Chapter 2 — The Price of Hope

The hospital doors slid open, and the familiar scent of antiseptic washed over me. I walked straight toward the doctor's office, gripping my purse strap as I tried to steady my thoughts.

“Miss Bella?”

I looked up to find the doctor standing outside his office with Aina's file.

“I was about to check on your daughter. Please, come in.”

I followed him inside and took the seat across from his desk, clasping my hands in my lap to keep them from trembling.

“Have you been able to make any arrangements?” he asked gently.

“Things are taking a little longer than I expected.”

He nodded sympathetically.

“I understand. But we can't afford to lose another day. If you can complete the necessary arrangements within the next twenty-four hours, we'll begin treatment immediately.”

My fingers twisted together beneath the desk until my knuckles ached.

“I'll find a way,” I whispered.

“I sincerely hope you do. For now, spend some time with your daughter. I'll let you know if anything changes.”

“Thank you.”

Making my way back to Aina's room, I wiped the moisture from beneath my eyes and took a slow breath. I pulled my lips into a small smile before opening the door.

She was sitting against her pillows while Nurse Lina checked her monitor. Her tablet rested beside her, paused on the cartoon she had been watching earlier. The moment she saw me, her face brightened.

“Mom!”

She threw back her blanket.

I crossed the room and hugged her before planting a soft kiss on her forehead.

“You were gone for a long time,” she murmured, snuggling her face against me. “I watched two episodes while you were gone.”

“I’m sorry. The doctor wanted to talk to me.”

She pulled back and searched my face with those shiny, innocent eyes.

“Did he give you good news?”

My smile faltered for a second. I smoothed her hair away from her forehead and tucked the loose strand behind her ear.

“He’s trying very hard to make you better.”

Aina smiled.

“I knew he would. Doctors make people better.”

Nurse Lina finished checking the monitor and stepped away from the bed. She looked at me as she gathered her things.

“She’s been asking about you.”

I glanced at Aina.

“I’m sorry. I didn't mean to be gone that long.”

Nurse Lina smiled.

“Don't worry. She was fine. She just kept asking when you were coming back.”

I smiled back.

“Thank you for staying with her.”

“Of course.”

She gave Aina one last look before leaving the room.

Once the door closed, I settled beside Aina and adjusted her pillow before picking up her tablet. I restarted her cartoon, lowered the volume, and placed it back beside her.

She turned toward the screen, her attention settling on the familiar characters.

I watched her for a moment before picking up my phone.

Twenty-four hours.

I opened my contacts. My thumb stopped over a friend's name.

I was about to tap the call button when I looked at Aina.

What would I tell her?

That she was sick? That I suddenly needed money for a treatment I couldn't afford?

And then there would be questions about her father.

Why did I need the money? Why couldn't the billionaire CEO of Blackridge Holdings pay for his own daughter's treatment? Why was his wife the one struggling to save her?

My thumb hovered over the call button. I stared at the name until my vision blurred, then lowered the phone.

I couldn't expose my marriage to Adrian. Not like this.

I let the phone fall into my lap and searched through my contacts again, trying to think of someone I could ask without having to explain everything.

Every name that came to mind brought another question I wasn't ready to answer. I closed my eyes tightly and drew in a slow breath.

There had to be something I could do.

Then I remembered my former supervisor.

I opened his contact.

He had always valued me as an employee and had kept the door open for me, even telling me to come back whenever I was ready.

I had never thought I'd need to take him up on it, but now I couldn't afford to dismiss the possibility.

An advance from him wouldn't cover Aina's treatment, but returning to the company would at least give me an income again. It wasn't enough, but it was the only option I could see.

I opened the message screen and stared at the blinking cursor.

I typed a few words, stared at them for a moment, then erased them. I tried again, changing the words each time, when the door behind me opened.

“Dad?”

Aina's eyes widened, and a bright smile spread across her face.

I frowned and followed her gaze toward the doorway.

Adrian stood there.

My lips parted, but no words came. My breath caught as I stared at him.

“How did you know we were here?”

His gaze shifted briefly toward the report beside Aina's bed.

“The hospital's name was on the report.”

His attention returned to Aina. His eyes moved from the IV in her hand to the monitor beside her bed before settling on her face.

“Hey.”

Aina sat upright and bounced excitedly on the mattress, stretching both arms toward him with a bright smile.

Adrian stepped closer and sat beside her, allowing her to lean into him.

“You came,” she whispered, pressing a few quick kisses against his cheeks.

He gave a quiet chuckle, but his expression remained restrained.

“I wanted to see you.”

He helped her settle back against the pillows and smoothed the front of her frock where it had bunched beneath her.

“I missed you.”

His hand paused for a second.

“I know.”

Aina lifted her hand, proudly showing him the IV.

“Look, Dad. I didn't cry today.”

His eyes moved briefly to the IV before returning to her face.

“I see that.”

He touched her cheek, almost absentmindedly, his thumb brushing beneath her eye.

The gesture brought back a memory of his hand against my cheek years ago, when I had been nervous at his parents' dinner.

“You were brave.”

Aina smiled.

“Will you come tomorrow?”

Adrian hesitated.

“I'll try.”

It wasn't a promise.

Still, Aina smiled as if it was enough.

“I'll wait for you.”

I watched them quietly.

It had been a long time since I'd seen Adrian show her this kind of affection. He had never been the kind of father who spent hours beside her or showered her with attention. He made sure she had what she needed, checked in when necessary, and came when he could.

But Aina never seemed to ask for more. Whenever she asked why he wasn't around, I always found an excuse for him, and she accepted every one of them. She simply treasured whatever pieces of him she could get.

I stayed where I was, letting them have their moment. After a while, Aina's energy faded, and her eyes grew heavy.

Adrian helped her settle against her pillow before standing.

His phone vibrated. He glanced at the screen, silenced it, and slipped it back into his pocket.

He looked at Aina one last time.

Something in my chest tightened, then slowly eased. For the first time that day, something inside me softened.

Maybe seeing Aina like this had reached him after all.

Then his gaze shifted toward me.

The warmth disappeared from his face.

“Come outside. I need to talk to you.”

I hesitated before nodding.

“I'll be right back,” I told Aina softly.

She smiled at me.

“Okay, Mom.”

I followed him into the corridor, and the door closed quietly behind us.

We stopped a little too close to each other. His familiar cologne reached me, stirring something I did not want to feel.

I looked up at him.

“What is it?”

He was quiet for a moment, his eyes holding mine.

“I'll take care of the treatment.”

For a second, I couldn't process his words. After the way he had responded to me earlier, I never expected him to be the one offering to pay for Aina's treatment.

“All of it?”

He nodded.

“Whatever she needs.”

The hallway noise seemed to fade around us. My shoulders dropped, and I let out a breath I had not realized I was holding.

Then I noticed he was not looking at me at all. He was staring through the glass at Aina's room.

The relief barely had time to settle before my stomach tightened.

“But there's something you need to do first.”

I turned toward him.

“What is it?”

He finally looked at me.

“You'll sign the divorce papers.”

My entire body went still. A cold shiver ran from the back of my head down my spine, and for a second, I forgot how to breathe.

I waited for the words to rearrange themselves into something I had misunderstood.

“What are you saying?”

My vision swam, and the hallway seemed to tilt beneath me.

“Our daughter is lying inside that room,” I said, my throat tightening. “And you're seriously asking me to sign divorce papers now?”

His expression remained unreadable.

“How can you do this?” I blinked through the tears gathering in my eyes. “You come here offering to pay for her treatment, and then ask me to give up our marriage in return?”

“Bella.”

“No.” I shook my head and stepped back. “You know I have nowhere else to turn. I can't let our daughter go without treatment.”

I glanced toward the closed door.

“She needs us, Adrian. She's our daughter. How can you stand there and make me choose between saving her and keeping this marriage?”

“How is that a choice?”

“I'm not doing this because Aina is sick,” he said quietly.

I looked back at him. He drew a slow breath, his gaze shifting toward Aina's room.

“I made this decision before today, but I kept putting it off.”

His eyes remained on the glass.

“And I can't keep doing this anymore.”

The words struck deeper than I expected. I had been trying to close the distance between us while he had already been deciding how to end our marriage.

“If you wanted this divorce, you could've given me the papers before.” My voice shook. “Why wait until I have nowhere else to turn?”

“I should've.”

“Then why didn't you?”

His gaze dropped, and his jaw shifted. He exhaled slowly through his nose before looking away.

“I couldn't.”

My mind went back to the cafeteria. Alina's voice came back to me, quiet but unmistakable.

“Adrian, you can't keep avoiding the decision forever. I can see what this is doing to you.”

I hadn't understood what she meant then. But now, with Adrian refusing to tell me why he wanted this divorce, her words took on a meaning I hadn't considered before.

“You're doing this because of Alina, aren't you?”

“No.” His head snapped back toward me, his brows drawing together as the answer came without hesitation. “How can you bring her into this? She has nothing to do with it.”

“She has everything to do with it.” A sniffle caught in my throat as I wiped away my tears.

“You think I forgot what I saw three years ago when I came to the company? The way you looked at her. The way you…” My voice faltered. “The way you tucked her hair behind her ear?”

I swallowed hard, my jaw tightening.

“You think I didn't hear you both talking in the cafeteria today?”

His expression faltered for a split second.

“I knew what was going on between you two.”

He avoided my eyes.

“If you heard something, you misunderstood it.”

“Then what am I supposed to believe?”

I wiped my face with the sleeve of my shirt and drew a shaky breath.

“Tell me why, Adrian. If it's not her, then why are you doing this?”

“You know I never wanted this marriage. Neither of us did.”

I had spent years trying to bury that truth and focus on the life we had built instead. Hearing him say it aloud reminded me that I had been forced into his life.

He stepped closer and placed his hands lightly on my shoulders. The warmth of his palms seeped through my shirt, but instead of comforting me, it made the distance between us feel even harder to bear.

“I couldn't give you what you deserved.”

My eyes burned, but I refused to look away.

“I can't keep you tied to something I was never ready to give myself to.”

A tear slipped down my cheek. My vision blurred until his face seemed distant, almost unreal.

“You deserve more than what I've given you, Bella.”

A tear slipped down my cheek. I pushed his hands away before another could follow and stumbled back.

“And you think divorce is the answer?” My voice cracked. “You realized this after all this time? After everything we've been through? After Aina?”

“It's time,” he said. “I think we both deserve to be free.”

I had no answer for that.

“I can't keep pretending I can give you the life you deserve when I know I can't.”

My fingers curled against my palms as I tried to find the right words that might change his mind, but I had nothing left to say. 

Adrian looked away, dragging a hand over his face before letting out a slow breath.

“Go home,” he said quietly. “The divorce papers are waiting for you.”