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

pale complexion, she turned her blurred vision toward her phone on

Dominick…

yet his name echoed relentlessly in her

struggled to crawl towards the edge of the bed, using her elbows for support. Her trembling hand reached out for

to

With a sudden

her forehead, and her lips that 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.

out his name as if grasping for

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

call connected, but it was a woman

“Dominick is busy with me right now, and

now. Is there anything you need me

call was

utter a word, felt something choking her throat, making

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

looked down, her face turned ghostly

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

only one thought echoing in her mind,

incoherent whispers. She was overwhelmed with

her child

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

me, save

“Jessica, give the phone to Dominick! Give

Chapter 55

the baby, but I want, and I can raise my

you, save me…” She choked

save my

phone you have dialed is turned

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

“Save me…

between her legs as the heavy scent of blood filled the room.

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

the woman beside it remained motionless,

illuminated

enveloped the entire

“Save my child…”

“What’s wrong?”

on the bed, her

something urgent

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

alone in the

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

observation tonight, so

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

don’t leave.”

face, his expression a mix

accompany your girlfriend. Sir, you should stay with

High School when, by a twist of fate, his car collided with the one driven by Jessica at a turn while he

she?” He looked

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

filming just started. How could I rest?” Jessica tore up in anxiety. “What if the crew thinks I’m slowing them down and replaces

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Chapter 55