Chapter 3

Vienna's POV

When I went downstairs, I accidentally lost my footing and fell.

Blood flowed from beneath me.

The doctor said the baby couldn't be saved.

The doctor seemed reluctant:

"After all, this is a life, and your physical condition..."

"I don't want it to come into this world and suffer."

I interrupted the doctor, my voice as light as smoke.

"Thank you."

I walked out of the consultation room. I just wanted to escape this suffocating place as quickly as possible.

The elevator doors slowly opened. Just as I was about to step in, I froze.

Inside the narrow car, Hayden was carefully supporting Grace. The two were intimately positioned, like conjoined twins.

Seeing me, a flash of panic crossed Hayden's eyes. He instinctively released his arm from around Grace.

"Vienna? What are you doing here?"

He looked at me, his tone urgent:

"Where don't you feel well?"

Grace also came closer, her eyes scanning me:

"Right, if you're sick you should speak up. Don't bear it alone. Hayden was just talking about you, saying you must be exhausted handling the funeral by yourself."

I felt my stomach churn. I sidestepped to avoid their touch:

"Stomach discomfort. Just checking. No need to worry."

With that, I retreated to the elevator corner, staring intently at the jumping floor numbers, not wanting to stay a second longer.

Hayden looked at me, opening his mouth to say something, but the elevator dinged as it reached the lobby.

The catastrophe happened in that instant.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, a man in a hospital gown, looking deranged, suddenly rushed over waving a fruit knife.

"Nobody move! Don't anybody move! I want to see the director!!"

In the chaos, the man grabbed both me and Grace, who were at the front.

The cold blade instantly pressed against my carotid artery. A stinging pain came, and I could even smell the rust on the blade.

Grace was only grabbed by the arm-still some distance from the knife.

"Help! Hayden, save me!!"

Grace let out a scream and struggled desperately. This movement instead provoked the mentally unstable man.

"Shut up! Scream again and I'll kill you both!"

The man roared. The knife in his hand trembled uncontrollably, cutting a bloody line on my neck.

I bit my lip tightly, not making a sound, my whole body rigid, not daring to move.

I knew that struggling now would only make things more dangerous.

But Grace acted like she'd gone mad, crying and shrinking toward Hayden:

"Hayden! I'm scared! Save me!!"

Hayden stood several meters away, his face ashen, his gaze locked on the man.

"Let them go! I'll give you whatever you want!"

"I don't trust you! You're all liars!"

The man became even more agitated, wildly waving the knife, about to lose control.

Grace's screams became even more piercing:

"Hayden! He's going to kill me! Save me now!"

In that moment, Hayden's rationality seemed completely shattered by those screams.

He didn't look at me once. Instead, he charged toward Grace's side.

"Let go!"

Hayden grabbed the man's wrist and forcefully pulled Grace into his arms.

"You're asking for death!"

Enraged, the man lost control of the knife in his other hand and slashed forward viciously.

I only felt a sharp pain in my arm as blood instantly gushed out.

Because of the tremendous force of Hayden snatching Grace away, the unbalanced man gave a hard shove, and I was thrown heavily backward.

A dull thud.

My lower back slammed hard against the solid marble pillar, then I fell to the ground in a mess.

A tearing, sinking pain came from my abdomen. I curled into a ball, cold sweat instantly soaking my back.

"Grace! Grace, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Hayden's panicked voice sounded in my ears.

He held Grace tightly in his arms, nervously checking her up and down, as if the person in his embrace was a fragile treasure.

"Hayden, my stomach hurts so much... I'm so scared..."

Grace huddled in his arms, trembling, her face streaked with tears-completely unharmed yet crying pitifully.

"Don't be afraid. It's over now, it's over."

Hayden scooped her up horizontally, his expression anxious as he rushed toward the emergency room.

"Doctor! Get a doctor over here!!"

From beginning to end, he never looked back.

Never looked at me once.

I lay on the cold floor, clutching my agonizing abdomen, watching Hayden's back as he ran frantically carrying Grace. My vision gradually blurred.

That knife had cut my arm, but it felt like it stabbed into my heart, shredding those remaining, ridiculous traces of love to pieces.

The noisy voices around me gradually faded.

I closed my eyes, a painfully bleak smile forming at the corner of my mouth.

Hayden, this time, you made your own choice.