Chapter 13 Madam, Come Quickly
Sloane's POV
Jared fell silent for a moment, his fingers tightening slightly on the steering wheel.
"I've got things to handle here," he eventually refused.
"Is it Sloane who won't let you come?" Keira's tone carried a hint of grievance. "I know she might have some misunderstanding about me, but you can't just ignore me because of her. Jared, my foot hurts so much..."
Jared hesitated, wanting to say something but holding back.
I could tell he couldn't bear to refuse her. I sneered inwardly.
"Jared, are you listening?"
"I am. We'll talk later."
Jared hung up, and the bit of warmth and flutter that had just risen in my heart was instantly doused by a bucket of ice water.
I suddenly realized that just one tear from Keira, one act of being coy, could easily pull all his attention away.
And me?
Even though I'd just been through a life-or-death situation, to him it probably didn't matter as much as Keira's "my foot hurts."
Between him and her lay a gap I could never cross.
"Jared." The light turned green. I spoke calmly, my voice cold as ice. "Take me to City Hospital."
He glanced at me, his brow furrowing slightly, seeming puzzled.
"As for Grandma," I looked ahead without looking at him, "you figure out how to explain it yourself."
His lips moved, but in the end he said nothing, just silently turned the car around and drove toward the hospital.
The car had barely stopped at the hospital entrance when a figure rushed over like crazy.
Lila yanked the car door open and, not caring that Jared was still there, pulled me out and hugged me tightly.
"Sloane, you scared me to death! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She held me, checking me all over, her eyes instantly reddening.
After confirming I was completely unharmed, her pent-up emotions finally broke down. She hugged me and cried, "Do you know how scared I was when I got your text? What if... what if something had happened to you, what would I do!"
I gently patted her back, comforting her. "I'm fine, aren't I? Stop crying."
Lila cried for a while before stopping with sniffles. She wiped her tears, glared angrily at Jared standing by the car, then pulled me aside and said quietly, "You know what? When you sent that text, Jared was right here with me, holding your photo, asking everyone in the hospital if they'd seen you. He looked completely crazy."
I froze.
Lila sniffled and continued, "When my phone buzzed, he had sharp eyes and immediately spotted the location and message you sent. He grabbed my phone and rushed out, then disappeared. I'm guessing he went straight to the location you sent."
My gaze fell on Jared in the distance.
He was leaning against the car door, head down, lighting a cigarette. The flickering flame illuminated his sharp features, his expression dark and unreadable.
So he didn't know about my situation from a police notification—he'd been involved from the very first moment.
I suddenly couldn't figure him out.
He could lose his temper at me over Keira's matters, but he could also rush into a kidnapper's den without hesitation to save me.
What kind of feelings did he have for me? Was it guilt? Responsibility? Or... a tiny bit of care I didn't dare hope for?
This thought filled me with panic.
Afraid I'd sink in again, afraid I'd be lost forever in that illusory tenderness.
Lila was still talking. "Oh, and you've been through such a terrible shock—should we do a checkup to see if the baby's okay?"
I nodded, and Lila quickly arranged for an ultrasound.
I was a bit nervous after the ultrasound. Lila held my hand. "Don't worry, he's definitely strong."
Even though she said that, I still felt awful.
"He's suffered so much with me before even being born." I felt terribly guilty and couldn't help sniffling. "But at least in a month I'll be taking the baby away from here, and then I'll give him a warm family."
Lila comforted me. "You definitely will."
The ultrasound results came back quickly—the baby was fine.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
Over the next few days, I used the excuse of needing to stay at the hospital with Lila to avoid going back to either the manor or the villa.
I needed time to really think about where Jared and I should go from here.
At night, I stayed in Lila's office, helping her organize a tricky case report.
Outside the window, the night was deep. My phone suddenly rang in the quiet space. When I saw who was calling, my heart tightened with a bad feeling.
"Ma'am," as soon as I answered, Nora's anxious voice came through, "please come back! Mr. Montclair, he... he's had too much to drink."
My heart sank heavily.
Jared had stomach problems and rarely drank, unless he was in an extremely bad mood.
In three years of marriage, every time he got drunk, I was the one by his side, giving him water and medicine, listening to him mumble someone's name incoherently.
"How did he drink so much?"
"I'm not sure either," Nora's voice carried a hint of difficulty. "Sir was already dead drunk when he came back, kept mumbling your name. None of us could talk sense into him. Miss Keira is here too—she wanted to take care of him, but he gets angry whenever she gets close..."
Keira was there too.
My fingers tightened around the phone, my knuckles turning white.
Reason told me I shouldn't go back, shouldn't care about anything concerning him anymore.
But my mind uncontrollably conjured up images of him suffering when drunk, curled up on the sofa with stomach pain, cold sweat on his forehead.
That was the man I'd taken care of for three years.
"Mrs. Montclair? Are you still there?"
"...I understand. I'll be right back."
After hanging up, I still pathetically grabbed my coat.
Seeing me in such a hurry, Lila asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
"Jared's drunk. I'm going back to check on him."
Lila frowned with a "you're hopeless" expression, but in the end just sighed. "Go then. Drive carefully."
I cursed myself ten thousand times in my head.
Sloane, you're such a glutton for punishment.
He has his beloved first love by his side—where's the need for you, the substitute, to worry about him?
Half an hour later, the car stopped in front of the villa.
I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
The living room was dimly lit, with only a floor lamp left on.
The heavy smell of alcohol mixed with cold cedar scent hit me in the face.
On the sofa, two figures were tangled together.
Jared's tall frame was half-reclined, his tie pulled loose, several buttons of his shirt undone, revealing his defined collarbones.
And Keira was draped over him, leaning intimately near his ear, seeming to say something.
Her hand was resting on his chest, her long hair falling down—the scene painfully suggestive.
My footsteps froze right there in the entryway, all the blood in my body seeming to freeze instantly.
I thought I'd prepared myself mentally, but seeing this scene with my own eyes, my heart still felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, the pain making it impossible to breathe.