Chapter 5

The hospital corridor reeked of disinfectant and endless sorrow.

Indigo lay quietly in the hospital bed, kept alive by machines.

The doctor's words buzzed in my ears.

"The patient's vital signs are stable for now, but we can't predict when she'll wake up."

Time had lost all meaning here. Only the steady rhythm of the monitors proved that life was still hanging on.

I wrung out the warm towel and carefully avoided the oxygen tube under Indigo's nose, gently wiping her wrinkled forehead and cheeks.

I moved as softly as possible, afraid of disturbing her peaceful sleep.

"Grandma." I leaned down and whispered at a volume only we could hear. "I'm pregnant."

If Indigo knew this news, she would be so happy.

My tears dripped onto the sheets, spreading into dark stains. I looked up, but the joy I'd imagined didn't happen—Indigo's eyes remained tightly shut.

Those hands that once warmly patted the back of mine now lay cold and weak on the white sheets.

James stood a few steps away from the bed, his posture still straight, his expensive suit completely out of place in this environment filled with sickness.

His face was tense, his deep eyes fixed on Indigo, filled with complicated emotions I couldn't read.

Was it worry, anger, or maybe a hint of guilt that was hard to detect?

And Amelia clung to his side like a weak, boneless vine.

Amelia and James looked more like a couple.

She kept her head down, her shoulders slightly shaking, making soft, continuous sobbing sounds.

Her voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the beeping of the machines and reached everyone's ears.

"James, it's all my fault. I was just so worried about Isabella. I didn't mean to upset Grandma."

Her tears seemed carefully calculated, falling one after another onto James's expensive suit sleeve, and even more so onto his heart that already leaned toward her.

James pressed his lips together tightly, saying nothing.

Even though she hurt Indigo, he still couldn't bring himself to say a harsh word to her?

Watching them, my heart felt like it was soaking in an ice cave, and my whole body went cold.

The ward door opened, and Robert walked in with a medical chart, ready for a routine check.

"Robert, for my grandma's care and recovery, is there anything we need to be especially careful about?" I tensed up automatically. Ever since his misdiagnosis, I'd had some doubts about him.

Robert's hand, which was adjusting the IV drip speed, paused almost imperceptibly. After carefully checking the data on the equipment, he turned to me with his usual calm tone. "Please rest assured, I've created the most detailed and thorough care plan based on Mrs. Indigo Smith's specific condition to make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Nothing goes wrong?" I repeated those words quietly, my eyes locked on his eyes behind his glasses, not missing any flicker.

Robert noticed my change but only thought for a moment before putting on that knowing expression. "If you don't trust me, you can find someone else."

"Sophia." James's cold voice froze me in place, all my thoughts coming to a halt.

Whenever it involved me, he always stood on the opposite side without thinking, as if we were natural enemies.

I forced a smile. Robert knew Indigo's condition best, so I could only hold back. "I was just joking. By the way, can I see the care plan? I want to take care of Grandma myself."

Robert's cheek muscles twitched suddenly, a flash of panic crossing his face, but he still handed me his phone.

"It was a bit rushed, so it's the electronic version."

"That's fine."

While taking his phone, I quickly planted monitoring code.

I couldn't allow anything to go wrong with Indigo.

This was also the first line of defense I was setting up for me and my baby.

Leaving the ward, Amelia put on her one-woman show.

She really seemed to be made of water—her tears seemed endless.

Even after crossing James's line, she could still make him feel endless pity. "Sophia must hate me to death. Grandma loves her so much, you know that. I didn't mean to cling to you. It's just that Isabella really needs a father. If Jasper were still alive, I wouldn't have..."

She cried while tightly clutching and wrinkling James's designer shirt, also stirring up my heart that had just calmed down.

Every word she said seemed to remind me why Indigo had collapsed.

All my reason, all the calm I'd forced down, came crashing down when I heard her fake crying.

Rage erupted like lava, instantly destroying the dam and burning away my restraint.

From our wedding day when she wore the same pink dress as me, her feelings for James were obvious, yet he was lost in it.

And after marriage, every time we met, she acted like the hostess of the house, showing off in front of me.

Even James's friends and business partners—few knew me as his legal wife, but everyone knew Amelia.

I used to think I could wait for him to change his mind, but now I have our child and Indigo. I won't let her mess around anymore.

I rushed over in a few steps, my high heels clicking sharply on the clean floor. In the quiet corridor, it sounded like war drums.

"Enough!" My voice was ice-cold and cutting, with a harshness that even I found strange.

James looked up at the sound and almost reflexively pulled Amelia tighter behind him, using his body to separate me from her.

His deep eyes immediately filled with ice, and he shouted sternly. "Sophia, what do you think you're doing?"

I didn't look at him. My eyes burned like two poisoned daggers, fixed on Amelia's tear-stained, pitiful face.

It was this face, with her fakeness and manipulation, that had made Indigo, who loved me most, collapse here.

New and old grudges surged over me like a flood.

"What do I think I'm doing?" I repeated, my voice trembling with extreme anger.

The next second, I raised my arm with all my strength and, under the shocked gaze of all the medical staff and bodyguards, slapped that face hard.

A sharp, loud slap rang out like thunder in the corridor.

"Sophia!" James's roar seemed ready to blow the roof off.

He suddenly grabbed my wrist before I could lower it, so hard it felt like he wanted to crush my bones!

Sharp pain shot through my wrist, but I stubbornly bit my lip, not crying out or backing down.

"How dare you?" He looked down at me, the hatred growing wildly in his eyes, completely real.