Chapter 4

I gripped the paper, my knuckles turning white.

Why did I get an IUD?

Hah. Because of Theo, of course.

I watched him come out of the operating room every day, his white coat splattered with blood that wasn't his, returning home late at night with a dark, violent look in his eyes.

It hurt me to see him constantly on edge amidst the hail of bullets, so even though I desperately wanted a complete family, I compromised.

We naturally used protection after getting married, and I never brought up the topic of getting pregnant.

But just half a year ago, a tragedy occurred in the South Side.

The wife of a rival gang boss unexpectedly got pregnant. After word leaked, their rivals simply kidnapped the woman and orchestrated a horrifying bloodbath.

When Theo held me, his voice held a rare tremble. He said he would never allow me to fall into that kind of desperate situation.

I felt sorry for him, and I was also afraid that one day I really wouldn't be able to hold back.

The next day, without telling anyone, I went alone to a private clinic outside the Family's network and got this IUD placed.

I had originally planned to present this ultimate compromise to him during our fifth-anniversary candlelit dinner, so he could love me without any reservations from then on.

But I never expected that he wouldn't even give me the chance to finish a single sentence.

Fortunately, the nurse added: The device has not been in for too long, and your uterus is still healthy. As long as you undergo laparoscopic surgery immediately to remove the dislodged device and repair the damage, your fertility can be restored quickly.

Just as I was debating whether to have the surgery done right away, the ward door was pushed open with a bang.

Theo strode in, clutching the kraft paper envelope I had Isla pass to him at noon, looking completely furious.

The next second, he smashed the file envelope directly onto my bedside table.

He narrowed his eyes. "I signed it. Buying a house involves moving massive funds. Never bring this kind of stuff to the medical center again! Letting Isla see where our funds are going, do you have any idea how unsafe that is?"

I almost burst out laughing.

He thought it was the property deed for the villa. He signed it without even looking at it.

That was great. It saved me the trouble of scheming to force him to sign it.

I expressionlessly stuffed the finalized divorce agreement into my handbag. The gloom that had hovered in my chest for so long suddenly dissipated.

Seeing my silence, Theo's expression softened.

"Get some rest. I still have a surgery. I'm leaving."

I looked at his face and couldn't help but ask softly, "Theo, aren't you even a little curious as to why I'm lying in this bed?"

He clearly froze for a moment, his eyes dodging slightly, before dropping a rigid conclusion.

"What else could it be? Isn't it just your stomach ulcers acting up again?"

"How many times have I told you to take better care of your stomach?"

"Once your IV is done, have the driver take you back to the apartment. Things are tense out there lately, so don't run around outside."

"You're an adult and you still can't take good care of yourself. How can I not worry?"

I stared at him blankly, my heart feeling as if someone had squeezed it hard.

I did have an old stomach issue.

In the past, there was always a bottle of stomach pills in the pocket of his white coat.

Even if I just furrowed my brows slightly, he would immediately bring warm water and coax me to swallow a pill.

I didn't know since when my medicine stopped appearing in that pocket.

Just last week, when I sent his trench coat to the dry cleaners for him, I pulled a limited-edition women's lipstick out of the hidden inner pocket.

A glaring shade, an exquisite tube.

It was Isla's favorite color.

Forget it. I was very tired. I couldn't even muster the strength to question him.

I looked into Theo's bottomless eyes, opening my mouth slightly, wanting to just spill the truth about the IUD removal surgery.

The ward door was suddenly shoved open.

"Doc!"

A young Family medical assistant burst in, sweating profusely.

"A rival crew got into the building! They somehow tracked Miss Isla's route and have her cornered in the East Wing pharmacy trying to kill her. You need to bring your men over there now!"

Theo's face turned terrifyingly dark in an instant. Without even half a second of hesitation, he reached for the gun at his lower back and turned around.

From beginning to end, he didn't spare me another glance.

His rationality, his tension, all his instincts, they were entirely poured onto Isla.

I watched his back disappear at the end of the corridor, hearing a muffled gunshot from afar.

The last shred of reluctance in my heart was shattered cleanly by that gunshot.

Just how pathetic was I to destroy my right to bear new life for a man who could abandon me at any moment?

I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, my decision was made.

I pressed the emergency call button by the bed, summoning the on-duty nurse waiting outside. Clenching that lab report tightly into a ball, I spoke word by word. "Go prepare the anesthesia. Schedule the IUD removal and repair surgery for me."

"Now. Immediately. As quickly as possible."