The Billionaire Regretted Losing His Invisible Wife novel Chapter 358

Chapter 358 The Real One

Mia’s POV

The morning light filtering through the hospital window had that particular quality of winter sunshine, weak and pale, like watercolor paint mixed with too much water. I’d been dozing in the uncomfortable reclining chair beside Alexander’s bed, my neck stiff from sleeping at an awkward angle, when the soft sound of his voice pulled me back to consciousness.

“Mama, my tummy is making happy noises.”

I opened my eyes to find Alexander sitting up in his hospital bed, his dark hair sticking up in all directions, cheeks pink with health instead of fever. The IV in his small arm was still connected, but his eyes were bright and alert, no longer the glassy look of illness.

“Happy noises?” I asked, stretching the kink out of my neck as I sat up properly.

“Like when you make pancakes on Sunday mornings. Rumbling sounds that mean it’s excited for food.” Alexander pressed his hands against his stomach, grinning. “I think it’s saying ‘feed me, feed me, feed me.'”

Ethan was curled up in the chair by the window, a hospital blanket wrapped around his shoulders like a cape. He’d been awake when I dozed off, drawing quietly in one of the coloring books a nurse had brought. Now he looked up from his picture-a careful rendering of what appeared to be our family, including Gas with his tongue hanging out.

“Alexander’s always hungry when he feels better,” Ethan observed. “When he had the flu last winter? The first thing he wanted was chocolate chip cookies.”

“I did not want cookies,” Alexander protested. “I wanted Mama’s grilled cheese. With the crusts cut off.”

“And then cookies,” Ethan added with the faintest smile.

Madison sat cross-legged on the fold-out couch where she’d spent the night. The bandage on her arm was clean

and white.

“Madison, how does your arm feel?” I asked gently.

“It hurts a little,” she said honestly. “But not as much as yesterday. And the nurse said pain means it’s getting better, right?”

“That’s right, sweetheart.”

A soft knock at the door interrupted my thoughts, but before I could respond, the door swept open to reveal what appeared to be a fashion magazine that had somehow learned to walk.

The woman who entered paused dramatically in the doorway, struck a pose that would have made a red carpet photographer weep with joy, then looked around our humble hospital room as if she’d accidentally wandered into the wrong movie set.

“Mon Dieu,” she said, her French accent turning the words into music, “hospitals in America are even more depressing than I remembered.” She stepped inside, her heels clicking against the linoleum with the precision of a metronome, then stopped abruptly when she spotted the children’s breakfast trays. “And the food! No wonder people stay sick.”

Chapter 358 The Real One

+15 Bonus

Alexander sat up straighter in his hospital bed, his mouth slightly open as he watched this exotic creature navigate our mundane space. She moved like someone who had never encountered a piece of furniture that wasn’t personally crafted for her, pausing to examine the visitor’s chair as if it might bite her before carefully settling into it with the grace of a swan landing on water.

“You must be wondering,” she continued, pulling out what appeared to be a compact mirror made of actual gold to check her reflection, “why someone who looks like they should be sipping champagne in Monaco is instead visiting a pediatric ward in Manhattan.” She snapped the compact shut with a satisfied nod. “The answer is delightfully complicated.”

Ethan had lowered his book entirely now, watching this performance with the fascination of someone observing a rare bird. Madison had actually stopped drawing, her crayon suspended mid-stroke as she stared.

The woman reached into a handbag and withdrew what looked like a silk handkerchief, which she used to delicately dab at the corner of one perfectly made-up eye. “I always cry a little in hospitals,” she explained to no one in particular. “Something about the fluorescent lighting. It’s very harsh on the complexion.”

“Um,” I managed, still trying to process this surreal interruption to our quiet morning, “can I help you?”

She turned toward me with a smile that could have powered the entire hospital. “Ah! You must be Mia..” Alexander giggled. Actually giggled, which he hadn’t done since before yesterday’s ordeal.

“But first,” she announced, reaching into her handbag with the flourish of a magician about to perform her greatest trick, “I have brought presents! Because arriving at hospitals empty-handed is like wearing white after Labor Day-technically possible but morally questionable.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify