Chapter 6

Lucas POV

The next morning, I sat in the dining room, looking at the lavish breakfast spread before me without any appetite.

I irritably tugged at my tie, unable to stop myself from glancing toward the back garden.

A full day and night, and that woman hadn't uttered a single word begging for mercy.

"Sir, she's been in the greenhouse all night. This morning the temperature dropped below freezing. She might..."

The maid approached with coffee, speaking fearfully.

"She won't die!"

I cut her off coldly and stood up.

"A woman like her who'll do anything to achieve her goals. Her life force is tough as nails!"

Despite my words, my feet moved uncontrollably toward the back garden.

The moment the greenhouse door opened, a bone-chilling cold hit me in the face.

I immediately saw Stella collapsed on the muddy ground.

She wore thin pajamas, covered in mud, lifeless as a discarded rag doll.

Most striking was her right hand hanging at her side.

The thick bandage had been completely soaked through with blood, turning a shocking dark red.

"Stella!"

My heart seized violently. An unprecedented panic grabbed hold of me instantly.

I rushed over and gathered her into my arms. Where I touched, everything was scalding hot.

"Stella! Wake up! Stop playing dead!"

My voice trembled. I scooped her up horizontally and ran toward the garage like a madman.

Grace Memorial Hospital, outside the emergency room.

I slumped against the wall, my hands covered in Stella's blood.

The doctor came out, his expression grave.

"Mr. Thornfield, Miss Winters's high fever has triggered severe pulmonary infection. Additionally, her severed hand nerves weren't treated promptly. The wound is seriously inflamed. Worse still, she's chronically depleted from extensive blood loss. Her body is extremely weak. Her life is in danger at any moment."

"What did you say? Severed hand nerves?"

I grabbed the doctor's collar violently.

"How could her hand be severed?!"

"Miss Winters was brought to emergency the night before last with her right hand severely cut by glass. All the nerves and tendons were completely severed. In the future, she... she'll never be able to hold a brush again."

I stood thunderstruck, frozen in place.

The night before last... glass injury...

When the champagne tower collapsed!

I'd only cared about picking up the lightly injured Serena, but I'd shoved Stella hard toward that pile of broken glass!

She's a genius designer! Her hands are her life!

Yet she hadn't made a sound, letting me lock her in that freezing greenhouse to die!

I released the doctor and staggered back two steps. My heart felt like an invisible hand was violently tearing it apart. The pain made it impossible to breathe.

Just then, my phone rang urgently.

It was Serena's attending physician.

"Mr. Thornfield, this is bad! Miss Marlowe's condition has suddenly deteriorated, triggering acute bone marrow failure! We must perform a bone marrow transplant immediately, or she won't make it through tonight!"

My grip on the phone tightened suddenly.

"Are there matches in the bone marrow bank?"

"No! Currently, the only person who's a complete match for Miss Marlowe is... is your wife, Stella."

Silence filled the corridor.

I turned my head and looked at the tightly shut emergency room doors.

Inside lay the wife whose right hand I'd just learned I'd personally destroyed, hovering between life and death.

On the other end of the phone was the "lifesaver" I'd sworn to protect with my entire life.

What should I do?

What on earth should I do?