He Let Our Baby Die for His Chosen Sister

"The mother is hemorrhaging. We need a family member to sign. Save the mother or save the baby?" The doctor's voice was urgent as he kept glancing toward the delivery room doors, but no one came. Stella Quinn lay on the delivery bed drenched in cold sweat, every contraction like a blade carving through her flesh. "Save me. Let the baby go." She forced the words out, her eyes empty and lifeless. The doctor froze. In all his years of practice, he had never seen a mother willingly give up her child. But Stella's gaze never wavered. If this had happened before, even if giving birth cost her life, she would have chosen the baby without hesitation. Back then, her whole world had revolved around her husband Adrian Grant and the little family they had built together. There had never been room in it for herself. Only now did she finally understand that the person she should have treasured most had always been herself. As her consciousness began to fade, memories flooded her mind like a rising tide. She and Adrian had grown up together at St. Mary's Orphanage, relying on no one but each other. When they were children, he always stood in front of her to stop the older kids from bullying her, and if there was only one piece of meat on his tray, it always ended up in her bowl. As they got older, he secretly took construction jobs just to buy her a new dress, working until his palms blistered raw without ever complaining. When they became adults, they fell in love naturally and got married. There had been no grand wedding and no expensive ring, but their hearts had belonged wholly to each other. They lived in a cramped rental apartment barely large enough for the two of them, sharing one narrow bed and one tiny closet. They commuted to work together every day, curled up on the couch to watch movies at night, and haggled over pennies at the market on weekends. Their life had been poor, but it had been full of hope. Adrian used to hold her in his arms, rest his chin on top of her head, and whisper softly, "Stella, once we save enough money, I'll buy us a place with a balcony so you can wake up in the sunshine every morning." She believed him. And she waited for years. Then the Grant family, the wealthiest family in Kingsport, appeared at their door and announced that Adrian was their long-lost biological son. That sudden fortune swept into their lives like a storm and shattered the quiet happiness they had built. Adrian brought her with him into the Grant estate. The mansion was so vast it made her uneasy, a hundred times grander than the little balcony apartment they had once dreamed of. Yet on their first night there, Adrian held her tightly and promised in a steady voice, "Stella, I came back for one reason only: to give you the best life possible. Don't be afraid. I'll never let anyone make you suffer." Back then, his eyes still held the warmth and love she knew so well. Listening to the steady beat of his heart, Stella slowly let herself believe him. But little by little, everything changed. Adrian grew closer and closer to Nina Grant, the Grant family's adopted daughter. He took her shopping, accompanied her to exhibitions, and searched all over the city for gifts just to make her smile. When Nina got sick, he stayed by her bedside all night caring for her. No matter what happened, he instinctively shielded Nina behind him. He even spent entire nights in her room without the slightest concern for rumors. Whenever Stella voiced even the slightest complaint, Nina's eyes would redden instantly, and Adrian would immediately accuse Stella of being petty and unreasonable. Whenever she tried to talk to him, all she ever got in return was his impatience. "My parents raised her for years. She's my sister. What's wrong with me looking after her a little more? Look at yourself. You're narrow-minded, overly sensitive, and still can't shake that small-town pettiness." That was when her heart first began to grow cold. She had thought about leaving, but then she discovered she was pregnant. For the baby, she stayed. She told herself that decades of love could not have been fake, that Adrian was only temporarily lost, and that if she waited a little longer, sooner or later he would remember who he used to be. He would remember her. Instead, what she got was this. On the day she went into labor, writhing through a life-threatening delivery, the nurse called Adrian. His impatient voice came through the phone without a trace of concern. "I'm busy. Nina's cat is giving birth today too, and I can't leave. Handle it yourselves." Nina's cat mattered more to him than her life. More than the life of their child. As the anesthesia flowed into her veins, Stella closed her eyes and let the tears slip silently down her face. The Adrian who had protected her at St. Mary's Orphanage, who had made her promises in that tiny apartment, and who had sworn to love her forever had likely died the day he returned to the Grant family. Now he was the high and mighty heir of the Grant family, and she was nothing more than an embarrassing chapter of his past. The baby was gone, and so was her heart. Adrian and the Grant family had nothing to do with her anymore.