Chapter 177: How long has it been?
Alex.
I received fresh intelligence from the private operative I had recently hired to keep an unyielding eye on Ella.
My initial intention had been twofold: I wanted to track her every single move with absolute precision, while simultaneously providing an invisible shield to keep her safe from harm.
However, over the past few days, the nature of these updates had taken a sickening turn. I had been receiving painfully detailed, intimate reports detailing her interactions with the triplets.
Those damn assholes. They took a twisted pleasure in casting their eyes on whatever belonged to me, constantly probing for a way to stake their claim. And now, as if their endless power games weren’t enough, they actually dared to become my rivals in love.
A heavy wave of frustration crashed over me as the haunting memories of those intimate videos flashed unbidden in my mind. The sheer sight of them together burned in my chest.
Yet, right in the middle of my spiraling anger, my phone vibrated with a soft ping. A brand-new message from the private guard popped up on my brightly lit screen.
I stared at the notification, deeply reluctant to open it. I genuinely wasn’t sure if my pride could take another blow, and I didn’t want my heart to be brutally pierced all over again by whatever heartbreaking scene he had captured this time.
Perhaps it was time to put an end to this self-inflicted torture. Maybe I should just call him right now and sternly warn him to refrain from sending me such utterly irrelevant, agonizing images ever again.
With a heavy, resigned sigh, I picked up my phone and clicked on our private chat thread.
I braced myself, fully expecting to be greeted by another set of infuriating, intimate photos of her with those brothers. But as the text loaded, the words that appeared on the glass made the air lock violently in my lungs, causing my breath to seize completely.
> Ms. Ella is currently admitted in a hospital and from what I have gotten, she is in critical condition.
I froze, the room falling into a dead, terrifying silence.
What on earth could have gone so horribly wrong with her again?
She had been perfectly fine, vibrant, and healthy just a few short days ago. The suddenness of it all felt deeply unnerving and profoundly strange, and a chilling certainty settled in my gut: something disastrous had definitely happened to her behind closed doors.
A sharp, venomous spike of contempt flared through my panic. I honestly couldn’t believe that three fully grown, powerful men like the triplets couldn’t even manage to protect a single woman.
They paraded around the world acting like they were completely almighty and untouchable, yet they couldn’t keep her out of a hospital bed.
How utterly pathetic.
Without wasting a single breath, my fingers flew across the illuminated glass screen, typing out a sharp, urgent command instructing my private guard to send me the hospital’s exact address immediately.
Within a matter of seconds, my phone vibrated with his swift reply, displaying the precise location where she had been taken.
I technically still had a pressing, unresolved matter hanging over my head—Philip had yet to report back to me with any concrete updates regarding Eva’s whereabouts. But that whole situation could wait.
Everything else paled in comparison to this emergency. My absolute priority right now was to see for myself that Ella was okay, especially since it was blatantly clear those incompetent triplets weren’t capable of protecting her.
I immediately swept through my space, hastily gathering the essential items I needed before rushing out the door. I threw myself into my car and drove with reckless speed, heading straight for the address my operative had provided.
The moment I arrived, I burst through the hospital entrance and made a bee-line for the front desk. I quickly pressed the nurses at the registration counter for her room details, and as soon as the floor and door numbers were given, I bolted down the hall toward her room.
However, as I closed the distance, my frantic footsteps ground to a sudden halt. I froze.
Just down the corridor, the three brothers were engaged in a heated, vicious argument, their furious voices bouncing off the sterile walls.
My instincts immediately kicked in; I really needed to know what could possibly be causing such a chaotic confrontation. I quietly slipped behind the edge of a nearby wall, pulling myself into the shadows to hear every single word clearly.
As I listened, a wave of profound shock washed over me. I couldn’t believe my ears—they were arguing frantically about whether or not to save a baby.
Ella was pregnant?
My mind reeled in utter disbelief. How could that even be possible? I had been entirely convinced that she was barren.
A sudden, electrifying realization struck my chest, making my heart hammer wildly against my ribs.
Is the baby mine?
I was practically consumed by a desperate, burning curiosity to untangle the truth. Staying perfectly still in my hiding place for a few more moments, the frantic pieces of their argument began to fit together, until the full, devastating picture suddenly snapped into crystal-clear focus.
Ella had been carrying my child all along. But why on earth had she kept it a secret from me?
Why hadn’t she told me?
And how long has it been?
I quickly forced those spiraling thoughts out of my mind. The endless questions and lingering sense of betrayal didn’t matter right now—none of it did. The only thing that mattered was her life and the life of our unborn child.
Stepping decisively out from the shadows of my hiding spot, I crossed the hallway and moved toward the gathered group with swift, unyielding strides. Ignoring the stunned glares of the brothers, I locked my eyes directly onto the doctor’s face.
"Please save the both of them!" I pleaded, my voice raw with desperate, heartfelt urgency as I looked at the physician.