Chapter 3

When I woke up again, I was on the operating table. A heavy, dragging sensation pulled at my lower abdomen, as if a curved blade were constantly churning inside me. Wave after wave of agonizing cramps washed over me, making me curl up and tremble on the table.

Seeing this, the doctor spoke up anxiously, “You’re suffering from a massive hemorrhage due to a miscarriage! We need to operate immediately!”

“Where are your parents? Do you have an emergency contact? Get them here to sign the consent forms right away!”

“If we wait any longer, we won’t be able to save the baby, or you.”

Before I could answer, a nurse hurriedly found my phone. She dialed the number listed as my emergency contact.

It took a long time for the call to be answered; Lucas’s voice sounded deeply weary.

“Hello?”

The nurse spoke urgently, “Are you Ms. Brooks’s family member? She is currently miscarrying and hemorrhaging heavily! She needs immediate surgery; please come to the operating room on the second floor of the Hope Valley Hospital to sign the consent forms!”

There was a moment of silence on the other end, followed by the sound of Maya crying. “Lucas, what about our baby? Will something happen to him...?”

His voice betrayed a moment of panic. “It’ll be fine, Maya. I won’t let anything happen to our baby.”

A moment later, Lucas’s voice came through, cold and sharp. “Sienna, have you made enough of a scene? Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. You want to send me away so you could go after Maya, right? Your tactics are getting more and more vicious.”

The doctor, unable to listen any longer, snatched the phone and shouted into the receiver. “Listen, we really are medical professionals. Please come to the hospital and sign the forms immediately! Otherwise, this patient’s life could be in danger!”

Lucas gave a cold laugh. “Stop the act, Sienna. Don’t think I don’t know; your body hasn’t been able to conceive for a long time.”

With that, the call was disconnected. The doctor stood frozen, holding the phone. Watching this scene, I suddenly felt like laughing, but as I laughed, tears began to stream down my face.

My mind flashed back to that earlier time; the accidental miscarriage and the moment the doctor told me I would never be able to conceive again.

That night, as I stood on the hospital rooftop, it was Lucas who violently hauled me back just as I had stepped one foot over the edge.

He wrapped his arms around me, trembling all over, his voice filled with lingering terror and desperate pleading.

“I was wrong! Sienna, I was wrong! I’ll never act recklessly again! Don’t listen to the doctors! We can have another child later! Please don’t leave me! I’ll die without you!”

After that, Lucas seemed like a changed man; he treated me incredibly well. He showered me with jewelry as if money were no object and always kept me informed of his schedule whenever he went out for meetings; to the point where, for a fleeting moment, I actually wondered: Could we really live like an ordinary couple?

But fate could be so cruelly ironic. I forced myself up and looked at the doctor. I murmured, “Can I sign the consent form myself?”

She cast a pitying glance at me, nodded, and handed the document over. Struggling, I picked up a pen and gritted my teeth as I signed my name.

As the final stroke was completed, I could no longer hold myself up and collapsed onto the hospital bed.

The doctor’s urgent voice rang in my ears. “Prepare for surgery!”

In my final moments of consciousness, I summoned every ounce of strength to pull the ring off my ring finger and toss it aside.