Chapter 16
1492 Words
The heart monitor beside him beeped steadily while the IV continued dripping into his arm.
Declan lay restlessly in the hospital bed, his head moving weakly from side to side. A light sheen of sweat covered his forehead, his brows drawn into a deep frown as faint murmurs escaped his lips.
“...Elysia...”
Asher frowned.
The doctors had told him Declan had developed a high fever from exhaustion. Days of little sleep and constant stress had finally caught up with him.
To make matters worse, he had consumed alcohol on an empty stomach, only worsening his condition.
Asher looked at his friend. It felt like Declan was trapped in some kind of nightmare.
This was the third time since they had brought him to the hospital that he had whispered Elysia's name in his unconscious state.
"Victoria is not another woman."
The words left his lips as the world around him shifted.
Suddenly, he was back at the dining table from a few days ago.
"Don't act like you don't know what this is... You're only my wife on paper."
His own voice. Cold. Unfeeling.
For the first time, he wasn't hearing the words. He was seeing Elysia's face.
Her trembling lips. The way her fingers tightened beneath the table.
The hurt in her eyes.
"Good... because you and I already knew what this was from the start."
He watched himself pick up the fork as though the conversation meant nothing.
The scene blurred. Flames erupted around him.
Suddenly, he was back at the bedroom door on the night of the fire.
Fire swallowed everything.
Elysia stood inside the room. She wasn't screaming. She wasn't trying to escape.
He threw himself toward her.
But it was as though an invisible wall stood between them.
No matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't get through.
"I'm leaving you for good," Elysia whispered, tears shimmering in her eyes.
"No..." Declan shook his head. "Come back."
He reached for her. But the more he reached...
The farther away she became.
“Come back!”
Declan's eyes flew open.
He shot upright in the hospital bed, breathing hard as he looked around wildly.
Asher was on his feet immediately.
“Deke...” he called, hurrying over. “Are you okay?”
Declan didn't answer right away. His chest continued to rise and fall as he tried to steady his breathing.
“Why am I here?” he asked at last, wincing.
He pressed a hand to his temple before looking up at Asher through half-lidded eyes.
“You passed out, man,” Asher said. “What's going on with you? Is it really that bad?”
Declan ignored the question.
“How long was I out?” he asked instead.
“Since last night,” Asher replied.
Declan raised a brow, clearly surprised.
“You stayed here all night?”
Asher nodded.
“Did you want me to leave?”
Declan didn't answer.
He simply leaned back against the hospital bed.
“Did you call anyone?” he asked after a moment.
“Not really.” Asher shrugged. “Mrs. Whitmore called your phone last night. I answered and told her you were here.”
Almost as if on cue, the door opened and Mrs. Whitmore walked in carrying two paper bags of food.
Declan turned toward her.
The moment he saw the bags, his stomach growled embarrassingly.
Only then did he realize he hadn't eaten anything in almost twenty-four hours.
His gaze drifted toward the window, and he blinked against the sunlight pouring into the room.
“Want me to close the curtains?” Asher asked.
“No...” Declan shook his head. “It's fine.”
Mrs. Whitmore quietly began setting the food out on the overbed table.
“Miss Ashford has been discharged,” she said softly.
“What?” Declan frowned. “The doctors said she was okay to leave?”
Mrs. Whitmore nodded.
“Yes, but they—”
She was cut off as the door suddenly swung open.
Victoria walked into the room.
“But nothing,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “I'm fine. I already feel much better.”
She walked straight over to Declan, cupped his face in both hands, and kissed him.
It wasn't a quick peck. It was a slow, lingering kiss.
Declan's hand settled instinctively on her waist.
He kissed her back...
But not with the same intensity Victoria kissed him.
“I missed you,” she whispered when she finally pulled away.
Asher cleared his throat.
Victoria's attention immediately shifted to him.
“Oh... hey.” She smiled sheepishly. “I didn't see you there.”
A knowing smile tugged at the corner of Asher's mouth.
“Yeah, right.”
“What happened, baby?” Victoria asked, turning back to Declan.
She sat beside him on the bed and gently rubbed his arm in that caring way of hers.
“He passed out,” Asher answered.
Declan shot him a look.
Asher simply shrugged.
What?
“You should eat something, Young Master,” Mrs. Whitmore interrupted.
“Thank you. I'll do it,” Victoria said politely.
She took the food container from Mrs. Whitmore before picking up a spoon and turning back to Declan.
“Open your mouth,” she said, holding the spoonful of food out to him.
Asher chuckled from where he stood.
“f**k you,” Declan mouthed at Asher.
He knew that chuckle was pure mockery.
It only made Asher laugh even harder.
Declan sighed and reluctantly opened his mouth to be fed.
The moment he took the first spoonful, the door swung open again.
“You!”
Eleanor's voice thundered through the room.
Every head turned toward the door.
She was pointing directly at Victoria.
“What are you doing here with my son?” she demanded.
Eleanor was usually a calm woman.
But when it came to Victoria...
It was different.
The dislike she had for her seemed to run far deeper than Victoria's relationship with Declan.
“Mom, please,” Declan said with a weary sigh.
Not again.
He had barely gotten a moment of peace, and now it was about to be shattered.
“Mom... you're here.”
Victoria immediately stood up, handed the food container back to Mrs. Whitmore, and hurried over with a smile.
This old hag.
She had almost forgotten the old woman was still alive.
If anything, Eleanor made her life even more difficult than Elysia did.
Why couldn't they all just magically drop dead?
The thought flashed through her mind almost as quickly as it came.
But she swallowed it.
For the sake of the baby.
For the sake of her ambitions.
If she wanted to marry Declan with the Windsor family's full support, she couldn't afford to slip up now.
“Don't call me that!” Eleanor snapped.
Victoria almost rolled her eyes but stopped herself just in time.
As if I'd ever want to call this stupid old hag 'Mom' anyway.
Victoria reached for Eleanor's arm, but Eleanor yanked it away before she could touch her.
Ignoring her completely, she walked over to Declan.
“I want her out. Right now,” she said, placing the knitted straw bag she had brought on the table beside his bed.
“Mom, please. Just stop,” Declan pleaded.
“Elysia is nowhere to be found, yet you allow this woman to hover around you like a fly,” Eleanor scolded, completely ignoring him.
Victoria finally rolled her eyes when no one was looking.
Elysia could be dead for all she cared.
“I'm sure this was all her fault,” Eleanor added.
Victoria gasped dramatically, tears instantly filling her eyes.
If there was one thing she deserved an award for, it was crying on command.
“Darling,” she said softly, “how can you just sit there and watch your mother accuse me like this?”
“You...” Eleanor started, but stopped herself and turned back to Declan instead.
“Enough!”
Declan's voice echoed through the room.
He'd finally had enough.
“If all you're going to do is argue, then please leave.”
His face had hardened.
“Leave?” Eleanor repeated.
She marched straight toward Victoria.
Before anyone could react, she shoved Victoria toward the door.
“Mom!” Declan's eyes widened.
His mother had always been rough with Victoria.
But Victoria was pregnant.
Although Eleanor didn't know that.
“You're hurting me, Mrs. Windsor,” Victoria cried, one hand instinctively clutching her stomach.
Eleanor didn't stop.
“Get out, you homewrecker!”
“Mom, stop! She's pregnant!”
Declan finally yelled and Eleanor froze.
She didn't need to ask who the father was.
If Victoria was pregnant...
There was only one man the child could belong to.
Slowly, she turned to face Declan.
Her body had gone rigid.
Her hands remained suspended in midair.
“What... did you say?”
- Writer
