Even in Darkness She Chose to Rise (Tatiana and Jasper) novel Chapter 143

143 The Missing Person

“She’s not here! Where on earth could she have gone?”

7.48 Pearls

“How can someone just disappear right under our noses? With her condition so critical, she shouldn’t even be able to lift herself from the bed. How did she manage to escape?”

Indeed, Tatiana had vanished without a trace.

While the nurses were momentarily distracted, she slipped away quietly, unnoticed by everyone around her.

Doctors and nurses scoured every corner of the hospital, their panic mounting as they failed to locate her.

“Hurry! Inform Mr. Jasper immediately!”

“If she keeps moving like this, she risks a fatal hemorrhage!”

Meanwhile, completely unaware of the chaos she’d caused, Tatiana was stumbling down a narrow, deserted alley.

She had exited through the hospital’s garbage disposal door, barefoot. The soles of her feet were raw and bruised, smeared with a mixture of dirt and blood. Each agonizing step felt like shards of glass piercing her skin.

Her hospital gown, still stained with dried blood, clung to her frail frame.

As she hurried forward, she tore off the gown and slipped into a ragged piece of clothing she’d scavenged from a nearby trash bin.

Every movement demanded every ounce of strength she had left.

Her vision blurred, the cramps in her abdomen intensified, and her legs trembled beneath her. She was close to collapse.

I can’t let myself fall now.

If I do, I’ll die—and so will the baby inside me.

She had given up on this child once before. That mistake could never happen again.

One step… two steps… three steps…

Suddenly, she collapsed in front of a door, her mind clouded and drifting away.

Her lips barely moved as she whispered, “Jasper…”

Then, darkness swallowed her whole.

When consciousness returned, the air was thick with the sharp, pungent scent of medicinal herbs—like someone was brewing a powerful batch of traditional Chinese medicine.

Slowly, she blinked her eyes open. A wave of dizziness washed over her, and she stared blankly at the ceiling. Gradually, awareness flooded back, and she struggled to sit up.

“Don’t move! If you do, not even a god can save you!”

Startled, she froze, then turned her head slowly to see a woman standing nearby, a cigarette dangling from her mouth, her voice sharp with urgency.

“You’ve got needles stuck all over you. If you shift even slightly, you’re finished!”

Fear filled Tatiana’s face. “Are you… a doctor for the Jackson family? Please don’t hurt my baby…”

“What Jackson family? You collapsed right outside my shop, nearly dead. I thought it was bad luck, so I took you in. As for the baby inside you? Consider him lucky.”

The baby was still alive.

Relief washed over her, calming the anxiety in her chest, even as the pain in her body surged back fiercely.

She noticed her entire body was covered in silver needles, arranged in intricate, alarming patterns.

“Why did you end up here? Judging by your state, you must have been through hell.”

The woman had carefully examined Tatiana from head to toe while tending to her injuries.

Marilyn, fearing the situation would spiral out of control, scrambled to reach Jasper by any means.

Eventually, she found him.

“Jasper, where have you been? Why haven’t you answered your phone?”

Jasper frowned. “Up the mountain. What’s going on?”

“Did you know Cindy is pregnant? She’s now facing a threatened miscarriage. Your father’s worried this will ruin the Jackson family’s reputation, so he’s decided to force a termination. But she’s gone—disappeared from the hospital.”

Jasper’s expression hardened. “Disappeared?”

“Yes. No one has found her yet.”

His lips pressed into a thin line, his voice cold and commanding. “Send out more people. She must be found.”

Marilyn agreed—finding her was the top priority. But as she prepared to speak again, she noticed Jasper supporting Bianca gently.

Bianca shyly rested her hand on her stomach.

“Are you and Jasper… together?”

“Yes, Mom. Jasper’s been with me the whole time.”

Marilyn felt a strange flutter. She hadn’t seen them this close before.

“Accompanying you for what?”

Bianca blushed and stayed silent, glancing at Jasper.

Then Jasper spoke plainly, dropping a bombshell with casual ease:

“Mom, Bianca is pregnant. I’ll need you to take care of her more from now on. It’s her first time being a mother, and there’s a lot she doesn’t know.”