Chapter 364: Life and Death Struggle
The moment the doctor finished speaking, time seemed to stop.
The blood in Wren Sutton’s veins instantly turned to ice. A ringing filled her ears, and the entire world went silent.
’We did our best...’
Those four simple words, though spoken lightly, crashed down on everyone present like a thousand-ton boulder.
"No... It can’t be..."
Wren Sutton shook her head, retreating step by step, her face as pale as a sheet. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"I don’t believe it!"
A heart-wrenching cry ripped from her throat. Wren Sutton’s vision swam, her legs buckled, and she began to fall.
Julian Lancaster, quick on his feet, rushed forward and caught her. "Wren, you have to take care of yourself," he said, his voice filled with pain.
Wren Sutton was cold to the bone, her vision blurred by tears. All her strength was gone in an instant, and she trembled like a leaf in an autumn wind, on the brink of passing out.
Claire Sterling’s heartbreak was even deeper than Wren Sutton’s. She collapsed into a chair, her sorrow so profound she couldn’t even cry. Every slow, ragged breath was a fresh wave of agony, clawing at her suffocating heart.
Only the ceaseless flood of her tears silently conveyed the despair and grief consuming her.
Finally, unable to bear it any longer, she sank into a pained unconsciousness.
"Claire!"
Theodore Lancaster shuddered, reaching out to catch his wife as she fainted.
He clenched his jaw, the last spark of light in his eyes dimming. His shoulders shook violently, and he seemed to age ten years in an instant.
His hands, hanging at his sides, were clenched into fists so tight the knuckles turned white. He couldn’t utter a single word.
As for Julian Lancaster, his eyes looked ready to burst from their sockets.
Despair washed over them like a tidal wave, drowning everyone.
The doctor watched the family crumble before his eyes. He was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized the misunderstanding and hurried to explain.
"Everyone, you’ve misunderstood."
"The person who passed away was the driver. His injuries were too severe, and he couldn’t be resuscitated."
The doctor paused. His tone remained grave, but it now carried a sliver of hope.
"Young Master Lancaster’s surgery is still in progress. We are doing everything we can to save him."
That one sentence dragged everyone back from the depths of hell.
Dead silence.
A long, dead silence.
Wren Sutton froze on the spot, her sobs catching in her throat. Tears still streaked her face, and her body trembled uncontrollably.
The sheer totality of her despair a moment ago only made the whiplash of relief all the more jarring.
’It wasn’t Adrian. Thank God, it wasn’t him.’
’But the innocent driver is gone forever.’
Wren Sutton’s heart ached with an equal measure of pain, guilt, and self-blame.
Theodore Lancaster exhaled a long, turbid breath, one that seemed to carry the weight of an entire mountain.
Claire Sterling slowly came to, tears still streaming down her face. A complex knot of fear and relief twisted in her chest, leaving her completely drained.
Julian Lancaster unclenched his fists, his palms slick with cold sweat.
Above the operating room doors, the red light—a symbol of life and death—was still on.
The dead silence in the hallway lingered. Everyone felt as if their hearts had been plucked from an icebox only to be thrown into a vat of boiling water—a torturous vacillation between extreme cold and heat.
On Wren Sutton’s face, tears of relief for having survived the ordeal mingled with guilt over the driver who had died.
She never, ever wanted to experience that plunge into the depths of hell for a second time.
’Adrian Lancaster, please, you have to wake up. Please don’t leave us. I don’t want to lose you, and Owen and Nina need you.’
Theodore Lancaster helped a weakened Claire Sterling to a nearby chair.
Claire Sterling leaned on her husband’s shoulder, her silent tears soaking his shirt.
She closed her eyes, pressed her palms together, and prayed repeatedly in her heart. She prayed for her son to pull through safely and for all this suffering to finally end.
The memory of her fainting spell and the preceding despair was still terrifying. She dared not imagine what would have become of their family if the doctor’s words had truly been about Adrian.
Julian Lancaster stood to the side. The tense line of his jaw had relaxed slightly, but the anxiety in his eyes had not diminished at all.
He turned his head to look at Wren Sutton’s slender form, saw the worry and residual fear in her eyes, and sighed to himself.
Time passed, second by agonizing second, slow as a thread being endlessly drawn. Each moment was torture.
The hallway was quiet enough to hear the ticking of the wall clock and the sound of everyone’s suppressed, heavy breathing.
Occasionally, a nurse would hurry in or out with medical supplies. Each time the door opened or closed, it pulled at everyone’s nerves.
Wren Sutton’s eyes followed the nurse’s every move. Only when the door swung shut again did she lower her gaze, her nails digging deep into her palm as she used the pain to stay alert.
She was discovering that she couldn’t live without Adrian Lancaster. Faced with the prospect of his death, their past estrangement, her resentment, and all her grievances suddenly seemed trivial.
Her only wish now was for the surgery to succeed and for Adrian Lancaster to live.
’As long as he’s alive, no matter what hardships lie ahead, I’m willing to face them with him.’
’As long as he’s alive, I’m willing to forgive him for everything he’s done in the past, to tear up that divorce certificate, and start over with him.’
...
Caleb Caldwell’s car pulled to a smooth stop in front of the Lancaster estate, with Lucia Lancaster in the passenger seat.
"I’ll walk you in," he said gently, though in his heart, he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Lucia.
Lucia nodded, and they both got out of the car.
As she stepped into the living room, Lucia keenly sensed something was wrong. The house was unnaturally quiet, the air thick with a stifling tension.
She frowned slightly and looked toward a nearby maid.
"Nanny Zane, have my parents, my brother and sister-in-law, and Julian all gone to bed?"
Before she left, the family had promised to wait up for her. Why was the living room completely empty?
’Grandma is old, so it’s normal for her to be in bed already,’ she thought. ’But what about everyone else?’
Nanny Zane looked uneasy, her eyes darting away. She nervously clutched the corner of her uniform and stammered.
"I... I’m not sure what happened. This evening, Mr. Lancaster took a phone call and looked very upset. Then, Mrs. Lancaster and Mr. Julian left with him."
"They didn’t say where they were going, just instructed us to take good care of the house and not to disturb their grandmother."
Hearing this, a wave of unease washed over Lucia. ’Something must have happened.’
’Otherwise, the whole family wouldn’t have gone out this late at night, especially not while deliberately keeping it from Grandma.’
Caleb Caldwell noticed the panic in Lucia’s eyes. He placed a hand on her arm to steady her and spoke in a low, soothing voice.
"Don’t panic just yet. Call your mother and find out what’s going on."
Lucia snapped out of her daze, quickly pulling out her phone to dial her mother’s number.
The phone rang for a long time before it was finally answered.
"Mom, it’s me. I just got home. Where are you, Dad, and Julian?" Lucia asked urgently.
As her words faded, Claire Sterling’s hoarse, choked voice came through the phone, "Lucia..."
"Mom, why are you crying?" Lucia’s panic intensified. "Tell me what happened! Where are you?"
’My daughter is part of this family,’ Claire thought. ’I can’t hide something this major from her.’
Claire Sterling stared at the doors to the operating room, forcing the words out through her pain. "Your brother was in a car accident. He’s seriously injured and is in surgery right now. Your father, Wren, Julian, and I are all at the hospital."
’Car accident? In surgery?’
The words detonated in Lucia’s mind, leaving it a complete blank. Her blood ran cold, her face a mask of horrified disbelief.
Before Lucia could respond, Claire quickly added, "Don’t let your grandmother know, whatever you do. She’s too old to handle a shock this big."
Tears streamed from Lucia’s eyes. She mumbled a response, hung up, and spun around to run back outside.
Caleb, not yet knowing what had happened, immediately ran after her.
"Lucia, wait for me! Where are you going so late?"
"My brother was in a car accident! He’s in the hospital, in surgery. I have to go," Lucia’s voice trembled.
Caleb Caldwell froze. An indescribable sadness washed over him, his heart clenching with a tight, sharp pain.
If he felt this much pain, he could only imagine Lucia’s agony.
Caleb suppressed his own anguish and gripped her hand tightly, offering her comfort, encouragement, warmth, and strength.
"We’ll go together."
「Elsewhere.」
A breaking news alert about a local traffic accident popped up on Sean Sterling’s phone.
He casually tapped it open. The video showed billowing smoke and a chaotic scene.
A large truck, driven by a drunk, speeding driver, had run a red light and slammed into a black car. The license plate was faintly visible.
Sean Sterling’s heart skipped a beat.
’That license plate... It looks familiar. I think it’s...’
In the video, paramedics were carrying the injured to an ambulance.
Sean Sterling looked closely and saw that one of the people being lifted onto a stretcher was none other than Adrian Lancaster.
Without a moment to consider whether the accident was intentional or a mere coincidence, he grabbed his jacket and car keys, rushed out the door, and sped to the hospital through the night.