Chapter 178: How foolish!
Alex.
"Please save both of them!" I pleaded the very second I stepped forward, stepping directly into the center of the tense circle and locking my desperate gaze onto the doctor.
"And who on earth are you?" the doctor asked almost immediately, his brows furrowing in deep confusion as he blinked, clearly caught off guard by my sudden, unannounced arrival.
"Her husband!" I declared, my voice echoing firmly through the hallway, absolute confidence lacing every single word.
The reality was simple: I never would have signed those divorce papers with Ella if I had actually known what they were at the time. I was tricked into ending our marriage. And now, knowing that she was carrying my blood in her womb, everything had changed. I needed to step up, take full responsibility, and give my child a proper name, a legitimate legacy, and a proud background.
As far as I was concerned, that divorce was completely void.
I held onto a desperate, burning hope that this innocent child would be the miracle that finally brought us back together and reunited our shattered lives. But as the thought crossed my mind, a sudden wave of memories from the past flashed unbidden before my eyes, striking my chest with a dull, agonizing ache.
Ella’s sweet, vibrant voice echoed loudly in my head, as clear as if she were standing right beside me.
"Tell me, baby!" she had said back then, her beautiful face illuminated by a brilliant, radiant smile as she curled up comfortably on the sofa. "When we eventually have a child of our own, what name would you give them?" she had asked, her eyes sparkling with pure hope for our future.
Back then, I had been so blind, so distant. I had given her nothing but a cold shoulder, brushing off her warmth with a careless, detached answer. I had simply told her that whenever a child actually entered this world, only then would I bother to think about it.
How utterly foolish of me.
The thought struck with merciless clarity, echoing relentlessly through my mind until there was no escaping it.
How terribly cruel.
The words carried an unbearable weight, each one sinking deeper into my conscience than the last.
Every time they repeated themselves, the crushing reality of my own actions settled even more heavily upon me, making it impossible to look away from what I had become.
Was that callous brush-off the exact reason she had hidden her condition from me?
The question lingered, refusing to leave my mind for even a second.
Was my own coldness the wall that kept her from telling me she was carrying my child?
A sharp, agonising pang of remorse ripped straight through my heart, stealing the air from my lungs. The ache spread relentlessly through my chest, tightening with every passing heartbeat until it became almost unbearable.
I immediately squeezed my eyes tightly shut, as though shutting out the world might somehow silence the echoing ghost of her voice that continued to haunt my thoughts.
But it refused to fade.
Instead, my mind desperately searched through every memory, frantically trying to piece together the answer to the question she had asked me all those months ago, clinging to every fragment it could find in the hope that somewhere within it lay the answer I had failed to see before.
’If it turns out to be a boy,’ I vowed inwardly, every beat of my heart heavy with unspoken grief, ’I will name him Alexander Junior. And if it’s a precious little girl, she will be named Ella Junior, after the woman I lost.’
A single, hot tear escaped my shut eyelids and spilled quietly down my cheek, burning against my skin.
"I am so sorry, Ella," I whispered under my breath, the words raw with regret.
Slowly, painfully, I opened my eyes again. I was met with a pair of intensely confused eyes, as the doctor stood frozen in front of me, staring back at my tear-stained face in absolute shock.
"I am her husband!" I repeated, driving each word out far more boldly and firmly this time, letting the declaration echo down the quiet hospital hall since it seemed the doctor hadn’t properly digested my words the first time around.
The absolute moment those words left my mouth for the second time, Leonard lost control. He surged forward in a blur of motion and landed a hard, violent punch straight to my mouth.
"You both are divorced, you asshole!" he roared, his voice thick with unbridled fury as his hands immediately reached out and snatched a tight, suffocating grip on my shirt collar.
Pain flared across my jaw, but I didn’t back down. I reached up and slowly wiped away the thin trickle of blood oozing from the corner of my mouth, a dark, mocking smirk spreading across my face despite the sting.
"But that still doesn’t change the undeniable fact that she once addressed me as her husband," I said, keeping my tone smooth and infuriatingly cool. "Tell me..." I paused deliberately, leaning in just enough to look him dead in the eye, "...has she ever once called any of you that?"
Instantly, the color drained from Leonard’s face. The sharp question hit its mark, leaving him visibly shaken, and his ferocious grip on my collar loosened just enough for me to forcefully shove his hands away and step out of his reach.
I calmly adjusted my clothes, maintaining total composure as I locked my eyes onto him. "Look here," I said, my voice dangerously calm and steady. "I am not standing in this hallway to pick a fight or cause trouble." I paused, letting the silence settle around us before driving the dagger home. "I am here for one reason only: to ensure the safety of my wife... something you three were clearly incapable of doing."
I slowly shifted my gaze away from Leonard, letting my cold eyes sweep over to where the other two brothers stood watching. "So do yourselves a favor and know your place."
Without wasting another single second on them, I turned my back on their dark glares and faced the stunned physician once more.
"Please," I said firmly, my voice absolute and unyielding. "Save both my wife and my child."