It can't be.
1390 Words
CHAPTER 5
KATHY'S POV
I winced as I slowly opened my eyes. For a moment, I felt lost, unable to figure out where I was or why I was here. The last thing I remembered was rushing into the fire to save my daughter. That was all I could recall.
As I sat up, I endured a slight pain in my back and narrowed my eyes, trying to make sense of my surroundings. When my gaze fell on the nameplate, I froze. What on earth was I doing in a hospital?
My heart skipped a beat. Was it Ivy? Did she survive the fire? Did my baby make it through the blaze?
Or was it Leo? He must have had another seizure. That could be why I was here.
The creaking of the door jolted me from my thoughts, and I looked up to see a doctor approaching.
He wore a wide grin as he approached me. “Hello, Miss. Thank God you’re awake.”
I cut him off sharply. “Where is my daughter?” My eyes locked onto his, my mind racing with anxiety. I hoped Ivy was okay. She had always been a fighter, just like me. Strong and healthy, unlike her father, who was frail and soft.
When the doctor didn’t respond immediately, my heart pounded faster, and my hands began to tremble as I pushed down my fears, desperately hoping he would give me good news.
“Where is my daughter, Doc?” I asked again, this time with an icy tone that showed my impatience.
“Oh, your daughter is with your husband,” he replied, and I swallowed hard.
Ivy was with Hunter?
He finally came to the hospital to save us? A small smile curled on my lips at the thought. I knew he would never abandon us like that. Perhaps he hadn’t been home when the fire started.
“Your husband has been waiting for you, Mrs. Liam,” he continued, still smiling. “He looks just fine and—”
I wondered why he called me Mrs. Liam.
“How were you able to reach my husband? Did he come here on his own?”
“Of course not.” He turned to me. “The fire department brought you and your daughter in. We started going through your phone, calling any numbers we could find. We tried the one labeled ‘my husband,’ but it didn’t go through. We also tried ‘Honey,’ but that didn’t work either. The only number that connected was ‘Liam.’ He picked up on the first ring and rushed down here as soon as he realized it was his family.”
As he explained, my shoulders sagged in defeat. It wasn’t Hunter; it was Liam.
Liam—one of my old bullies, one of my childhood friends, one of the Reed boys. The only one I had his number on my phone.I had sworn never to associate with them again after they made my childhood a living hell. Tears welled in my eyes at the thought that Hunter didn’t care enough to save me or our daughter. He never picked up my calls or bothered to call back. The news of the burning house was all over the internet. I bet he had seen it, but I guess I didn’t mean anything to him—nor did our daughter.
I swallowed hard, sniffing back tears that threatened to fall. I didn’t want to give the doctor the impression that I was unhappy or that Liam wasn’t my husband, as he claimed. He seemed thrilled to see Liam, perhaps because he was a demigod and a biker. The youngest of the Reed brothers, he had bullied me back then, but I would choose him over Hawk and the others any day. He was a pain, but also the nicest of them all, always jovial and full of life.
He pokes fun at me whenever he can, but he also comforts me when I feel soft and vulnerable after the boys make me hate myself. I understood why the doctor was thrilled to see Liam. He was different from the others. Talkative and always smiling, he was more handsome than most. Many people mistook him for a girl, especially when he tied his durag, applied lip balm, or painted his nails black.
Being the youngest, he wore a façade. I knew about a few scholars he had stabbed in the back in high school, and I often had to clean up the mess. Whenever their parents stepped in, Liam was nowhere to be found, leaving me as the scapegoat so they could summon Hawk.
If anyone wanted to get to Hawk quickly, they just had to take me. He didn’t like anyone messing with me or his brothers.
“The fire department said no one was injured in the fire,” the doctor began. I raised my brows, curious. “Thankfully, the man who lives next door saved his wife as the fire started. He brought her to this hospital and is in the ward down there with her for a thorough check-up.”
Neighbor next door? I thought. We had no neighbors; that was Hunter’s private bungalow. No tenants lived with or next to us.
A dirty thought clouded my heart, but I refused to entertain the idea that it was Hunter and Olivia.
“Which ward, sir?” I asked nonchalantly.
“Ward eight, just down to your right, Miss,” he replied with a smile.
I nodded and slid down from the bed. The doctor helped me, advising me not to stress myself too much due to the detox treatment he had given me. He assured me that nothing was wrong, just that I had inhaled too much smoke.
I flashed him a small smile as I made my way out, walking barefoot down the hallway. The soft slapping sounds of my feet on the floor echoed in the quiet space, and my heart raced as I approached the last ward. When I saw the tag for Ward Eight, I nodded in acknowledgment.
“The doctor said he’s fine. Nothing happened to him,” I heard Olivia’s voice say.
“Thank God. I couldn’t bear to think about how I would live if something had happened to him.”My heart sank as I recognized the deep, smooth tone of Hunter’s voice.
I moved to the side of the window, peeking inside. Hunter caressed Olivia’s bare belly and planted a soft kiss on it. They exchanged smiles, and I almost lost my balance. It felt like my heart was being squeezed in a vise.
Olivia was pregnant?
Hunter’s child was growing inside her, and he had left me here all this time, making a fool of myself trying to win him back.
My gaze shifted to the little boy sitting on the bed beside Olivia, his big brown eyes looking up at her with curiosity. “Can I see him?” he asked, and both Hunter and Olivia burst out laughing.
I couldn’t hold back any longer. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I watched my son sit with another woman while I was in the same hospital with his sister. None of them seemed to care about us. I stifled a sob, covering my mouth. This wasn’t the time to cry. It was too late for that, Kathy.
“Mama!” The tiny voice of my daughter snapped me from my thoughts. I quickly wiped my tears before turning to her. Once I faced her, I forced a smile and crouched down, playfully tickling her cheeks.
I pulled her closer and kissed her forehead.
My baby… she is all I have left right now. As for my son, I renounce my role as his mother today. He can follow his father and find a new mother.
“Who brought you here?” I whispered in her ear, playfully biting it, making her giggle.
She turned and pointed in the opposite direction. Scooping her into my arms, I stood up. My gaze narrowed where she pointed, and I froze when my eyes met those sharp emerald-green ones that sent a cold chill down my spine.
HAWK???!
No, no. That’s impossible. The doctor said he called Liam. Why the hell is Hawk here?
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