Fallyn’s POV
When I opened my eyes again, I stared blankly at the hospital ceiling.
The moment Garth noticed I was awake, his reddened eyes brimmed with emotion. He took my hand, his voice thick with pain and distress.
“Honey, you’re finally awake! Are you still in pain?” he asked.
Without waiting for my response, he continued, “I was waiting outside the OR this whole time. You have no idea how scared I was. I was terrified… you wouldn’t make it through. If something had happened to you, then from now on, we…”
Before he could finish, I cut him off.
“Where’s the baby?”
I tried to sound calm, as though I hadn’t heard his ruthless plans, but my fingernails were digging deep into my palms.
Could he really be so cruel… that he would kill our baby alive?
If only he gave the baby back to me, I could forgive him for everything that had happened before.
Silently, I prayed with all my heart. ‘Please… don’t let him disappoint me.’
But in the very next moment, his words ripped my heart apart.
“Honey… I’m sorry. The baby… The baby didn’t make it.”
A tear slid down his cheek as he spoke.
But I felt he was only faking it.
Without noticing the shift in my expression, he went on, “Honey, after what happened this time, I’m truly terrified of losing you. The baby is gone, and if something happened to you too… I couldn’t go on living.”
“How about… we don’t try for another next time? We could adopt instead,” he suggested.
I lowered my gaze to the stitched wound on my abdomen.
My baby… was taken from here—torn from me while still alive!
I asked again, my eyes teary. “Did Dad’s surgery succeed?”
His gaze flickered before he answered with a trace of guilt, “It failed. The chief surgeon said that donor heart wasn’t suitable for your father. If they had gone through with it, he wouldn’t have survived the operation.”
Probably seeing the color drain from my face, he hurried to pull me into his arms, murmuring gently, “Don’t worry. I’ll find another donor heart for him. I promise I won’t let you go through the pain of losing another loved one.”
A sharp ache pierced my chest; he had said the exact same thing when Mom fell from the cliff.
And in the end, not a single one of his promises came true.
My dad had fought to survive for five long years, and he should have finally regained his health.
But Garth ruined everything!
For Heisley’s sake, he had already taken two of my loved ones from me!
And now… he wanted to take the third!
At that thought, hatred burned in my eyes as I looked at him.
But he didn’t seem to notice. He just kept making his assurances.
“Until you recover, I’ll stay by your side, honey.”
He gazed at me with that same gentle look, as if nothing between us had ever changed.
Just then, his phone rang.
Through the small gap between us, I saw the caller ID clearly—it was Heisley.
I saw hesitation flicker across his face.
But the next moment, he bent down and pressed a light kiss to my cheek.
“There’s something at the company I need to handle,” he lied. “I’ll step out for a bit and come right back. You must rest well.”
I nodded in silence, watching him walk away.
When his figure finally disappeared from view, I took out my phone and dialed a number.
“I’ll marry you,” I said evenly, “but on one condition—destroy the Mulligans.”
A soft, amused laugh came from the other end.
“You can name another condition. Destroying that family… is something I’m more than happy to do.”
