Chapter 278 Please, Don’t Leave

Chapter 278 Please, Don’t Leave

Victoria quickly crouched down to help Aria up.

But when she touched Aria's palm, it was shockingly cold.

"Mom, Mom!" Victoria saw Aria's eyelids opening and closing. She hurriedly checked Aria's breathing, it was already very weak.

Aaron and Brian both stepped forward. Aaron was a step ahead of Brian, scooping Aria up from the ground and striding quickly toward the car.

Brian took the driver's seat.

Aria lay on the reclined back seat.

Aaron was about to get out when Aria's gaze landed on him. "Aaron, I have a few things I want to say to you."

"Mr. Hill, why don't you ride with us?" Victoria asked, not wanting Aria's wish to go unfulfilled.

Aaron nodded, got in the car, and closed the door.

Brian started the engine and drove quickly along the mountain road.

"Brian, please drive faster and get my mom to the nearest hospital." Victoria pressed her lips together, pleading.

Brian responded, "Okay."

Inside the car.

Victoria kept holding Aria's hand, but Aria's palm grew colder and colder.

Aria's face was deathly pale, her lips drained of all color.

Aria's gaze kept shifting between Victoria and Aaron.

"Aaron, what do you think of our Victoria?" Aria suddenly smiled at Aaron sitting across from her.

Aaron hadn't expected this question. He glanced at Victoria, whose hand Aria was holding.

At this moment, Victoria wore a black coat of fine quality.

A white paper flower was pinned to her chest.

Compared to when he'd last seen her, Victoria had grown much thinner, though her belly was slightly rounded now.

She was showing.

Aaron’s gaze lingered on Victoria, layered with sympathy and something deeper—an unspoken tenderness flickering within.

But remembering she was already someone else's wife, he couldn't have such thoughts.

The emotion in his eyes quickly passed, and his gaze returned to calm. "Mrs. Gonzalez, Ms. Gonzalez is a good person."

At his words, Victoria’s face flushed for reasons she couldn’t quite explain.

Had she actually guessed right—did Aaron have feelings for her?

Aaron continued, "We're very good friends."

Victoria breathed a sigh of relief.

Aria smiled and asked Aaron again, "So what if I entrust our Victoria to you? What do you think?"

Aaron froze.

Before he could speak.

Victoria interrupted Aria. "Mom, you're talking nonsense again. Mr. Hill and I are just friends. How can you make such a request?"

"Victoria, I'm talking to him. Don't interrupt." Aria frowned. She thought Aaron was reliable. She wanted to entrust Victoria to someone reliable—only then could she feel at ease.

Aria looked at Aaron again. "Aaron, what do you think?"

As he drove, Brian rubbed his nose, quietly assuming Aria was just confused.

Victoria was already married—why was she playing matchmaker?

"Mrs. Gonzalez, our Mr. Collins will treat Mrs. Collins well too. Mrs. Collins is married now. You can't talk nonsense." Brian spoke up for Martin.

Aria found him annoying, her expression darkening.

She began breathing heavily.

Aaron saw Aria staring at him intently, as if waiting for an answer.

"Mrs. Gonzalez, Ms. Gonzalez is my friend. If she runs into trouble, I won't just stand by. As long as she doesn't treat me like an outsider." Aaron finally took a position.

At those words, Aria relaxed slightly, a faint, long-forgotten smile appearing. “Friends are good… the more, the better."

The car arrived at the township hospital.

Aaron moved to carry Aria out.

Brian’s irritation flared—he saw him as a scheming rival to Martin, with nothing but bad intentions.

"No need to trouble Mr. Hill." Brian pushed him aside and carried Aria out himself.

As the doctor examined Aria, his face grew more serious. "You need to get the patient to a city hospital right away. Our facilities here are limited—we can't save her. Transfer her immediately. If you wait too long, the patient won't make it."

The doctor's words struck like a thunderbolt.

But the hospital in Emerald City was at least half an hour away by car, even driving fast.

Could Aria hold on for half an hour?

Aria was lifted back into the car.

Brian drove at breakneck speed, racing to get Aria to the hospital for emergency treatment as quickly as possible.

noticing her face slowly lose color, her hand in Victoria’s growing cold.

Victoria's heart ached terribly.

Her mind drifted to the past—when Aria lived in luxury, a woman everyone envied.

But now, she wasn’t sure when it had begun—fine lines had formed at the corners of Aria's eyes.

White hairs were mixed in with her black hair.

If it weren’t for her—her love for Martin, her defiance of Aria, her insistence that Hayden step in—Aria wouldn’t have withered so quickly.

Hayden wouldn't have fallen from the balcony!

The Gonzalez family wouldn't have fallen apart overnight!

Only now did Victoria realize how terribly wrong she'd been. She'd been too willful!

Her willfulness had dragged the entire Gonzalez family down, her parents most of all!

A mix of heartache, helplessness, and panic stirred quietly in her chest.

"Mom… hang on, please. Don’t do this!" Victoria gripped Aria's hand, tears streaming down her face as she cried and begged. "Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me!"

Aria lay there, watching Victoria cry like this, and tears silently slid from the corners of her own eyes.

"I was wrong, I truly was. Scold me, hit me, I won't blame you. Just don’t leave. Mom, Dad's gone, you're the only family I have left!"

“If you leave… what will I do? If both of you are gone… I’ll have no one left."

“Mom… don’t do this to me. There has to be another way, okay?” I don't want to be an orphan. I want a family. I want my parents by my side. You said it yourself, without money, it's okay. As long as we’re together as a family… there’s still hope. I can support you. You're not a burden. You and Dad were never my burden! You're what I care about most!"

Aria's gaze became unfocused. She wanted to speak, but she couldn't get the words out. She felt her energy draining away.

"Mrs. Gonzalez, we'll be there very soon. You must hold on." Aaron pressed his lips together.

Aria glanced at Aaron, then at Victoria, who was crying uncontrollably.

She couldn't speak anymore. Even opening her mouth was difficult. With great effort, she tried to lift her hand, longing to wipe away Victoria’s tears and beg her to stop crying.

But she didn't even have the strength to raise her hand.

Victoria quickly grabbed her hand and pressed Aria's cold hand against her own tear-streaked cheek.

Aria slowly tried to brush away her tears.

"Mom, promise me you won't go. Stay… just a little longer. Dad just died yesterday. You can't go today, either!" Victoria sobbed, tears streaming down her face endlessly.