Chapter 3

Willow started bleeding at midnight.

When I rushed home, she was sitting on the sofa with a pale face. She was clutching the hem of her sleeping gown tightly.

Luke stood beside the tea table with a tight grip around the car keys.

His expression was dark, and he was not as quick to make cutting remarks this time.

When he saw me enter the house, the first thing he did was snap at me. “Why are you back so late, Samuel?!”

I froze.

Willow was in so much pain that her forehead was covered in cold sweat. Even so, she snapped at him. “Why are you yelling at him? I didn’t tell him.”

Luke whipped his head at her, and I could hear rage simmering in his voice. “You’re bleeding, and you still want to defend him?”

Willow bit her lip. “Stop sticking your nose into my business, Luke.”

“Am I supposed to watch you just tough it out?”

After that, he seemed to have realized that his tone was too sharp, and he immediately turned his face away.

It was quiet in the living room for two seconds before he stiffly added, “I don’t want to clean up your mess in the middle of the night.”

Willow was in so much pain that she doubled over. She had no strength to argue with him.

I went over to lift her up. She grabbed my collar and said softly, “Will the baby be okay, Samuel?”

“It’ll be fine,” I said.

Luke immediately headed to the door. “I’ll drive.”

Willow snapped at him. “You drive too fast! I’m not getting into your car!”

Luke stopped in his tracks. When he looked at her, his gaze was dark. In the end, he threw the car keys at me. “You drive.”

I caught the keys.

He said, “Drive steadily. Don’t press on the brakes too suddenly. She can’t handle it right now.”

He was not mocking me, but he was giving me an order.

I carried Willow downstairs.

Luke stood at the edge of the elevator, holding the doors open with his finger on the button.

Willow trembled in pain. The bit of red on the hem of her sleeping gown stood out like a sore thumb under the light.

Luke took one look at it before he immediately looked away. Even so, I could see the veins on the back of his hands bulging.

When Willow saw that, she snapped at him weakly, “What are you staring at?”

Luke did not retort like he usually would. He just whispered, “Stop talking and save your strength.”

Willow was taken aback. I was, too.

Soon, Luke added, “Your voice right now sounds even worse than you crying.”

It was the kind of thing Luke would normally say, but his voice trembled slightly.

Willow was curled up in the backseat as we headed to the hospital. I drove quickly.

Luke sat in the front passenger seat and kept his eyes trained on the road ahead.

Right as we went over a speed bump, he turned to Willow. “Does it hurt?”

Willow gritted her teeth. “None of your business.”

He did not talk to her anymore and turned to me instead. “Didn’t you see the speed bump just now, Samuel?”

I kept my hands tightly around the steering wheel. “I did.”

“Why did you drive over it so quickly if you saw it, then?”

“I did slow down.”

Luke’s voice then turned cold. “She’s bleeding and isn’t throwing a tantrum like she usually is. Could you take this more seriously?”

Willow immediately pushed herself up and snapped, “Luke!”

He immediately shut his eyes, as if to suppress his anger. “Am I wrong?”

Silence filled the car.

A long time passed before Willow whispered, “Don’t blame him.”

Luke snickered. The sound was short and stiff. “True. I shouldn’t blame him.”

He looked outside while he kept a tight grip on the safety belt. “In any case, if something really goes wrong, it’s not my place to blame him.”

The moment he finished, I tightened my grip around the steering wheel.

Willow froze as well.

Even though she was deathly pale from the pain, she still managed to tug at his sleeve. “Stop running your mouth.”

Luke did not turn around. “Then, make sure you’re okay.”

For once, he had dropped his act without even realizing it.

It was pouring when we reached the door to the emergency department.

I carried Willow and ran inside.

But the steps were slippery, and my knees crashed into the edge of the stairs. It hurt so much that my vision turned black, but I did not let go.

The first thing Willow did was shield her stomach. “The baby!”

Not me.

Luke chased after us with the umbrella. The umbrella was practically tilted entirely toward Willow. One of his shoulders was drenched in rain.

When he saw me stumble, his expression turned even darker. “Can’t you carry her properly, Samuel?!”

I gritted my teeth and stood straight. “I didn’t let go.”

“You’d better not.” With that, he rushed to the receptionist’s counter.

“She’s twelve weeks along, is bleeding, has stomach pain, and went through IVF. Get the OB-GYN here now!”

The nurse was taken aback by how worked up he was.

“Please register your name first, sir.”

Luke hissed, “Get the doctor first!”

Willow was pushed into an examination room.

When the door swung shut, Luke stood outside, looking drained.

He stared at the door. Water still dripped from the umbrella in his hands.

It fell on the floor drop by drop.

I stared at him. When he noticed my gaze, he quickly tensed up. “Why are you staring at me?”

I said nothing, and he stared at my knees.

Blood flowed down my pant legs. He frowned and continued stiffly, “Get your wounds treated.”

“I’ll wait for the results first,” I said.

Suddenly, Luke flew into a rage. “What’s the point of you standing here? If she sees you bleeding, she’s going to worry about you. Samuel, could you stop distracting her all the time?”

I stared at him. “How am I distracting her?”

He seemed to have been rendered speechless by my words. He gulped. Then, he looked away. “That’s not what I meant.”

When the doctor came out, he said that Willow was showing signs of a miscarriage and needed to rest in the hospital to make sure she did not lose the baby.

A nurse came over with a form and asked, “I need a family member’s signature.”

I reached for the form, but Willow, pale and weak in the hospital bed, suddenly caught my wrist. Her voice trembled as she said, “Let Luke do it.”

The nurse was stunned. “Who is he?”

Willow shut her eyes. “I’m giving him the authority to do it. He’s been monitoring my medical reports and paying the bills. He knows who to look for.”

There was no smugness in his eyes, only the look of someone who had finally been permitted to get close to her again. But when he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper.

“Have you really thought this through, Willow?”

Willow closed her eyes. “Sign it.”

Luke took the pen. He did not joke around and just signed the form.

As the pen touched the form, he pressed down so hard that the tip tore right through the paper.

Willow stared at him and teared up. “Luke…”

He handed the form to the nurse and immediately took a step back. His voice turned cold once again. “Don’t. Save your strength to protect the baby.”

He sounded like he was mocking her, but anyone could tell that there was a tension in his voice.

I took a look at my knees. The blood had dripped onto my shoes.

It was only then that Willow turned to me.

When she saw my knees, she teared up. “Why didn’t you say anything, Samuel?”

“Would you have looked at me first if I did?” I stared at her.

She turned pale.

Luke said coldly, “What’s the point of fighting over this now?”

Willow immediately put herself between us. “Stop yelling at him!”

Luke stared at her and suppressed his anger. “I’m just giving him a hard time, and you jump straight to his defense. Why are you still protecting him when you’re the one lying in a hospital bed?”

Willow’s lips quivered. “He’s my husband.”

The moment she said that, the corridor fell silent.

Then, Luke chuckled. It was soft but grating to the ears. “Fine!”

He took half a step back. “He’s your husband…”

It hurt so much that my knuckles turned white.

At that moment, my phone vibrated. It was a text from my lawyer, Peter. He had sent me the investigation report.

I had asked him to look into the private fertility clinic we had visited.

It was written clearly in the report that Luke was the one who provided all of Willow’s supplementary documents.

The registered name for the sperm sample was not mine.

There was also a non-invasive paternity test at the back that excluded the possibility that I was the baby’s father.

I stared at it for a long time.

“Does it hurt a lot?” the doctor asked.

I put the phone face down. “No.”

It actually hurt a lot.

My knees hurt, and my forearm hurt. But my heart ached even more. It was like someone had dug it out.

Willow texted me.

[The baby is safe for now. Luke didn’t yell at you on purpose. He was just too worked up.]

‘Too worked up…’ I thought and stared at those three words. Then, I slowly unpinned her chat from the list.