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

a pale complexion, she turned her blurred vision

Dominick…

gripped her heart, yet his

towards the edge of the bed, using her

needed to

came in disarray, her body weakened. With a sudden twist

forehead, and her lips that were now bleeding from being bitten, she crawled forward in a frenzy, finally reaching for her phone.

dial his number.

Dominick…” Her voice, weak and trembling, called out his name

Royal Park Hotel. I’m not

call connected, but it was a woman

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

for you right now.

call was hung

word, felt something

she lay in a frantic heap on the floor, clutching the phone tightly in her right hand,

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

heart, she was met with

echoing in her mind, and it

she uttered incoherent whispers. She was overwhelmed with fear, forgetting the pain in her body as a

she losing her

Panic seized her, clouding her mind as

save

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

Chapter 55

don’t want the baby, but I want, and I can raise my child by myself…” Her voice trembled in

save me…” She choked on tears as she pleaded

me, save

have dialed is turned

into the abyss, as if there

“Save me…

legs as the heavy scent of blood filled the room. Was that the smell of

screen, her trembling fingers poised to dial 911, but suddenly, all sound

it remained motionless, her eyes

illuminated the

entire

“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 ward window, sensing his

have something urgent to attend

no missed calls. Yet, an

leave me alone in the hospital.

the bed without a care for the IV drip and threw herself at him. “Don’t

in the hospital for observation tonight, so you can’t leave,” the nurse said, rushing to her aid as she

nurse’s insistence, Jessica was adamant, clutching Dominick’s right arm

don’t leave.”

glanced at her tear–stained face, his

interjected, “It’s your duty to accompany your girlfriend. Sir, you should

earlier, Dominick had just left Elite High School when, by a twist of fate, his car collided with the one driven by Jessica at a turn

she?” He looked up

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

tore up in anxiety. “What

10:37 Sat, 22 Jun

Chapter 55