Rebirth of a Runaway Bride

Chapter 7 The Tense Showdown

A wave of excruciating pain pulsed upward from the soles of Stella's feet.

Stella hissed sharply, instinctively reaching down to rub her ankle.

She looked up, slowly shifting her gaze to Jace, only to realize that he was already looking at her. More accurately, he was staring directly at her bleeding feet.

In that very moment, he finally registered the glaring fact that she was severely injured too.

Yet, he apparently had no intention of saying a damn word, tacitly and silently agreeing with Chloe's malicious request.

Stella lowered her eyes. Every beautiful memory they had ever shared played backward in her mind like a corrupted movie reel, shattering quietly into dust right before her eyes.

Back then, if she simply got a blister on her heel from wearing new shoes shopping, he would be heartbroken for hours. He would physically carry her to the VIP clinic to have it professionally cleaned and bandaged before he could relax.

When she complained he was making a massive deal out of nothing, he had lowered his head and kissed her bare foot directly. He had whispered so tenderly, "Baby, when you're hurt, I hurt ten times worse. A woman's feet are her second face. We can't be careless."

Now, her feet were torn and bleeding out onto the hospital tiles, and he was treating her like she was completely invisible.

Driven by her spiraling thoughts, Stella forced out a smile that looked far worse than a tragic grimace.

Without another word of protest, she leaned against the wall and slowly pushed herself up, fully intending to drag herself to the store to buy Chloe's things.

But before she could even take a single agonizing step, a voice—both deeply familiar and jarringly foreign—rang out from behind them.

"Is this how Mr. Simpson treats his fiancée?"

It was Spencer.

Looking sharp and impeccably composed, Spencer strode down the hospital corridor.

He first threw a cold glance at Jace and briefly swept his eyes over Chloe before finally locking his gaze onto Stella.

"Stella, your taste in men has taken a massive nosedive since we dated."

With that, he walked right up to her, crouched down, pulled a brand-new pair of plush slippers from a shopping bag, and placed them gently by her feet.

Just as he reached out to grasp her ankle and help her slip them on, Jace aggressively lunged forward and viciously kicked the slippers Spencer had just placed down straight across the hallway.

"My fiancee doesn't need some irrelevant outsider playing the hero."

Jace violently grabbed Stella's hand, his eyes burning with toxic hostility as he locked horns with Spencer.

Spencer looked at Jace like Jace was the punchline to a pathetic joke. "Oh, so you actually remember she's your fiancée? She's severely injured, and you force her to donate blood for Chloe? What, are you trying to f*****g kill her?"

Those words struck a massive nerve. Enraged, Jace lunged forward and seized Spencer by the collar.

He yelled, "What kind of bullshit are you spewing? Stella is the most important person in my life! Why the hell would I ever want to hurt her?"

"I think you're the only one who knows who you actually care about," Spencer argued.

He wasn't interested in wasting breath on Jace. Shoving Jace off, he stepped right back to Stella, grabbed her left hand, and ordered firmly, "Let's go."

Before Stella could even react, her right hand was snatched back by Jace.

"Spencer, know your damn place! Stella is my fiancée. In a few days, she's going to be my legal wife. Go with you? On what f*****g grounds?"

The two men glared daggers at each other, each gripping one of her wrists tightly.

They jerked her back and forth, treating her exactly like a prize trophy in their d**k-measuring contest.

Just as it looked like the two were about to start throwing actual punches, Stella's body violently swayed, and she suddenly blacked out, collapsing like a rag doll.

"Stella!"

Both Jace and Spencer yelled in unison.

A brutal, agonizing panic gripped Jace's chest. Faster than Spencer, he scooped Stella up into his arms and started sprinting down the hall, frantically muttering, "Baby, wake up. Don't scare me like this."

Panicking, Chloe desperately grabbed the hem of Jace's jacket, crying out in a pathetic, trembling voice, "Jace, my stomach hurts so bad."

Jace's footsteps faltered. But it only lasted for a few seconds before he bolted out of sight with Stella in his arms.

When Stella woke up again, she found herself back in a hospital bed.

Except this time, the very first face she saw when she opened her eyes was Jace's.

Jace was sitting at her bedside, clutching her hand in a death grip. His eyes were totally bloodshot, looking like he hadn't slept a wink all night.

When he saw her open her eyes, a massive wave of relief washed over him, his haggard face lighting up with wild ecstasy. "Stella! It's been a whole day and night. You're finally awake. You almost scared me to death."

The sheer terror etched into his features didn't look fake at all. He genuinely looked like he would have dropped dead if she hadn't made it. He was completely unrecognizable from the cold, ruthless Jace from yesterday.

Before she could even respond, he frantically hit the call button, screaming for the doctors to come check on her.

It wasn't until the head doctor confirmed all her vitals were stable that Jace finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The second the doctor left, he gripped her hand tightly and began begging, tears literally streaming down his face, "Stella, I'm so f*****g sorry. I was a complete bastard. I was so blinded by anger that I completely neglected you. I'm so sorry. Please, just forgive me this one time, okay? I swear to God, I'll stay right by your side these next few days and take perfect care of you. I won't f**k up again."

The brutal abuse from yesterday was still vividly burned into her mind. Lying in the hospital bed, Stella felt utterly numb.

She just felt incredibly tired. "Enough. I want to sleep."

Jace stared at her with agonizing worry. He clearly had a million things he wanted to say, but in the end, he swallowed his words and stayed quiet.