Chapter 308: Sinking into Deeper Pain and Torment
The hospital room was quiet.
Sean Sterling rose from his chair and knelt by the hospital bed, bringing him closer to Isla Griffith.
His posture was always ramrod straight, never once stooping, not even when facing pressure from his family or navigating the cutthroat business world.
But at this moment, his shoulders were slumped, his posture humbled to the dust. Even his breathing was a careful, tentative tremor.
His gaze never left Isla.
Her eyes were closed, her long, thick lashes resting on her eyelids, showing no intention of looking at him.
Sean tentatively reached out. The moment his fingertips touched Isla’s cool ones, he froze as if he had brushed against fragile glass, a bitter ache filled his heart.
He was afraid. Afraid that if he squeezed her hand even slightly, it would earn him deeper rejection, that she would violently fling it away.
"Isla, I know you hate me. I hate myself even more. I never should have left my phone in the hospital room and missed your call."
"I’ve investigated everything. The evidence is conclusive. It was my mom who took my phone without permission and answered that call."
"To force you to leave, she made up lies to deceive you. She told you I had an arranged marriage and that the wedding was next month. She even said she’d double your money, offering an amount that was sure to satisfy you..."
Isla’s closed eyelids trembled. A storm raged in her heart, and the dense, sharp pain in her chest surged once more.
’So Sean knows everything.’
’But is what he’s saying really the truth?’
’He’s always so careful, he never lets his phone out of his sight. For it to be left in Yvonne Donovan’s room of all places... was it really just a coincidence?’
The thought was like a thorn digging into her heart, making it impossible for her to be easily convinced.
Wren Sutton listened quietly, her brow furrowed.
’I was right,’ she thought. ’This really is about Yvonne Donovan. She’s the culprit who caused Isla’s miscarriage. She’s a murderer!’
"I’m sorry, Isla. It was my carelessness that gave her the chance to hurt you." Sean’s voice grew hoarse, his eyes filled with regret.
His gaze fell on Isla’s flat stomach. Two small lives, his children, had once grown there, but now it was empty.
At that thought, Sean’s heart felt as if it were being torn to shreds.
"I can only imagine how much pain you were in when you heard those words," he said, his voice trembling.
"You were pregnant, already so sensitive and vulnerable, yet she stabbed you with the most vicious words. I should be damned. I really should be damned. I’m so sorry, to you and to our children."
"I never agreed to an arranged marriage with anyone. A wedding next month is complete nonsense. In this lifetime, I, Sean Sterling, only want to marry you. All my love belongs only to you."
"I swear, every word I’m saying right now is the truth. I’m not deceiving you, and I wouldn’t dare to."
Wren sighed heavily to herself.
’Yvonne Donovan is really something else. A master at sowing discord. How disgusting.’
’Poor Sean, having such a domineering and tyrannical mother. I have no idea how he managed to grow up at all.’
’But my best friend is the most pitiful one, running into such a despotic and venomous old hag.’
Isla finally opened her eyes. There wasn’t a trace of warmth in them, only an icy indifference, but the redness of their rims betrayed the turmoil in her heart.
She turned her face away to look out the window.
The sky was a hazy gray, with a few clouds drifting by. She deliberately avoided Sean’s gaze, as if one more look would cause her to fall apart completely.
"Even if what you’re saying is true, what can it change?"
"My children are gone. Your mother killed them. The hatred between her and me will never be erased in this lifetime."
"So, even if you weren’t an accomplice, it’s impossible for me to get back together with you." A shattered pain was hidden within the indifference in Isla’s eyes.
"Otherwise, I’d be failing my dead children."
As she finished, tears fell from the corners of her eyes like pearls from a broken string. Her nose stung, and her heart felt as if it were being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand, then suddenly released, the pain spreading through her entire body.
Sean’s eyes turned red with desperation, tears streaming out.
He could no longer care about Isla’s rejection. He tightened his arm, clutching her hand tightly in his palm as if it were his last lifeline.
"I was stupid. I was careless. If I had been just a little more vigilant, if I had stayed by your and the children’s side without leaving, you wouldn’t have been hurt."
"I know I was wrong, and I’ve been punished. From now on, I will never leave you again. I won’t let anyone have the chance to hurt you."
"Isla, I’m begging you." Sean’s eyes were bloodshot, his tone as pleading as a child’s.
"Give me a chance to make it up to you. Don’t push me away. Don’t break up with me. Please, don’t leave me."
"I failed to protect you. I failed to protect our children. This is a sin I can never atone for in my entire life."
Sean choked back a sob and took a deep breath, straightening his back slightly. A flash of do-or-die determination crossed his eyes.
"To prevent anyone from interfering with us, I’ve already had my lawyer release an official document announcing that I am severing all ties with the Sterling Family. The Sterling family’s assets, status, power—I don’t want any of it. I just want to be with you."
He leaned forward slightly, refusing to let go of her tightly held hand.
"I’m homeless now. Please don’t leave me too, okay? Without you, I really can’t go on living."
The room fell silent in an instant, leaving only the soft drip of the IV and Sean’s ragged breathing.
Isla stared out the window, tears streaming down her face, her shoulders trembling. Her frozen heart finally cracked open.
Grief, pain, disbelief, and a flicker of emotion she didn’t dare acknowledge, buried deep in her heart, all intertwined and overwhelmed her.
She had never expected Sean to actually have the courage to break with the Sterling Family, to leave with nothing.
His words, "I’m homeless now," were like an old, repeatedly dulled knife. It had no sharp edge, but it cut the deepest, stabbing viciously into the softest part of her chest, making it hurt so much she didn’t dare to breathe too deeply.
It was a lie to say she wasn’t moved.
This man, who was once so high and mighty, who held so much power, was willing to cut off all his escape routes for her, to draw a clear line with the Sterling Family, to abandon wealth and luxury, to leave with nothing and become destitute.
The weight of this all-or-nothing resolve was so heavy it nearly suffocated her, making her eyes sting and her heart ache with a constricting pain.
But being moved was one thing; the bloody wound in her heart showed no signs of healing.
Her children were gone.
Those two little lives, not yet fully formed, not even named, had been brutally snuffed out by Yvonne Donovan’s lies and schemes. They had become an insurmountable obstacle in her life.
Whenever she closed her eyes, there was a heart-piercing pain, the sound of soul-tearing cries in her midnight dreams, and a debt she could never repay.
’How could she forgive? How could she dare to forgive?’
"Sean Sterling, do you have any idea what you’re doing?"
Isla’s voice was hoarse and chillingly cold, enough to make one’s heart panic.
"The Sterling Family is where you’ve lived your whole life. It’s your foundation, a symbol of your status and position. And for me, you’re throwing it all away with a single word? Are you sick in the head, or have you really gone mad?"
Sean’s heart tightened. Thinking Isla was saying this out of concern for him, his eyes filled with anxiety and earnestness as he quickly tried to explain.
"As long as I can stay by your side, I don’t care about any of those things. I only care about you. I just want to be with you—"
"But I care!"
Isla cut Sean off, her voice raised. It carried the sound of a long-suppressed breakdown, a sob, and a note of despair.
She looked at him, the indifference in her eyes completely shattered, leaving only a torrent of emotions.
"Sean Sterling, I never forced you to do this. Never."
"Your mother killed my children, and now you’re severing ties with the Sterling Family and leaving with nothing for my sake. What is that supposed to be?"
"Are you trying to make me, Isla Griffith, live my entire life drowning in guilt?"
"To make me feel like I’m the one who dragged you down, that I’m the one who ruined your life, destroyed your relationship with your family, and left you with nothing!"
"..."
Sean froze. The earnest plea in his eyes slowly stiffened, his throat tightened, and he couldn’t utter a single word.
He had thought his sacrifice, his break with his family, would convince Isla to come back, that it could atone for his mistake.
But he never imagined that his drastic decision would instead plunge Isla into even deeper torment and pain.
The silence in the hospital room was broken by Isla’s sobs.
Seeing the shock and helplessness in Sean’s eyes, her heart twisted as if stabbed by a knife.
Isla knew better than anyone how difficult Sean’s life had been.
Growing up in such a domineering and cold family, he had to tread carefully every step of the way just to secure his position.
And now, he was giving it all up just like that. In the future, he would face the hardship of having nothing, the suppression from the Sterling Family, and the miserable, humbling experience of starting from scratch.
And all of this was because of her.
’What if she left? What if she disappeared completely from Sean’s world?’
’Then couldn’t he return to the Sterling Family, return to the position that was rightfully his, and continue being that high and mighty, endlessly successful Sean Sterling?’
’He wouldn’t have to struggle to make a living, wouldn’t be abandoned by his family, and wouldn’t have to live such a wretched life because of her.’
Once this thought emerged, it spread like a wildly growing vine, wrapping itself tightly around Isla’s heart.