Chapter 4

When the lights came on, the pain had spread through my entire body, leaving me numb. The doctor's voice drifted in and out of my consciousness.

Slowly, without realizing it, everything before my eyes faded into darkness. It felt as though something inside me had slowly been emptied. Just like that, even my last bit of hope had been ripped away.

By the time the baby's hundredth-day celebration ended and the guests began to leave, Alfie still couldn't reach me. At last, he remembered that phone call from the hospital.

The nurse sounded impatient when she answered, with a hint of reproach in her voice.

"She just had a D&C. She's very weak at the moment and should be resting in bed, but she insisted on leaving. We couldn't stop her."

By the time Alfie arrived, I had already made it to the hospital entrance. The night wind swept over me, and I trembled from head to toe.

He rushed over and grabbed me. "Giselle!"

I stumbled from the force of it and turned to him. His eyes were rimmed red. It was the first time I had ever seen him like that, yet I felt nothing.

"Come home with me," he instructed, though his voice was shaking. "You just had surgery. You can't leave like this."

"Let go."

I wrenched my arm free, but the force of the movement made me stumble backward. He quickly caught me before I could fall.

"The baby was yours, Alfie. Do you believe me now?"

His face went deathly pale.

I continued, "Tell me. Now that the baby is gone, are you finally satisfied?"

I stared into his eyes, my voice so cold that it barely sounded like my own. "You spent five years keeping watch over me so I wouldn't find out the Cameron was alive, but I still did. The baby is also gone. You can finally sit back and relax, right?"

"Gigi—"

"Don't call me that."

I pushed him away and turned to leave.

Before I could reach the entrance, a car screeched to a stop outside the emergency entrance. The door flew open, and Tessa stumbled out.

The moment she saw me, tears flooded her eyes. She rushed over and reached for my hand. "Gigi, please, let me explain!"

I could barely manage a response when Alfie stepped in front of me and blocked her. "Gigi, calm down!"

Then, Cameron got out of the car. He pulled Tessa behind him and looked at me, his expression cold and detached.

"We didn't feel good about keeping you in the dark for five years either. You can't seriously put yourself through treatment all over again just because you had another episode."

The two of them stood between Tessa and me, blocking my way. She stood behind them, trembling as she sobbed. "Gigi, I'm sorry. This is all my fault…"

She was crying so hard that she could barely get the words out. "I couldn't live without Cameron. Alfie only wanted to help me be with him."

My whole body was shaking. A piece of medical tape was still stuck to the back of my hand from the IV, and waves of pain kept twisting my lower abdomen.

I said, "I'll leave you all alone. Just don't stop me again."

Tessa started crying again. She pushed Cameron aside and rushed forward toward me. "Yell at me if you have to, Gigi. I'll get down on my knees and seek your forgiveness…"

She started to kneel, but Cameron and Alfie both reached out to stop her almost in unison.

Another wave of agony tore through my lower abdomen. I looked down and saw blood seeping through my pants again. My ears were ringing, and the lights around me seemed to grow brighter and brighter.

"Gigi?"

Alfie's voice sounded far away. I looked up and saw his expression change. He rushed toward me.

I thought I was going to collapse straight onto the floor, but just before I did, someone caught me and held me steady from behind.

"Sorry for being late, Gigi."