Chapter 295: Let’s Break Up
Isla Griffith was rushed to the hospital’s obstetrics and gynecology department. The red light glowing above the operating room door was more jarring than the sight of fresh blood.
Wren Sutton waited outside, her fingertips ice-cold and her face etched with worry. Her heart hammered so hard it felt like it would burst from her chest, and she was too anxious to sit still.
Half an hour earlier, upon receiving a frantic call for help from Isla Griffith, she had immediately handed Nina over to Adrian Lancaster. Without even changing, she had grabbed her phone and bolted out the door.
Holding their child, Adrian Lancaster had gotten up and chased after her, asking where she was going, but she didn’t have time to answer and had hastily driven away.
"Please, God, let her be okay."
Wren Sutton stood by the window, hands clasped, holding back tears as she prayed over and over.
In less than an hour, the doctor emerged, their expression grim and serious.
Wren Sutton rushed forward, her voice tight with anxiety. "Doctor, how is my best friend? Is she okay?"
"The mother is fine. She’s out of danger now."
The doctor paused before adding with deep regret, "But... due to massive hemorrhaging, and because the baby was still in the very early stages of gestation... we couldn’t save it. I’m so sorry. We did everything we could."
The news hit Wren like a physical blow. Her legs gave out, and she swayed, nearly collapsing to the floor.
She knew all too well what this baby had meant to Isla Griffith. And now, the baby was gone.
The loss was a blow Wren could barely accept. Her body trembled as tears instantly blurred her vision. She clapped a hand over her mouth, stifling the sobs that threatened to escape.
...
Isla Griffith awoke to a sharp, intense pain. It wasn’t like the contractions from before; this was an empty, tearing ache of loss.
Lying pale on the hospital bed, she opened her eyes and instinctively reached for her stomach.
"Isla, you’re finally awake." Wren Sutton wiped the tears from her eyes and squeezed her best friend’s cold hand.
"It’s good that you’re awake. I’m right here with you. You don’t have to be afraid."
Isla Griffith saw Wren’s grief-stricken expression, her red and swollen eyes, and a sharp pain shot through her own heart. She had a terrible feeling she knew what had happened.
Her voice trembled as she asked, "The baby... is the baby still here?"
The word "baby" was like a knife twisting in Wren’s heart. The pain was unbearable.
’How can I tell her the cruel truth?’ She didn’t have the courage. She couldn’t bear to.
But there was no hiding it.
If she didn’t tell her, the doctor would.
Tears streaming down her face, Wren hugged Isla tightly and choked out, "The baby’s gone."
The words were a sharp blade, slowly slicing Isla Griffith’s heart to pieces.
Her body went rigid. An uncontrollable trembling seized her, and a deep chill spread through her body.
She didn’t let out a heart-wrenching wail. Instead, she just stared wide-eyed at the ceiling, all the light draining from her eyes, leaving them as dull and lifeless as stagnant water.
Then, two scalding streams of tears slid slowly, heavily from the corners of her eyes, disappearing into the pillowcase.
The tears flowed silently and endlessly, like pearls from a broken string.
Her lips trembled, and a hoarse, broken sob escaped her throat.
"My babies... they just left me... They were so small. They must have been so scared."
"Mommy couldn’t protect you. It’s my fault. I’m so, so sorry."
Wren was already a mess of tears, but she knew she couldn’t fall apart. She had to pull herself together to comfort Isla.
"Isla, you’re still so young. You can have more children. The most important thing now is to focus on getting better."
"Where there’s life, there’s hope."
Isla was in too much pain to speak. She slowly curled into a ball, wrapping her arms around her knees, as if that small gesture could shield her from all the world’s cruelty.
She felt a bone-deep chill. The part of her heart that had been filled with tenderness and anticipation was now just a hollow, empty space.
Her entire world turned pitch black. She was falling, endlessly falling into a dark, cold abyss with no hope in sight.
Just then, the hospital room door was thrown open.
Sean Sterling, drenched in sweat, burst in like a madman, his eyes wide with a devastating panic.
The moment he saw the trembling, tear-streaked figure on the bed and the pure hatred in Wren Sutton’s eyes, he understood everything.
Sean Sterling staggered to the bedside and fell to his knees. Trembling, he took Isla’s hand, enveloping it tightly in his own.
"Darling, as long as you’re okay..."
Isla slowly raised her head.
In that moment, her eyes held no hatred, no anger—only a dead, desolate emptiness.
It was the gaze of someone who had seen past life and death, someone utterly disillusioned with the world.
She stared at Sean for a long, long time—so long that his own heart sank further into an abyss with each passing moment under her gaze.
Then, her lips moved. "The babies are gone."
Isla’s voice was soft, but to Sean’s ears, the words landed like a thousand-ton boulder.
His expression froze, his pupils constricting. His face went deathly pale, and a searing pain burned through his heart while a suffocating grief choked him.
"No... That’s impossible..."
"When I left this morning, you and the babies were fine. How could they suddenly be gone?"
"What happened? Isla, please, tell me. Let me avenge our babies."
’Avenge them?’
The thought was so painful Isla wanted to laugh, but no sound came out.
’Would Sean really kill Yvonne Donovan for our babies?’
She tore her gaze away from him, staring blankly at the ceiling. Her eyes were unfocused, devoid of emotion, the only sign of life the endless tears streaming from their corners.
"Sean Sterling... let’s end this. I don’t want to be with you anymore."