She Was Never Just a Pretty Face novel Chapter 142

Late into the night.

The emergency room of a private hospital.

Hilda lay on the freezing operating table. The doctors told her there was a high probability the baby wouldn't make it; all they could do was try to stabilize her and wait. Hilda's forehead was slick with cold sweat. Unable to take any anesthesia, she was completely lucid yet delirious from the sheer agony. Her entire lower body felt as if it was being torn apart.

Beads of sweat the size of pearls rolled down her skin.

Drenching the sheets beneath her.

She bit down hard on her lower lip, suppressing the gut-wrenching screams of pain.

Amidst the waves of excruciating torment.

Her past with Luther flashed through her mind like a fleeting shadow.

The love and the pain had gradually fused into her very bones and blood.

Seeping into every limb, every fiber of her being.

Pinning her down like unbreakable steel nails.

She was in so much pain she couldn't move, enduring the raw torture until she finally couldn't take it anymore and passed out.

...

When she woke up, it was already 3:00 AM.

The woman slowly opened her eyes and looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The moon was sinking in the west.

Hanging cold and desolate in the dark night.

She slowly, hesitantly reached out and placed a hand on her lower abdomen. A hoarse voice sounded by her ear, "The baby is still here. We almost lost it."

Hilda turned her head and looked quietly at Harrell.

Her lips moved.

As if she wanted to say something.

But she was too weak to utter a single syllable.

Harrell crouched half-kneeling by the bed, enveloping her icy hand in his.

He knew what she wanted to say.

But he would neither accept it nor retreat. Staring at her pale face, his voice was deep and husky. "I know what the cost will be, Hilda. I regret not taking you away back then. I regret standing by and watching you go back to him. Don't worry. From now on, you have me. I won't let him hurt you ever again. I'll protect you and the kids. When this is all over, I'll take you back to Havenworth City. It doesn't matter to me. I've already had a taste of wealth and power. Even if my grandfather kicks me out of the family, I can still provide for you and the two kids. I'll make sure you never suffer."

Hilda gently shook her head.

What right did she have?

Why should Harrell sacrifice so much for her?

A faint, hollow smile touched her lips.

Harrell took the phone, his voice low. "She isn't in a condition to come down right now. She'll go when she's available. We aren't ruling out the possibility of a countersuit." With that, he hung up.

He looked at Hilda and asked her what she wanted to do.

In truth, both of them knew exactly what was happening.

Jolie had urged Luther to call the cops, knowing full well what the result would be. She had only one goal in mind.

To completely sever the ties between Luther and Hilda.

And it had to be said—she succeeded.

When she received that phone call, Hilda tasted the true extent of that man's callousness. It turned out Luther's hatred for her went far beyond two slaps to the face. He actually wanted her thrown in prison. For the sake of his beloved Jolie, he probably wished she would just die.

Tears shimmered in the woman's eyes.

"Harrell, you must think I'm such a fool."

"To have loved him for so many years."

With that, she slowly curled into a ball.

Even though she saw right through Luther now, she still needed time to digest it. Her body was in shock. She had to slowly unlearn the love and the hate, until finally, she could look at Luther as nothing more than a stranger.