Chapter 1281 Pain to the Point of Suffocation

Chapter 1281 Pain to the Point of Suffocation

The crash was deafening.

The sound of a car slamming into a utility pole cut through the pouring rain.

A child on an electric scooter had appeared out of nowhere and now stood frozen, staring at the wreckage. Then came the horns, the alarms, the wail of an ambulance, the whoop of a police siren—

The scooter wasn't blocking traffic. After a few impatient honks, the child rode off, and the other vehicles moved through in an orderly stream.

Victoria fumbled her glass of water, sloshing hot liquid over her hand, and felt an unease rise sharp and sudden in her chest. She called out immediately. "Eve, can you try Alexander's phone for me?"

"Of course."

Eve was already reaching for her cell when an incoming call lit up the screen instead.

Eve glanced at the number, then answered. "Hello? Yes. Yes—"

Her voice dropped lower with each word.

Then she looked up at Victoria.

Victoria was already looking back at her. She rose from her chair slowly, as if the air had thickened around her.

"Mrs. Harrington, Mr. Harrington, he—"

Victoria couldn't speak. The moment Eve had picked up that call, something cold had moved through her. How had it come to this?

By the time the Harrington family had gathered in the ICU corridor of the hospital, Eve finally said it aloud. "That woman gave Mr. Harrington a flash drive. The files on it—they were recordings. Of what was done to you."

The words landed.

Victoria sat motionless, tears sliding down her face in silence. She didn't make a sound.

So he had known all along.

That was why he'd been so unsettled. Why he had called her name in his sleep. Why he had whispered sorry in the dark.

"What recordings?"

Arabella was a few feet away. She had only caught the word 'recordings' and assumed someone was being blackmailed again.

Eve wiped her eyes but said nothing more.

Alexander had told her not to tell anyone. Not even Victoria.

But how could she keep it from Victoria?

Victoria had already begun to suspect. And now Alexander was lying in the ICU.

Arabella couldn't imagine what those files contained. She was sick with fear that her son might never wake up. She knew, in the vague way that mothers know things, that it was somehow connected to Victoria — she had heard people mention that her son had been staying at the office until all hours.

Her mind was not quite clear. After resting for some time, she made her way to Alexander's office and found the flash drive.

She needed to understand. She needed to know what had pulled her son so far from himself.

She had to find out why this had happened.

That night, she had to be helped out of the Harrington Group building by Maximus.

"Sweetheart, what do I do?"

"What's wrong? What did you see?"

Maximus looked at her, confused.

Alexander's accident had sent Eloise straight to bed in shock. Brett had not left the hospital. And now Victoria had suddenly appeared here, looking like she might collapse, asking him what to do.

A sharp burst of urgency erupted from the ICU. Victoria heard the voices of medical staff, the frantic pitch of monitors, and she was on her feet before she knew it.

She thought she heard someone say something was failing. She lurched forward—

And the world went black.

"Mrs. Harrington, careful."

Eve caught her arm before she could fall.

Victoria gripped Eve's arm and kept her eyes fixed on the direction of the commotion, staring into a darkness she could not see through.

Then the sounds stopped. She knew a door had closed. She couldn't hear anything anymore.

And still the tears came, without warning, without end.

"Alexander."

She could not imagine it. She would not accept it.

He had worked so hard to find her, to bring her back. All she had wanted was to be beside him. All she had wanted was something simple and quiet together.

There were no more obstacles between them. So why had this happened now?

Tears blurred her vision as she stood there shaking, fury rising through her grief, every inch of her aimed at those closed doors.

She refused to let him go.

"Mrs. Harrington, you have to hold it together — you're pregnant."

Eve could see her beginning to hyperventilate and stepped in quickly.

She was right. There were two babies in there.

And they needed her.

"Alexander." Victoria's voice broke to a murmur, tears streaming freely down her face. "Don't you dare leave me."

Why did there have to be an accident?

Why had he kept watching those files?

Why had those people saved them in the first place?

Shouldn't they have destroyed every piece of evidence of what they'd done to her? Weren't they afraid of what would happen if it came to light?

They—

They had kept it to use against her.

But they had.

They had taken the one thing she had left.

Alexander was her anchor. He had always been her anchor.

They had broken her apart, piece by piece. And now they wanted to take her husband too.

Victoria couldn't breathe through the truth of it. Then a sharp cramp tore through her abdomen.

"Mrs. Harrington."

Eve saw her double over, and her face went pale.

"This isn't okay — get Mrs. Harrington out of here."

Frank took one look at the tears on Victoria's face and knew she was past her limit. "Now."

"No. I'm not going anywhere."

Victoria refused instantly.

Until Alexander was out of danger, she was staying right here.

She wasn't moving.

She would stand watch over him.

He owed her this — he had to get better.

"Mrs. Harrington—"

Eve saw how immovable she was, and had nothing left to offer but her own tears.

"I'm not leaving. I need to see him. He promised me. He promised he'd always be here."

Victoria's voice had gone thin and hollow.

"Can we at least sit down? Mrs. Harrington, you have to take care of yourself first. If Mr. Harrington wakes up and finds out something happened to you — none of us want to face that."

Eve was practically begging now.

Victoria shook her head. She wanted to say something. But the words were gone.

She stood there in silence, trying to swallow the sobs down. But she couldn't hold them.

The pain in her abdomen was deepening, sharpening — a rolling, crushing ache that pushed at the edge of consciousness.

She couldn't pass out.

She had to be awake when he opened his eyes.

She needed to see him. How bad was it, really?

But her vision was wrong. Everything in front of her was black.

Why couldn't she see?

Why was it still dark?

Victoria's grip on herself was slipping. She told herself to hold on, keep holding on, wait for him—

But the pain was unbearable.

"Victoria. You need to rest."

Brett had been watching from nearby. He couldn't stay quiet anymore.

"No. Grandpa, please— I don't want to rest."

Victoria turned toward his voice, something desperate and raw on her face.

"But if something happens to you, how am I supposed to explain it to Alexander when he wakes up? How do I explain it to your grandmother?"

Brett asked her gently.

His own heart was in pieces. But he was the one who had to hold things together right now.

"I'm not going. I'm waiting for him."

Victoria had already lost her sense of direction. She had been tracking the voices around her, turning toward whoever spoke, but she couldn't find Alexander anymore — couldn't orient herself toward him. Panic rising, she grabbed for Eve's arm. "Eve, take me to the door. I want to be right there. Right outside his door."

"Mrs. Harrington—"

"Now."

The word came out sharp, commanding— and then all the fight drained out of her in an instant.

The cramping surged, swift and breathtaking, stealing the air from her lungs.