urgent to

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

leave me alone in

panicked. She scrambled from the bed without a care for the IV drip and

the hospital for observation tonight, so you can’t leave,”

was adamant, clutching Dominick’s right arm tightly, her voice faint with

don’t leave.”

face, his

Sir, you should stay with her. Plus,

when, by a twist of fate, his car collided with the one driven by Jessica at a turn while he was answering a call from

she?” He looked up at the approaching

Jessica before meeting Dominick’s stern gaze, calmly stating, “She’s fine physically, with a minor concussion

anxiety.

10:37 Sat, 22 Jun

Chapter 55