His Secret Baby: Six Months After Divorce (Mia and Ethan) novel Chapter 30

< Chapter 30

Claim 50 Coins By Check in Menu

Chapter 30

Lila’s scolding hung heavily in the air, but Ethan didn’t say a single word in response. He just stood frozen at the foot of the narrow hospital bed, his dark, brooding eyes locked entirely on Mia. The sheer, suffocating weight of his presence filled every corner of the room, scanning her pale, feverish face with an intensity that made the air feel dangerously thin.

Mia kept her head down, desperately avoiding the burning heat of his gaze. Her fingers nervously twisted the edge of her hospital blanket.

‘My health just hasn’t been great lately,” Mia murmured, breaking the tense silence. Her voice was soft and fragile as she finally addressed him. “It’s not Mr. Hale’s fault. But I don’t think I can handle the intense workload anymore. I’ll need to take a leave of absence until after the New Year.”

‘Approved!” Lila declared instantly, slamming her hands on her hips. She turned and snapped at her older brother again. “Ethan, you’re signing her leave request the second you get back to the office. And don’t you dare dock her pay.”

Seeing Mia act so relaxed and unguarded with Lila made Ethan’s expression darken by another terrifying degree.

Why is she so terrified of me, yet so warm with my sister?

Ethan’s jaw ticked. He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his tailored trousers. What no one in the room could see was that his knuckles had turned bone-white. He was clenching his hands into tight, bruising fists, ising physical pain to stop himself from reaching out-to stop himself from pulling her fragile, trembling body nto his arms right in front of everyone.

His Adam’s apple bobbed sharply as he swallowed back the storm of emotions raging inside his chest. When he Finally spoke, he forced his voice to drop into a rigid, gravelly tone of absolute authority.

Fine,” Ethan said, the single word slicing through the room like ice. “Get some rest, Ms. Carter.”

He paused, his amber eyes narrowing into dark, possessive slits as he stared at her downcast face. “But I expect you o fix your… ‘state of mind.’ I want you back to your old self, at your desk, immediately after the holidays.”

To Mia, it sounded like a cold, heartless corporate command. A warning to forget last night’s drunken kiss and get back to being his perfect, emotionless machine.

But beneath that cold facade, Ethan was terrified. The thought of Mia walking away, of not seeing her sitting outside his office every single day, was driving him to the brink of insanity. He needed her back. He demanded it.

‘Don’t worry, Mr. Hale,” Mia replied softly, maintaining her flawless, submissive mask, “I know my place. I know

what to do.”

“God, you two are so depressing,” Lila groaned from the side, rolling her eyes in dramatic exasperation. “Enough with the robotic corporate talk. You’d never guess you guys were actually married for two years.”

Ethan shot Lila a stern, lethal glare that instantly shut her up. “Take care of Grandma,” he ordered strictly. “Your early leave is approved.”

“Mom and Dad are in Europe with the Bennetts,” Lila grumbled, crossing her arms. “You’re buried in work and busy babysitting Chloe. So what, I’m the only one left to hold down the fort?”

< Chapter 30

Claim 50 Coins By Check in

“I’ll come relieve you once I’m done at the office,” Ethan said shortly. He pulled his hands from his pockets, grabbed his wool coat, and strode out of the hospital room without looking back.

Menu

The moment his broad silhouette vanished from the doorway, the crushing, invisible tension in Mia’s chest finally snapped. She let out a long, shaky breath, her racing heart finally finding its normal rhythm.

Once Lila left the room to go check on their grandmother down the hall, Mia was finally completely alone.

She leaned back against the pillows, her exhausted body aching. She reached for her phone on the nightstand. The screen lit up with a flood of missed calls, but her eyes immediately locked onto a frantic WhatsApp message from

Leo Martinez.

[Ms. Carter, you’re AWOL! Mr. Hale missed the 8:30 board meeting because of it and he’s absolutely livid. Pick up your phone, now!]

Mia’s eyes widened in horror. Unannounced absence?

No wonder Ethan Hale looked so furious when he dragged her into the room. He thought she was throwing a petty tantrum over his drunken kiss and skipping a major board meeting on purpose!

But she had definitely sent the sick leave message to him early this morning.

Mia quickly opened her chat with Ethan. The message was there. No “failed to send” icon. It had successfully gone through.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify