Aurora Stout stood there with the fresh pregnancy report in her hand, gently rubbing her lower belly, her face glowing with happiness. "Baby, Daddy will be here to pick us up in a few minutes. Let’s head downstairs and wait for him first."
Today was her first wedding anniversary with Damian Whitfield. And who would’ve thought—life had dropped a huge surprise on her.
She was six weeks pregnant.
As Aurora walked, she pulled out her phone and called her husband, Damian Whitfield.
Beep... beep... beep...
After what felt like forever, the call finally connected. "Hello? Damian, I’m done with the checkup. When are you coming to get me?"
"Go back by yourself. I’m busy."
His voice came through the phone, low and cool. Maybe she was overthinking it, but there seemed to be a trace of impatience in it.
"Damian, I have good news to tell you..."
"Aurora!"
Aurora, who had been turning to walk back, suddenly heard Damian shout her name. The sharpness in his voice scared her so much she stopped dead in her tracks. "Damian? What happened?"
No answer came from the other end.
All she heard was the disconnected call tone.
Aurora’s face instantly went pale with worry. She hurriedly called back, only to hear the cold automated message by her ear. "Sorry, the number you have dialed is powered off."
Her heart jumped straight into her throat. Her mind was completely on Damian, so she didn’t notice someone charging toward her from up ahead.
Bang!
Aurora was slammed hard to the ground. A fierce, tearing pain shot up from her lower abdomen.
Her face turned ghostly white. Trembling in despair, she clutched her belly with one hand and grabbed tightly onto the man who had knocked her over with the other. Her whole face twisted in pain as she forced the words out, "Take me to the hospital..."
...
By the time Aurora was lifted down from the ambulance, she was already half-conscious from the pain.
In her daze, she thought she heard Damian’s voice.
She struggled to open her eyes and looked toward the sound.
Through her blurred vision, she really did see Damian—his face tight with anxiety.
The strength she’d been forcing herself to hold onto shattered in an instant. Tears rolled down in big drops as she weakly called out, "Damian..."
But the man she called didn’t run toward her.
Instead, he rushed to open the passenger door and carefully carried a woman out from inside.
Aurora recognized her at once.
It was Stella Pembroke, the friend of his who had just returned from abroad.
As the ambulance passed by Damian, his usually cold and handsome face was now full of panic and helplessness. Over and over, he kept calling, "Xixi."
So "Xixi"... wasn’t Aurora.
It was "Xixi"—Stella.
In that instant, Aurora felt like she’d fallen into an ice pit. Her heart hurt so badly it felt carved apart. She shut her eyes in agony, the last bit of strength drained from her body, and blacked out.
...
When she woke again, Aurora found herself in a hospital room.
A hospital?
"My baby!"
Her pupils trembled. Panic exploded across her face as she immediately reached for her stomach.
"Don’t worry. The baby is fine."
The man sitting guard by her bed looked at her pale lips and frightened expression. He reached out to soothe her, gently rubbing the top of her head before sliding his hand under the blanket to hold hers.
Cold.
No warmth at all.
Damian’s brows shifted slightly. "Why are your hands so cold?"
Before he could do anything else, Aurora had already yanked her hand back. The scene before she fainted flashed through her mind again, and her nose stung with sour grief.