Ivy was admitted to the hospital as well to rest and protect her pregnancy, placed in the room right next to Clara's.
With her barely noticeable baby bump, she knocked on Clara's door.
"Hello. My pregnancy isn't stable either. My husband was worried, so he had me admitted early."
There was a smug look on her face as she deliberately pushed her belly forward, the gesture reeking of provocation.
As Clara studied Ivy's features, a strange sense of familiarity washed over her, making her pause.
Ivy resembled Clara in her younger years, especially when she smiled. Only Clara had long forgotten how to smile after years spent walking through blood and gunfire.
She had no interest in engaging, merely casting Ivy a brief glance before turning to look out the window.
She did not blame Ivy at all. The only one she blamed was the man who had betrayed their bond.
Ivy slipped, barely managing to steady herself against the cabinet, and shot a pleading look toward Ethan nearby.
Ethan's gaze skimmed over Ivy briefly before he remained seated by the bed, tending to Clara instead.
Ivy clenched her teeth in fury.
She despised the slum apartment. It was rundown and unbearable.
What she really wanted was to live in Ethan's grand mansion.
But the thought that it was the place Clara had long cherished filled her with a twisted sense of satisfaction.
She had stayed by Ethan's side for so long—not for the title of a mistress, but for far more than that.
She wanted to be the mother of Ethan's only child. The real Mrs. Grayson.
"Ma'am, I heard you were hospitalized the moment you got pregnant. Sounds like this baby won't be easy to keep. Sometimes people just need to accept their fate, or else—"
"Shut up!" Ethan snapped in fury, his eyes blazing as he glared at Ivy.
"Who do you think you're cursing? Say one more word and I'll make sure you don't leave this hospital in one piece."
Clara watched Ethan's performance of playing the devoted protector with a blank face, her lips curling into a mocking smile.
Watching him now, who would have guessed they had been tangled together in passion not long ago?
She could no longer stand their act and turned her face away, closing her eyes.
All she wanted now was to love herself and take care of her body.
As for Ethan, they would be strangers from now on.
There was no need for her to care about what happened between him and other women.
But before she left, the two of them would have to pay for their deception.
Late at night, Clara had a nightmare.
She dreamed of the time she was pregnant with her first child, when Ethan, reckless and young, had angered a Harborcliff gang leader and been kidnapped. The man had vowed to kill him.
Everyone under him had been terrified, none daring to step forward to save him.
Only Clara, five months pregnant, had walked into the gang leader's stronghold alone, guns in hand.
She had been shot six times along the way. The child was lost, and as pain dragged her into darkness, she hadn't even thought about saving Ethan, only that dying together as a family might not be so bad.
Gunfire echoed in her ears. Clara gasped for breath, snapping awake as she forced herself upright.
Deep fear flickered in her eyes.
If the Harborcliff leader hadn't been the man who had abandoned her and her mother years ago, she would have long since...
After a long while, her emotions finally settled, a sardonic smile tugging at her lips.
Ethan was truly laughable. Did he really think controlling the underworld of Asterfall meant he could stand against Harborcliff?
Without her holding things in place, how could Harborcliff have remained so quiet all these years?
She took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, closed her eyes, and tried to fall back asleep.
Instead, she heard a man's ragged breathing and a woman's breathless moans coming from the room next door.
She had heard those familiar voices during a voice call not long ago.
Enduring the pain in her lower abdomen, she forced herself up and limped toward the neighboring room.
The door was not fully closed. Inside, the man and woman were tangled together like beasts, their eyes filled with raw desire.
"Honey, you scared me this afternoon. I don't want to talk to you."
Ivy deliberately dodged Ethan's kiss, pressing a hand against his lips in protest.
"If you care so much about that old woman, why did you force me to be with you? If I'd known, I would've rather died than given in."
Ethan panted heavily, urgency flashing in his eyes as desire consumed his gaze, leaving only the woman before him.
"If I didn't care about you, why would I have saved the special medicine for you? I just didn't want you exposing our affair to Clara. She's been with me for so many years. Even if she hasn't done much, she's suffered plenty. If this got out, who knows what my people would say about me?"
Satisfied at last, Ivy leaned in and kissed Ethan.
"You're with her every day. I just get jealous and can't help saying a few extra things."
Ivy straightened up and straddled Ethan's waist, savoring the way his gaze burned with obsession.
"If you treat me like this again, I'll ignore you completely and leave you suffering."
Outside the door, Clara's chest rose and fell with rage.
Agonizing pain tore through her lower body, blood flowing freely, yet she seemed unaware of it.
Perhaps it was better this way. The child was gone.
She collapsed onto the floor, her face drained of all color.
A nurse's startled cry rang out, "Quick, save her!"
Numb and detached, Clara was rushed back into the emergency room by the doctors and nurses.
Behind her, the sounds of bodies colliding and mingled moans grew louder, hammering against Clara's ears.
Though she had long prepared herself for this, witnessing Ethan lost in another woman still made her heart ache.
After more than a decade, she still couldn't bring herself to let it all go.
In the emergency room, Clara finally steadied herself and said softly, "Terminate the pregnancy."
