Gwen was speechless. Was this Darius’s doing? How could he be so cruel to his own daughter?!
“Use my savings! Do something, I beg you. My daughter is in so much pain!”
“Your financial status is marked ‘high-risk.’ Without a guarantee or an upfront payment of $3,000, we cannot perform any medical procedures.”
Laina was left abandoned in a wheelchair in the cold hallway.
Passersby glared at Gwen with looks of disgust—news of the “mistress attacking the legal wife” had apparently gone viral. Not a single nurse dared to approach, fearing the Reeds’ family authority.
Suddenly, firm footsteps echoed. Darius appeared in a neat suit, not a speck of dust marring his clothes. He stopped a few steps in front of Gwen.
Gwen glared at him with eyes blazing with anger. She immediately lunged at Darius and swung her fist, striking the man’s chest repeatedly.
“You bastard! Laina is your own biological daughter! You used to love her the most! How could you be so heartless as to block her access to medical care?!”
Darius immediately grabbed Gwen’s wrist, unaware that her wrist was actually injured.
Gwen winced at the sharp pain in the same spot, caused once again by that man.
However, Darius paid no attention to it. He said in a low, cold voice. “Gwen, you’re the one who forced me to do this. I’ll take Laina to get the best care and doctors. But you have to meet these two conditions.”
Gwen’s eyes scanned the lines of text on the paper. Her heart felt as if it were being squeezed tightly.
“You... you abandoned your own flesh and blood?” Gwen’s voice was barely audible, caught in her throat.
“It’s for your own good.”
“Or to protect that crazy woman?” Gwen sneered coldly, her voice filled with rage.
“Choose, Gwen,” Darius hissed cruelly. “Sign now, and she’ll be in the operating room in five minutes. Or, keep clinging to your pride, and let that child be disabled for life.”
Gwen turned around. Laina was staring at her with eyes brimming with pain.
“It hurts, Mommy…” the child murmured, her face turning pale and bluish.
Gwen’s heart died right then and there. She grabbed the pen, signed the document, and quickly handed it to Darius.
“It’s done,” Gwen said. Her voice sounded hollow and empty. “Now, save my daughter. And never again mention my name or hers with that filthy mouth of yours.”
Darius frowned at Gwen’s final words. He seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he merely shook his head. He gave a hand signal.
Instantly, the medical team he had prepared appeared and immediately carried Laina into the operating room.
Gwen immediately fell to her knees on the cold corridor floor, watching Laina’s bed being carried away, into the operating room.
Darius was still standing nearby. He bent down slightly and extended his hand to Gwen.
“Don’t kneel on the floor. It’s cold.”
The voice that just moments ago had so coldly ordered her to remove her daughter’s name from the Reeds family name now spoke softly, as if he were still the Darius Gwen once knew.
Gwen didn’t take his hand. She just stared blankly at the operating room door.
Darius looked at his hand hanging in the air, receiving no response from his wife. He withdrew his hand and said stiffly, “Gwen, regarding what happened in the garden… You have to forgive Clara. Ever since she saw me enter your room, her condition has worsened. She thought I was having an affair and that Laina was my child….”
“Laina really is your daughter!” Gwen gritted her teeth, glaring at Darius. “Don’t you dare make her look like an illegitimate child. I can tolerate anything you do for the sake of your ‘best friend’s wife,’ but if it causes Laina to suffer, I truly won’t forgive you.”
“Gwen, come on… we’ve already agreed on this. Clara is sick; we have to be understanding toward her….”
“If she’s sick, take her to the doctor! If her mind is sick, lock her up in a mental hospital!”
“Gwen!” Darius’s face went pale instantly. He pointed at Gwen, “You used to always help Clara. Why have you become so cold and cruel? If you say anything like that about Clara again, I’ll make you apologize to her!”
Gwen opened her mouth to retort, but a nurse suddenly approached them.
“Sir and Ma’am, please don’t make a commotion in front of the operating room so as not to disturb the doctors and nurses on duty.”
Gwen held the words back on the tip of her tongue. She took a deep breath to calm herself.
Darius clicked his tongue. The phone in his pants pocket vibrated. It was a very familiar ringtone—a special ringtone Darius had set for Clara ever since he brought her into their home.
Gwen didn’t turn her head even slightly when Darius said to her, “Call me after Laina’s surgery is over. I’ll come visit later.”
“Go ahead,” Gwen replied coldly.
After all, Laina didn’t need a father who had struck his name from the Reed family tree.
Without looking at Gwen a second time, Darius turned and left the operating room waiting area.
After Darius left, Gwen immediately covered her face with both hands, letting her tears fall silently.
A few hours later, Laina’s surgery was finally over, and she was moved to a hospital room. Gwen couldn’t close her eyes; she stayed by her daughter’s side all night until the next day.
When Laina woke up, her tiny face looked very pale as she whimpered in pain. However, the first thing she asked about was her father.
“Mommy… where’s Daddy?”
Gwen forced a smile in front of her daughter. She pulled the blanket up to keep her little body warm.
“Daddy’s at work, sweetie.”
“I want to see Daddy,” she whined.
“Mommy will call Daddy and ask him to come here.”
Gwen kept up her smile in front of her daughter, who was looking at her with hopeful eyes. She gently kissed Laina’s forehead and then took her phone out of her bag.
She sent a text message to Darius, asking him to come to the hospital because Laina kept asking for him.
She waited for half an hour, but there was still no reply from Darius.
Meanwhile, her daughter kept whimpering and crying, looking for her father.
Gwen tried calling Darius several times, but he didn’t pick up at all.
Suddenly, a notification from Clara’s social media popped up on Gwen’s phone.
Gwen paused for a moment before finally opening the app. Her own feed was still flooded with hateful comments due to her viral video, but Gwen ignored all of that and immediately switched to Clara’s profile.
Clara’s latest post appeared at the top of her feed.
[Getting ready for our little prince! Thank you, my husband, for setting up a room for our baby.]
In the short video, Clara posed gracefully with her growing baby bump in the middle of the children’s room.
In the background of the video, Darius was seen instructing the workers to remove all the items from the room, replacing them with new, boy-themed furniture.
Gwen’s body tensed. Her hands clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white, and her eyes reddened as she held back a storm of emotions.
That was Laina’s room. The room that used to be dominated by pink and had a fairy-tale theme had now been transformed into a masculine blue with a luxurious nautical theme.
