Chapter 7

The emergency room light stayed on all night.

Damien sat in a hallway chair, completely still.

His white shirt was still stained with Sophia's blood, now dried to a dark brown.

Marcus stood nearby, not daring to breathe too loudly or say a word.

Near dawn, the doctor emerged.

Damien shot to his feet.

"How is she?"

The doctor removed his mask. His expression was complicated.

"We saved her, but the baby didn't make it. Her body was in terrible condition. Severe anemia combined with malnutrition. It's a miracle she lasted this long."

Damien stood frozen.

"And..."

The doctor added another statement.

"She appears to have had a previous cesarean section. The incision placement was wrong. It looks like she went through it without anesthesia. There's permanent damage to her rectus abdominis muscles. They'll never fully recover."

Damien's mind went blank with a buzzing sound.

"Without anesthesia?"

Marcus spoke quietly from the side.

"Damien, Mr. Cross mentioned before that when Sophia was giving birth, you were at an art exhibition with Miss Bennett."

"We called you over twenty times. You didn't answer once."

Damien completely froze.

He opened his mouth but couldn't speak.

The day Sophia gave birth.

He was with Claire.

She was in the delivery room, shaking from pain, nearly dying on the operating table.

And he was at an art exhibition, explaining painting schools to another woman.

He remembered now.

He remembered coming back to the hospital that day. Sophia was alone in the hospital bed. Not a single family member by her side.

When she saw him enter, she smiled.

"The baby is healthy."

That was all she said.

Damien had nodded, glanced at the baby, and then left.

He didn't even ask if she was in pain.

Didn't ask why her lips were completely bitten raw.

He asked nothing.

Because at that time, his mind was full of whether Claire was happy that day.

Damien's body swayed.

He leaned against the wall and slowly sank down.

He buried his face in his palms.

"Sophia..."

His voice leaked through his fingers, trembling with suppression.

Marcus looked at his boss, not daring to say a word.

He'd never seen Damien like this.

The man who commanded fear throughout Riverside's underworld, who made swift and decisive judgments. Now he was curled up in a hospital hallway corner like a trapped beast with its spine ripped out.