Chapter 7

Gabriel stormed into the hospital, visibly angry. He found his mother in the hospital lounge, phone still on her hand. He wondered why news about him was also news to him. There was s only one person who could be responsible for it.

She stood up with a smile when she saw him approach. Gabriel took her hand, slightly leading her away from the crowd.

“What is it?” Margaret demanded.

Gabriel was breathing hard, taking lungfuls of breath to steady himself.

“Mom, what the fuck was that?” Gabriel half-yelled, trying to keep his voice down.

“What?” Margaret rolled her eyes.

“You know damn well what I am talking about! Why did you speak to the press? I made it clear to you that I didn’t want any of my private life exposed!” He pinched his forehead, took a step away and walked back to Margaret who seemed very unbothered.

“That's it? That's why you are yelling at me?” she rolled her eyes again. “I was only doing you a favour. You should be thanking me, Gabriel. I am your mother and I know what’s best for you. You need to move on, forget about that trash called Aria! Can’t you see? You are still thinking about her and I know the only reason you kept it private is to contemplate taking her back which is happening over my dead body.”

Gabriel let out a shaky breath.

“Mom, I can take care of myself and you need to stop talking about Aria.”

Margaret snorted and shook her head. “I won’t stop talking about Aria until it sinks into your skull. What has she ever done for you anyway? She’s barren and useless.”

“You don’t know that.” Gabriel’s voice was low.

“You are the only one who doesn’t realise that she was only with you for the status and comfort. I wonder if she ever loved you to begin with.” Margaret took a seat.

The words began to sink into Gabriel’s mind. He recalled the last time he saw Aria. She was already with another man. It raised his suspicion to eighty percent. Perhaps Aria never really loved him.

Nevertheless, he didn’t want the world to know what was going on in his life, or it was just him being in denial about wanting Aria back.

“You sound proud of how things turned out,” Gabriel lashed out. His anger has turned into hurt.

“I am only protecting your future and legacy,” Margaret doubled down. “Aria is too jealous and unstable. She tried to kill an innocent child just because she couldn’t have her own. You should focus on Sienna and your baby.”

“Why do you keep pushing me towards Sienna?” It's come to Gabriel’s attention that his mother was being too persistent, perhaps she was doing all these for her own gain.

Margaret frowned. “Because I want a grandchild. Who wouldn’t?”

“I still don’t want people speculating about my life and Sienna is just a friend to me. There is nothing official between us.”

Margaret laughed sarcastically. “You can lie to yourself but you can’t lie to the world. People will start seriously Sienna with you anyway. And what do you expect Sienna to do? You want to turn her into a single mother? Are you going to be irresponsible and deny the child–your child?”

Gabriel fell silent, confused and unsettled deep inside.

“That’s what I thought,” Margaret added.

While everything became awkward between Gabriel and his mother, his phone rang. One glance at the screen and he froze on the spot. He excused himself abruptly and walked away to answer the call.

His expression was firm as he spoke unheard words to the phone, looking conflicted.

Gabriel turned back to his mother, phone still plugged to his ear and mouthed “I’ll see you later,”

Shortly after Gabriel left, Sienna appeared in the hallway. Margaret’s demeanour softened instantly. Sienna walked gently, while rubbing her stomach.

Margaret rushed to help her sit. “Don’t worry, my dear. Everything is under control,” Margaret reassured Sienna.

“Thank you, Mom.” Sienna’s voice was as soft as a whisper. Hearing Sienna call her Mom already, Margaret felt a lump of happiness.

“The Doctor had approved your discharge. It’s time to bring you home.”

Sienna’s face lit up. “Home?”

Margaret covered Sienna’s hands with her palm, then looked subtly into her eyes. “The Blackstone home is where you are meant to be. You carry our baby, now you are one of us.”

Sienna played selfless and dumb. “What if Gabriel doesn’t want me there? I don’t want to cause discomfort to him.”

“Oh dear, don’t be silly. Of course, he wants you there.”

Sienna smiled a little too widely for someone selfless. She thanked Margaret but beneath her gratitude, a quiet confidence sits.

___

It’s been two days and Aiden lands at the airport from his business trip. He checked his phone immediately upon landing.

He has a missed call from Dr. Hale which was marked urgent.

Without hesitation, Aiden called back and asked what was so urgent.

Dr. Hale requests to see him in person as the conversation might not fit a phone call.

His driver drove him straight to the hospital, directly to Dr. Hale’s office.

“That was fast, Me Blackstone,” Dr. Hale offered Aiden as sit after locking the door.

“What was so urgent?” Aiden asked after Dr. Hale took his seat.

“It’s about Ms Aria’s miscarriage.”

“What about it?” Aiden sat at the top of his chair.

“The test results came out and I’ve come to realise that her miscarriage wasn’t caused by trauma alone…we found something strange in her blood.”

The doctor showed Aiden the screen of his laptop.

“What are you trying to say?” Aiden asked furiously.

Dr. Hale took off his glasses and sighed heavily. “There is a poisonous substance in her blood and with what I have observed, it’s not recent, it’s not accidental. This is due to long exposure. Someone has been poisoning her for years, and this explains her infertility. This explained why conception was nearly impossible. If she’d had that child, one or both of them would have ended up dead.”

Aiden froze, his nails dug into his palms as the implication settled heavily in his mind.

Someone close to Aria wanted her barren. Not only that, but they wanted her dead.