Chapter 44 Unexpected Emergency

Chapter 44 Unexpected Emergency

Sophie stiffened and turned to stare at Emma. "Emma, you never told me that your 'rich boyfriend' was Mr. Carter."

Emma's expression flickered, a flash of coldness and panic crossing her eyes.

What she feared most was Sophie losing control at this critical moment.

Sebastian was right there in the lounge. If he overheard anything, everything she had carefully constructed would crumble in an instant.

"Sophie, listen to me. This is complicated. I'll explain later." Emma grabbed Sophie's wrist with surprising force, practically dragging her toward the elevator. "Not here. Come back with me."

"Let go!" Sophie wrenched her arm free, her eyes frighteningly cold. "Explain? Explain how you've been enjoying the resources Sebastian gave you while watching me play the fool by his side, being tested and manipulated by you?"

Seeing this, Aiden frowned deeply and moved to intervene.

But Emma was faster. She took a deep breath and suddenly adopted an extremely wounded expression, lowering her voice to hiss in Sophie's ear, "Sophie, wake up! You're just a fired, unemployed woman now, pregnant with a baby whose father is unknown, and I'm Sebastian's acknowledged girlfriend. If you make a scene, besides letting everyone know about your shameful secrets, what will you gain?"

She leaned in close, her voice dripping with icy malice, "I kept it from you to protect our friendship. With Sebastian's status, if he knew you had feelings for him, do you think you could still stay here peacefully?"

"Protect our friendship?" Sophie found it utterly absurd. "Your so-called protection means telling me to abort the baby, then watching me leave the Carter Group with nothing?"

"That's because this baby shouldn't exist!" Emma's voice rose sharply before she caught herself, her eyes full of self-righteous pretense. "Sophie, I'm begging you, don't ruin my happiness. Sebastian's in a bad mood right now, and he needs me. You've already taken the severance pay. Just disappear from our lives. It's better for everyone."

Just then, a heavy thud came from inside the lounge.

Emma's face went white. No longer concerned with Sophie, she turned to Aiden urgently, "Aiden, Sebastian might be awake. Quick, let me in!"

Aiden nodded hastily, pushed open the lounge door, and ushered Emma in like she owned the place.

In the second before the door closed, Sophie caught Emma's backward glance.

There wasn't a trace of guilt in that look—only the contempt and warning of a victor.

The hallway fell silent. She didn't even know how she made it out of Nightfall Club.

The cold early morning wind hit her face, blowing away the smell of smoke and alcohol, but it couldn't dispel the bone-deep chill in her heart.

She walked along the empty street, the streetlights stretching her shadow long and distorted.

A lie.

All of it a lie.

Sebastian had a girlfriend. That night was just a drunken accident, and he'd even thought the person that night was Emma.

What was she? A mistaken substitute? A disposable tool?

A sharp, twisting pain suddenly tore through her abdomen, like a dull knife churning inside.

Sophie gasped and instinctively grabbed a nearby lamppost. Cold sweat instantly soaked through her back.

"Baby..." she murmured, trying to soothe it.

But the pain only intensified. With trembling hands, she reached toward her inner thigh and felt something sticky and warm.

Under the dim streetlight, that dark red color stung her eyes.

"Blood..."

Sophie's pupils contracted sharply, and enormous fear crashed over her.

She thought of the pills Emma had given her, thought of the violent emotional turmoil of this night.

No, she couldn't lose this baby.

This was her only anchor left in this world.

"Help... someone help me..." She slid helplessly to the ground. Her phone was in her bag, but she hurt too much to even reach for the zipper.

Her vision began to blur, her consciousness fading.

Just then, a black car screeched to a stop at the curb.

"Sophie?!"

A male voice, shocked and urgent, rang out.

Stanley, who had just left the club, rushed over and immediately saw Sophie lying in a pool of blood.

"Stanley..." Sophie gripped his sleeve tightly, her voice barely audible. "Save the baby... please..."

Stanley looked at her ashen face and the blood beneath her, his heart nearly stopping.

Without hesitation, he scooped her up and rushed to the car.

"Don't be afraid, Sophie. I'm here." His voice was taut with tension as he started the engine while calling the hospital. "I won't let anything happen to you or your baby. Hold on!"

The black car shot into the night like an arrow, leaving behind only cold moonlight on the pavement.

At that moment, in the top-floor lounge of Nightfall Club, Sebastian woke from his hangover. He pushed away Emma, who was trying to get close, his eyes cold and irritable, instinctively calling out that name.

"Sophie..."

The only response was Emma's hand frozen in mid-air, and the deep darkness outside the window.

The black car tore through the night, the roar of the engine particularly piercing in the dead silence.

Stanley's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, veins bulging on the backs of his hands, cold sweat sliding from his temples into his collar.

He kept glancing at the back seat through the rearview mirror. Sophie was curled into a tight ball, her face almost translucent. That dark red stain spreading across the black leather seat made his eyes burn.

"Sophie, don't fall asleep! We're almost at the hospital!" Stanley's voice was shaking.

Sophie responded weakly, her nails digging deep into her palms.

That sinking, twisting pain seemed to remind her that the unformed little life was slipping away.

She thought of Sebastian's cold face, thought of Emma nestled in his arms, and the desolation in her heart eclipsed even her physical pain.

If she lost the baby, would she and Sebastian be truly severed forever?

Hospital emergency room.

Stanley carried her, running full tilt, his voice hoarse as he called for doctors.

Nurses quickly wheeled over a gurney. Sophie was rushed into the examination room, the cold surgical lights so bright she couldn't open her eyes.

Stanley was shut out in the corridor. He leaned against the cold wall, utterly drained, Sophie's blood still staining his shirt. That sense of helpless frustration left him agitated and restless.