All Chapters of While Marrying Mr. Steele: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

POV: Ethan“What do you mean he collapsed?” I asked, gripping the armrest of my chair tighter than I meant to. “How bad is it?”Amelia stood by the doorway, coat already draped over one arm, her eyes wide, voice low and strained. “The hospital said ICU. They’re stabilizing him.”ICU. My father. The man who ran marathons at fifty, terrorized boardrooms at sixty, and still barked commands like he owned oxygen. The man I hadn't spoken more than a full sentence to since the accident.Now, suddenly, he was on a hospital bed, fragile.I didn’t know how to feel about that.“I’ll drive,” Amelia offered, already turning.“I’ve got it,” I said, wheeling past her. “Just... stay close.”She nodded, but her face was tight, like she knew this wasn’t going to be just another hospital visit.The waiting room was silent when we arrived. Too silent for a man like my formidable father.Veronica sat stiffly in one of the plastic chairs by the corner, pearls at her throat, hands perfectly folded in her la

POV: Amelia"I watched Ethan sleep with one hand curled over his stomach, his other arm flung across my pillow. He didn’t look like a man plotting revenge — he looked like a boy trying to survive grief."The pillow beneath his head had a faint streak of red from the cut he’d gotten two days ago when he threw a glass across the room. That cut was healing. I wasn’t sure the rest of him was.I slid out from under the blanket and pressed my feet to the cool floor. My back ached in that odd, hollow way it had for days now, and I touched my belly without meaning to.Still quiet. Still new.I padded into the bathroom and shut the door. I didn’t flush. I didn’t brush my teeth. I just stared at my face. There was a smudge of mascara under one eye and a healing bite mark on my shoulder. Ethan had clung to me like I was the only thing keeping him from drowning.I lied to him yesterday.Not about the pregnancy. That truth was already out.But I had gone back to the hospital, and I hadn’t told him

POV: AmeliaI found him on the balcony later that night. He had not gone to sleep.His hand gripped the railing like it was the only thing holding him up, and it probably was, that was what broke me.I didn’t say his name right away. Just stood at the threshold, watching his back rise and fall in quiet, measured breaths. Like if he didn’t control them, he’d shatter.“Ethan,” I said finally.He turned. Slowly. Like he didn’t want to face me but couldn’t stand to keep his back to me either.His eyes were tired. Not from lack of sleep—but from carrying too much.“What did your father say?” I asked, my voice gentle, not pushing, but not letting him retreat either.Ethan didn’t answer immediately. His jaw clenched. Then unclenched. He looked past me, like if he stared hard enough into the distance, he could disappear.“He said I’m just… a body now,” he murmured.I stepped closer. The cool air pressed between us, but I didn’t let it win.“A burden,” he continued. “A reminder of everything t

POV: AmeliaTwo hours earlier…The pain came first.A twisting, cramping feeling low in my belly that dragged me out of sleep like a scream. At first, I thought maybe I’d slept in a weird position—maybe the baby was just moving.But then I saw the blood.I stood up on shaky legs, heart hammering, and rushed to the bathroom. It was there, bright red against the white of my underwear, smeared on my inner thighs. I stared at it like I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Like if I blinked hard enough, it would vanish.It didn’t.The world tilted.I remember sitting down. I remember my hands trembling as I tried to wipe it away, like maybe if I cleaned it fast enough, it wouldn’t mean anything. Maybe it wouldn’t mean that.The door creaked open, and I couldn’t even find my voice to call out. Then Ethan’s face appeared, his brows pinched in concern.“Amelia?”When he saw me—curled on the floor, blood staining my shorts—his whole body froze.“Oh my God.”And then he moved fast. Down on the

POV: EthanMorning came too soon.I hadn’t slept. Not really. I’d spent the entire night sitting in the hospital chair beside Amelia’s bed, watching the slow, steady rise and fall of her chest.She looked peaceful, soft features lit by early sunlight. You’d never know the night she’d had. You’d never guess she’d been crying in my arms barely twelve hours ago, clutching her stomach like it was all that tethered her to this world.I reached out, brushed a strand of hair off her forehead.Part of me didn’t want to leave. Hell, most of me didn’t. But the will reading was this morning—and whether I wanted to or not, I needed to know what kind of poison my father had left behind for us in ink and paper.I stood quietly, eased into my clothes, and scribbled a note on the small legal pad by the bed.Didn’t want to wake you. Stay in bed. I’ll be back soon. – EI kissed her cheek gently, and she stirred slightly, but didn’t wake.I left before I could change my mind.---The drive was a blur. T