Chapter Nine

FLORA’S POV

The harsh brightness of the room hit me the moment I opened my eyes, making me wince and squeeze them shut again, waiting for the ringing in my ears to settle. For a brief moment, I felt like I was floating, weightless, but my entire body ached like I had been thrown down a ten-story building. Something warm touched my arm, and then I heard a voice—a voice I knew too well.

“Oh my God, you’re awake. You made it.”

I blinked a few times, staring up at the ceiling, slowly piecing together where I was. My head felt heavy, but I managed to turn it to the side and saw my mom, her bittersweet smile tinged with tears. She rubbed my arm gently, like she was trying to ground me back to reality.

“Mom?” I croaked; my throat dry. “What are you...?” My voice trailed off as memories flooded back. The last thing I remembered...

I glanced down at my body, panic creeping in. Then I looked at my mom, her eyes silently pleading with me to stay calm. She nodded, trying to reassure me.

“You’re okay, baby. Everything’s going to be fine.”

I wasn’t convinced. I placed a trembling hand on my stomach. “My baby...” I whispered. “What about my baby?”

Tears slipped down my mother’s cheeks as she shook her head, her lips trembling. She swallowed hard before she could speak. “I’m so sorry, my child.”

“No... no.” My voice cracked, rising in desperation. “What about my baby?” I asked again, firmer this time, sitting up despite the pain. But deep down, I already knew the answer.

The truth settled like a heavy stone in my chest. I broke down, tears flowing uncontrollably. My mom wasted no time, wrapping her arms around me, pulling me into the safety of her embrace. I sobbed against her, letting the grief pour out of me.

When the tears finally slowed, I pulled back slightly, my mind drifting to the one person who should’ve been here. “What about Jayden?” I asked, my voice still shaky.

Surely, he had heard about the accident. Even if he didn’t care about me, he should care that we lost our baby. But one glance at my mother’s face gave me the answer I needed. The disappointment in her eyes was unmistakable.

“How long?” I demanded, sniffing back the remnants of my tears. I didn’t even know why it still hurt. “How long has he been gone?”

“For the entire two days you’ve been unconscious,” she said gently. “He brought you here, and then Lisette called me to come stay with you. When I got here, Jayden said he needed to leave for business and would be back soon. But I haven’t seen or heard from him since. Although there is a man outside that door, guarding this room."

A single tear escaped and slid down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away, but the sting lingered. Jayden always had something more important than me. I should’ve been numb to it by now, but it still cut deep.

“I never knew you were going through all this, Flo,” my mom said, her voice soft but full of pain. “Jayden went and got his ex-girlfriend pregnant while he was still married to you? Why didn’t you tell me?”

I shook my head, unable to find the words. What could I say? I hadn’t wanted to burden her with my failing marriage. But she took my hands in hers, brushing away my tears with her thumb, the warmth of her touch giving me a small sense of comfort.

“You know I’ll support you no matter what you decide,” she said, her voice steady. “I don’t care about anything but you and Sasha. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t want you going back to the Kensington estate.”

Our eyes met, and I wasn’t surprised. She had never been in favor of my marriage to Jayden from the beginning. She had only accepted it because it was what I had wanted. I thought marrying him would give me the life I dreamed of, but that dream had long turned into a nightmare.

“I asked for a divorce,” I whispered. “I don’t want to go back, Mom. But what about your medical bills? And Sasha’s tuition?”

“We’ll figure it out,” she said firmly. “We have our hands and legs—we can work. I’ll get a job, and we’ll push through it together.”

I wanted to argue, to tell her she needed rest, but she pressed a finger to my lips, shushing me gently. Then she pulled me back into her arms, holding me like she used to when I was little, promising me that somehow, everything would be alright.

                                        ***

I was discharged the next morning with a small bag of medicine and a laundry list of advice I didn’t really want to hear. The guard Jayden had stationed at my door tried to stop us from leaving, standing there like a stubborn roadblock. But after my mom gave him a few well-placed threats (the kind only a fed-up mother can deliver), he reluctantly backed off, though he still trailed us from a safe distance like a shadow that didn’t quite know when to quit.

As we stepped out of the hospital, a familiar car rolled up to the entrance. My stomach tightened as soon as I saw it. Of course, it was Jayden’s. He stepped out, looking as polished as ever in his dark suit, straight from the office. Not surprising—he always managed to look impeccable, even when everything else was crumbling around him.

But the man I had once fallen for, the one whose presence used to send butterflies fluttering through my chest, was long gone. Now, every time I saw him, it wasn’t butterflies I felt—it was a slow-burning anger, thick and festering, like an itch I couldn’t scratch. If I could, I would’ve slapped him for all the hell he had put me through. I still might, I thought grimly.

“Flora, thank God. I came as soon as I heard you were awake,” he said, his tone a mix of relief and something close to guilt. He turned to my mother. “Thank you for looking after her.”

My mother didn’t miss a beat. She looked him dead in the eye, her voice calm but biting. “You don’t need to thank me. She’s my daughter. If I don’t look after her, who will?”

The color drained from Jayden’s face, just for a second. The unspoken meaning of my mom’s words hit him square in the chest. But, being the master of emotional dodging that he was, he quickly plastered on his usual unreadable expression.

“Take me home,” I said flatly.

Jayden stepped closer, reaching out to take my hand, but I recoiled as if his touch would burn. “I wasn’t talking to you, Jayden.”

He frowned, genuinely confused, as though my reaction was somehow unreasonable. “Come on, Flora. You know I had to be at work, and... Melissa was having complications.” He said her name like it explained everything, like I should’ve been grateful for his noble sacrifice.

“Melissa,” I repeated, nodding slowly as my anger built to dangerous levels. My chest tightened, the pain twisting into something sharp and bitter. But I swallowed it down, not giving him the satisfaction. “Well, you can go right back to work and take care of your precious Melissa. I’ve already let you go, Jayden. And the baby is gone, so there’s nothing tying us together anymore.”

His face hardened. “Are you seriously going to blame me for this?” His tone grew defensive, aggressive even. “Flora, you didn’t even tell me you were pregnant! I had to find out after we lost the baby. You think this isn’t hard on me too? You’re the one being impulsive and clumsy.”

Before I could respond, my mom stepped in, her voice like steel. “Don’t you dare speak to my daughter that way.”

Jayden gritted his teeth, clearly frustrated. “What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t lose two babies at the same time.”

I glared at him; my decision now clearer than ever. “Like I said, Jayden, you’ll get the divorce papers soon. Until then, stay the hell away from me.” I pushed past him, heading straight for the street. I wasn’t going to waste another second on him. I needed to flag down a taxi and get out of this mess.

Jayden’s voice rang out behind me, full of his usual arrogance. “I’ll give you three days, Flora—just three days to come to your senses. Your family can’t survive without mine. Don’t do something you’ll regret.”

I didn’t bother turning around. His words meant nothing to me now. I knew full well he didn’t want me back to play the role of loving husband. His ego was bruised, and what he couldn’t stand was the fact that I was the one walking away. That I was the one leaving him, not the other way around. He couldn’t handle it.

A taxi pulled up, and without a second glance at the man still fuming behind me, my mom and I climbed in. Jayden kept ranting on the curb as we drove away, his voice fading into the distance.