Chapter 149 Chapter 149

Chapter 149 Chapter 149
Chloe’s POV 

The pain did not ease when he came back.

It intensified.

But this time, I was not alone in it.

Drake did not let go of my hands. Not once. Even when the doctors told him to step aside, he refused to move far. His grip stayed firm around my fingers, grounding me each time another contraction ripped through my body.

I screamed until my throat felt raw. The pain was unbearable, sharper than anything I had ever felt before. My body felt like it was tearing apart from the inside, and every wave of agony carried the weight of everything I had endured these past months.

My sister’s face flashed in my mind again. Hilda. The thought of her being gone nearly broke my concentration, but Drake’s voice pulled me back.

“Stay with me,” he kept saying. “Chloe, look at me. Breathe.”

I hated him.

I loved him.

I needed him.

Another contraction seized me so violently that I cried out his name without meaning to. His forehead pressed against mine, and I could feel him trembling too.

“I’m here,” he whispered.

The doctors moved quickly around us, their voices urgent. They spoke of dilation finally progressing, of preparing for delivery. I barely heard them over the roar in my ears.

When it was time to push, I felt like I had nothing left in me. My body was exhausted. My heart was shattered. But the life inside me was fighting.

“For her,” Drake said softly. “For our daughter.”

Daughter.

The word cut through the haze.

I pushed.

The pain was blinding. My scream echoed through the room as my body strained beyond what I thought it could survive.

And then, suddenly, there was a shift.

A release.

A cry.

Small.

Fragile.

But real.

The sound pierced through everything.

My head fell back against the pillow as tears streamed freely down my face. I tried to lift myself to see her, but the doctors were already moving swiftly.

“She’s premature,” one of them said. “We need to stabilize her.”

I caught a glimpse of her as they carried her toward the incubator.

So small.

Tiny fingers curled weakly.

Skin pale and delicate.

My heart swelled and broke at the same time.

“Is she okay?” I asked hoarsely.

“She’s breathing,” the nurse replied. “But she needs support.”

They placed her inside the incubator carefully, connecting small tubes and monitors to her fragile body. The sight terrified me.

She looked too little for this world.

Drake helped me sit up slightly so I could see her better. His arm stayed around my shoulders, steady and protective.

“She’s beautiful,” he whispered.

I didn’t answer immediately. I was watching the rise and fall of her tiny chest, praying silently that it would not stop.

“Please,” I murmured under my breath. “Please let her live.”

Drake pressed a kiss to my temple.

“She will,” he said firmly. “She’s strong. Just like her mother.”

I closed my eyes briefly and whispered a prayer. Not for wealth. Not for revenge. Not for the company.

Just for her.

When the nurse asked if we had a name, I looked at Drake.

There was history between us. Pain. Betrayal. Love. Loss. Everything tangled together.

“Jessica,” I said softly.

The name had lived quietly in my heart for weeks.

Drake nodded slowly.

“Jessica Annie Humphrey,” he said clearly.

Hearing him say it fully made something inside me shift.

Jessica Annie Humphrey.

Our daughter.

Our truth.

He stood beside the incubator, his hand resting gently against the glass. His expression was no longer confused. No longer uncertain. He looked at her with complete recognition.

“She’s mine,” he said quietly.

I watched him carefully.

“She’s ours,” I corrected.

He glanced at me, and there was no hesitation in his eyes this time.

“I know,” he said.

I turned my gaze back to Jessica. I could not let myself feel too safe yet. Not after everything.

I still remembered the way he had looked at me when he didn’t recognize me. The coldness. The dismissal. The humiliation.

I had not forgiven him.

Not yet.

“I haven’t forgotten what happened,” I said quietly.

He didn’t pretend not to understand.

“I know,” he replied. “And I don’t expect forgiveness overnight.”

“Your family killed my sister,” I whispered.

His jaw tightened.

“And they will answer for it,” he said firmly.

I studied his face.

“You promise?”

“I promise,” he answered without hesitation. “Jack will pay. Margaret will pay. Anyone involved will face consequences.”

There was steel in his voice now. Not confusion. Not doubt.

Determination.

“I failed you,” he continued, his tone softer. “But I won’t fail you again.”

I didn’t respond immediately. My eyes returned to Jessica, watching her tiny hand twitch slightly inside the incubator.

“She’s all that matters now,” I said.

“She matters,” he agreed. “But so does justice.”

The word settled between us.

Justice.

Not revenge.

Justice.

I nodded slowly.

“I want it,” I said.

“And you’ll have it,” he replied.

I could see it in him now. The man who had fought to build an empire from nothing. The man who once swore to protect me. That version of him had returned.

But trust does not rebuild instantly.

“I’m not the same woman I was,” I told him.

“I know,” he said quietly.

“And I won’t be weak.”

“You never were,” he replied.

I looked at him carefully.

“I don’t forgive you yet,” I said honestly.

“You don’t have to,” he answered.

For now, that was enough.

Jessica stirred slightly again, and my heart nearly stopped before I saw the monitors remain steady.

“She’s going to be okay,” Drake said.

I hoped he was right.

Because after everything I had lost, I could not survive losing her too.

I pressed my hand gently against the incubator glass.

“Jessica,” I whispered.

And this time, when Drake stood beside me, I did not feel alone.

But I was not healed.

Not yet.

There were still debts to collect.

And this time, we would collect them together.