Lyra turned her face away, a bitter, icy ache welling up in her eyes. "Just leave..."
Rowan stood motionless, his gaze fixed on Lyra. She kept her head slightly bowed, offering only a glimpse of her profile. Her long lashes were damp, trembling faintly, and a sheen of unshed tears rimmed her eyes. She was biting her lower lip so hard it was turning white.
She hadn't slept well at all last night, and right now, she looked like she might shatter at any moment.
A sharp, sudden pang of protectiveness seized Rowan's chest. Right in front of Delilah, he reached out and pulled Lyra tightly into his embrace, his voice dropping to a soothing murmur. "Alright, don't upset yourself. Don't push yourself so hard. I'm leaving right now."
To Delilah, this blatant display of intimacy was like pouring gasoline on a fire.
The sheer audacity of him touching her daughter right in front of her pushed her over the edge. Her vision tunneled into blackness, and she collapsed backward.
Sensing the sudden movement behind him, Rowan reacted entirely on instinct. Before he even fully turned around, he shifted his weight and shot a hand out, catching Delilah firmly before she hit the ground.
"Mom!"
Lyra's heart nearly stopped. The shock snapped her out of her emotional spiral instantly, and she grabbed onto her mother's limp body. "Mom, what's wrong?! Don't scare me!"
"She's fine, she's probably just exhausted," Rowan said, attempting to lift Mrs. Fairchild toward the sofa. But Lyra practically snarled at him.
"Don't touch my mother!" Lyra glared at him, her eyes practically frozen over with pure hostility. "Get out! Will you only be satisfied when I'm dead at your feet?"
The commotion had finally woken Martha and Caleb.
Caleb walked in, utterly shocked that the fallout from yesterday hadn't ended.
It had only escalated.
Refusing to waste a single second, they immediately rushed the unconscious Delilah to the hospital. When Rowan stepped forward, fully intending to get into their car, Lyra gave him a look of absolute ice and forced him out. "Don't ever show your face again."
At the hospital, after a thorough series of tests, the doctor delivered the verdict in a calm, steady tone. "It's nothing serious. Just extreme emotional distress coupled with severe exhaustion."
Lyra sat quietly by the hospital bed, a heavy veil of fatigue settling over her features.
Caleb walked up to her side and muttered, "He's still out there."


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