Free Web NovelChapter 27: Chapter 27
Aria’s POV
The crowd parted, and I saw him, Nathan.
My husband, my destroyer.
He stood behind Sophia, pushing her wheelchair as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Her pale leg peeked through a slit in her designer dress, a tiny bandage on her ankle. Around them, the doctors moved like bees around their queen.
"Nathan," she murmured, her voice soft, almost bashful. "It’s just a scrape. If I weren’t pregnant, we wouldn’t need all this fuss."
Her cheeks glowed pink, her eyes shy but glimmering. She looked up at him as if the sun rose for her.
And Nathan, the cold, unreadable Nathan I was used to, looked down at her with something dangerously close to warmth.
"Let the best doctors run a full check," he said evenly. "You’re our lead attorney at Hemsworth Group. This is nothing for you."
Our lead attorney.
Once upon a time, that had been me.
The ache that followed was sharp enough to steal my breath.
The man leading the group laughed too loud, elbowing someone. "Alpha Nathan you really do care about Ms. Sophia Darwin!"
Sophia blushed, ducking her head, her voice playful. "Don’t talk nonsense..."
But she didn’t stop looking at him.
My wolf growled low inside me, claws digging into the walls of my ribs. That’s the woman who betrayed us. Who sent us to rot in jail.
Then Nathan spoke, his tone like ice. "Don’t talk nonsense. I care about all my employees."
All his employees.
The lie tasted foul.
I stood at the edge of the hallway, soaked and shivering, clutching my burning child while they glowed together.
My vision tunneled. The crowd blurred, their words muffled by the pounding of my heartbeat in my ears.
The only color I could see was the soft, rosy flush of Sophia’s face.
Their easy closeness, his hand on her shoulder, the way she smiled up at him—made something inside me crack.
I had stopped loving him long ago. But hate, hate still burned like a wildfire through my veins.
How dare he parade around with her while our daughter burned in my arms?
How dare he, the great Alpha of the Ironclaw pack, used his power to trample on ordinary people? Should everyone in the hospital needing treatment suffer because his love interest had an injury?.
Lana whimpered softly, her small body trembling. I looked down—and saw him in her. The same curve of her lips. The same stubborn brow.
I pressed her closer, whispering fiercely, "Don’t look, baby. Don’t you dare look at them."
When I’d stood beside him as the Hemsworth Group’s lead attorney and wife, I’d never seen that warmth in his eyes.
I’d fought for him, bled for his company, and he’d cast me out like a dog.
Now I was exactly that—a stray among wolves in fine suits.
I lowered my head, my damp hair falling into my eyes, hiding the bitter smile that twisted my lips.
My plain clothes, my shaking hands, my daughter burning against my chest, everything about me screamed out of place in his world.
Lana’s fever was getting worse. Her skin burned against my palm, heat radiating like a furnace. If I didn’t get it down soon, I could lose her. The thought alone made my wolf stir anxiously inside me, pacing, whining, restless beneath my skin.
I couldn’t afford to wait another minute.
Pushing aside the hatred still smoldering in my chest for Nathan, I forced myself to focus and hurried out of the hospital.
Nathan’s POV
A few minutes earlier, Sophia lay sprawled across the pristine sheets of the VIP ward, her ankle elevated on a silken pillow. She looked very fragile.
She pointed at the faint scratch on her ankle, her eyes blinking pitifully. "Nathan, it’s not going to get infected, is it? It hurts so much."
I glanced at the mark and then at her scared face. My voice was low and firm as I instructed. "Get the hospital director. Tell him to bring every relevant doctor to check on Sophia."
"Yes, Alpha Nathan!" the nurse stammered before bolting from the room.
Sophia’s lips parted, her expression softening as she reached for my hand. "You’re always so serious," she murmured, a gentle pout forming.
I didn’t take her hand. Instead, I stood beside the bed, my expression impassive, my hands clasped behind my back.
When Marcus, the hospital director, burst in moments later, his nervous scent filled the room. "Alpha Nathan," he said, his voice careful, "I’ve assembled the doctors. We’ll have Ms. Darwin examined immediately."
He gave the wound one glance, his mouth twitching slightly, but one look at me silenced whatever thought crossed his mind. He bowed quickly and rushed to fulfill my command.
As always.
Soon, I wheeled Sophia out of the room and into the corridor as we headed to the venue for her checkup.
We met Marcus and some doctors on their way to us.
Marcus made some remarks and some light conversations were exchanged.
Just then, I spotted a figure who stood to the side.
It was a woman, she looked thin, wore worn out clothes and was clutching something small to her chest.
My pulse stuttered. A strange familiarity tugged at me.
She glanced up and I caught the faintest glimpse of her pale face. Her eyes looked gaunt and defiant.
A sharp pang stabbed at my chest, my brows furrowing.
Could that be Aria?
My wolf rumbled within me.
My lungs tightened painfully. My hand twitched at my side before I caught myself.
No. It couldn’t be.
I lowered my gaze, processing my thought but the next time I looked up, she wasn’t there anymore. She had vanished from sight.
At that moment, something sharp and primal tore through my chest.
Instinct, raw and undeniable.
My heart slammed against my ribs. I left Sophia and rushed off, Ignoring everyone’s startled looks, my strides long and unrelenting.
Was that really her? If it was, why can I not sense her scent? She was still my mate afterall. We haven’t severed our bond yet.
I reached the nurse’s station near the exit, my breath ragged. But she was gone, completely.
A gust of cold air swept in from the open door, tugging at my suit jacket. My wolf growled low in my chest, restless and furious. Where had she gone to?
My fists clenched, my knuckles whitening. I scanned every corner but she was nowhere.
"Aria..." The name slipped out before I could stop it, low and rough, barely more than a whisper.
The nurse’s voices cut through my haze.
"Poor woman. Her kid was burning up with a fever. Too bad she got caught in this mess and had to leave with her baby," one of them murmured.
Her kid?
The words hit me harder than a punch. My head snapped toward them. The two nurses didn’t even notice me, their casual chatter spilling into the empty hallway. freёwebnoѵel.com
For a long moment, I just stood there, frozen. My wolf went utterly still, listening, straining.
Aria had a child?
