Chapter 4

After what felt like a long journey, the ambulance finally arrived at the hospital. Mary was pale and unconscious. One of the paramedics said, "She has lost a lot of blood. Let's hope we can still do something."

Another said, "We have to. She's so young, she can't die like this."

"I don't know what could have gone through her mind to make her want to end her life. She's so young," one of the doctors remarked.

Meanwhile, in her subconscious, Mary was fighting against a very different reality. She was having the same nightmare again.

Mary found herself trapped in a mansion, alone and with a swollen belly, visibly pregnant. She was crying, pleading to be let out, looking distressed. Next to her was Emma, trying to console her.

"Ma'am, please calm down. The baby shouldn't have to go through this!"

"Emma, I just want to leave. Please, I just want to get away. Why did Maximus lock me up here? I want to leave! He tricked me into coming here. He's planning to steal my baby."

"Ma'am, the master only wants to keep you safe. His wife could harm you. That's why you're here. He doesn't want you to get hurt. Please, try to calm down."

"No, Emma, he wants to take my child and then get rid of me. How could I have been so stupid to fall into his trap?"

Suddenly, as if in a movie, the scene jumped to another moment in her life. Her baby had been born, and Maximus was holding the child tenderly. Mary lay exhausted, crying.

"Please, Maximus, you can't take her away from me. She's my daughter!"

"She's mine too! And the best thing for her is to grow up in a boarding school. You're no longer my wife. What kind of life could you offer her?"

"That's none of your business! You can't take my daughter away from me! You have a son!"

Unmoved, Maximus prepared to take the baby. But Mary, mustering all her strength, smashed a lamp over his head, knocking him unconscious to the floor. She grabbed her baby and ran. The afternoon was cold, and she ran out without shoes, with only a coat in which she wrapped her baby. She took advantage of the chaos and escaped from the mansion.

Again, the scene shifted, and every time it changed, she felt a pain in her chest, like something was trying to tear her soul apart. It felt like a burning sensation in her chest.

This time she found herself under a bridge. She was dirty, cold, holding her baby tightly while trying to breastfeed her. She had spent a long time on the streets, begging for money. She was hungry and weak, and her baby was crying. She was so tired that she gradually fell asleep, hugging her baby to shield her from the cold. The baby stopped crying. Suddenly, Mary woke up and realized her baby was no longer crying. Panic-stricken, she looked at her. The baby's face was pale and her lips had turned blue. Mary shook the baby, trying to wake her up, but she didn't respond. Her daughter had died from hunger and cold. A desperate scream echoed out, but on that cold afternoon, no one came to her aid.

Mary wept bitterly, blaming herself, hitting her face, begging for it all to be a bad dream so she could wake up soon.

"I'm sorry, my sweet daughter! I'm so sorry! I couldn't take care of you. Look at me—I can't even take care of myself! I'm sorry!"

She saw the scene, pleading for it to be a nightmare.

"Please, God, let this be a nightmare! Please!"

As she repeated those words, she again felt something pulling her, burning her chest. Suddenly, she began to see a ray of light.

"Wake up! Please, wake up! You can't die!" the chief doctor was saying.

Finally, Mary's pulse reappeared on the monitor.

"Doctor, the patient has a pulse. She made it!"

"Let's go; we need to keep treating her wounds. We can't declare victory yet."

Dr. Xavier, the chief doctor, noticed a tear trickling from the corner of the girl's eye.

The doctor was intrigued. How could someone so young decide to take her own life? He couldn't believe she had a good enough reason to do something so desperate. Meanwhile, outside the emergency room, Emma and Catherine were waiting.

"Emma, you've worked with our family for so many years. That's why I asked you to stay with Maximus when he got married. I knew you'd take good care of him and Mary. Tell me, what happened?"

"Mrs. Catherine, I'm not sure. Yesterday, Mary left with a folder full of documents. She said she was going to deliver them to Maximus because he seemed to have forgotten them. Later, Matthew brought her back, and she locked herself in her room. Last night, the master came home and sent me away. He stayed alone with her, and I couldn't do anything after that. Today, they had a big argument, both shouting at each other, and she asked him for a divorce."

"What?!" Catherine responded in great surprise. "That ungrateful Maximus must have done something to make Mary react this way."

At that very moment, in the distance, she spotted a tall and imposing figure approaching.

"Maximus, you spoiled brat! Your parents didn't raise you this way. What did you do to Mary?"

"Grandma, I don't think this is the time to argue!" Maximus said irritably.

"You insolent boy! It's my fault for spoiling you. As soon as Mary wakes up, she'll come to live with me. There's no going back."

While Catherine was reprimanding Maximus, the chief doctor and a nurse emerged from the emergency room.

"Are you relatives of Miss Preston?" asked the nurse.

"I'm her husband," Maximus responded solemnly.

"Sir, your wife lost a lot of blood. We had to perform a transfusion. Her blood type is rare, but we managed to save her. She's still in intensive care. One of the cuts she made hit a major vein, and that's what caused all of this. A few more minutes, and she would have died," the chief doctor said, his tone conveying both anger and concern.

Maximus's face turned pale, his expression distraught. She had seemed upset this morning, but he never thought it would go this far. A pang of guilt stabbed his stomach, guilt over what she'd witnessed in his office. He realized he might have pushed her too far. He had never really considered his wife's feelings. She had always told him she loved him and reminded him every day how much she adored him.

"Sir, even if she makes it out of danger, she'll need to be monitored closely. This time she didn't succeed, but that doesn't mean she won't try again," the chief doctor said seriously.

"What do you mean by that?" Maximus asked, annoyed.

"You need to understand what drove her to attempt suicide. You can't ignore this. We were able to save her this time, but people who go through traumatic experiences often try again until they succeed."

Maximus was stunned by what he was hearing. "How could Mary have done this? Was I being too hard on her?"

"You're ungrateful! I'm ashamed to be your grandmother! Tell me, how could you push Mary to this extreme? I already told you, as soon as she gets out of here, she's coming to live with me. And if she wants to leave you, I won't stop her!" Catherine screeched.