The Billionaire's Insignificant Wife novel Chapter 168

The elevator opened on the fourth floor.

Ms. Fontaine was already waiting at the nurse station with a serious expression but warmth in her eyes.

“Mr. Hayes, Ms. Carter, Mr. Lawson,” she greeted while approaching them. “Thank you for coming. Mrs. Alina is stable now. She’s awake and has been told you’re coming.”

Richard swallowed with difficulty.

“How is her condition?” he asked in a hoarse voice,

Ms. Fontaine hesitated for a moment.

“She’s very weak,” she answered carefully, “Severe malnutrition, Dehydration. Low blood pressure. We’ve inserted an IV for nutrition but her body needs time to recover,”

She paused.

“And emotionally… she’s very fragile. So please be careful with what you say.”

Richard nodded with a broken movement.

“Where is she?” he whispered.

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“Room 412. At the end of the corridor.”

They walked down the long corridor-each step feeling heavy.

In front of room 412, Richard stopped.

His hand reached for the door handle but didn’t immediately open it.

“I don’t know what I should say,” he whispered in a broken voice.

Emma touched his shoulder gently.

“Say what’s in your heart, Uncle,” she whispered. “She just needs to know we’re here.”

Richard took a deep breath and opened the door.

The room was small but clean-large window facing the garden, medical monitors blinking quietly, IV stand

beside the bed.

And in the bed-under a thick white blanket-Alina lay.

Richard froze in the doorway.

His eyes widened with deep shock.

The woman in that bed… he almost didn’t recognize her.

A very thin face with sharply protruding cheekbones.

Sunken eyes with dark circles beneath them.

Dull and thin hair-spread on the pillow in a way that looked lifeless.

Skin as pale as paper-almost transparent.

Thin hands lying on top of the blanket with IV line attached-finger bones clearly visible under thin skin.

“Alina?” Richard whispered in a broken voice.

Alina’s head moved slowly-looking toward the door with eyes that were initially empty.

Then slowly focused.

And when she saw her father standing there…

Tears immediately flowed.

“Papa?” Alina whispered in a barely audible voice,

Richard couldn’t hold back any longer.

He ran to the bedside with stumbling steps-almost falling in his urgency to reach his daughter.

“Alina,” he called in a completely broken voice while kneeling beside the bed. “Oh God, Alina. What happened to you?”

His hands trembled as he took Alina’s thin hand-so small and fragile in his larger hand.

“Papa’s here,” he whispered while crying without shame. “Papa’s here now. Forgive Papa. Forgive Papa for not coming sooner.”

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Alina cried harder-her whole body trembling with emotional intensity.

“Papa,” she whispered in a broken voice. “I… I didn’t know what to do anymore.”

Emma also couldn’t hold herself back any longer.

She ran to the other side of the bed and hugged Alina gently but tightly-very careful not to press too hard on that very fragile body.

“Alina,” she whispered while crying. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

Alina hugged her back with trembling hands.

“Emma,” she whispered in a voice full of mixed relief and sadness. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Emma cried harder.

“I shouldn’t have let you go back then,” she said in a voice full of regret. “When you came to my apartment. I should have forced you to stay. I should have-”

“No,” Alina interrupted gently. “This isn’t your fault. Those were all my decisions and it was never your fault.”

Richard still cried while holding his daughter’s hand-tears flowing endlessly down his face.

“I didn’t expect your condition would be this bad,” he whispered in a broken voice. “On the phone you always said everything was fine. I… I should have known. I should have insisted on coming sooner.”

Alina shook her head weakly.

“Papa doesn’t need to apologize,” she whispered. “It’s all my fault. I didn’t let Papa know my condition. Because I was afraid… of what Daniel would do.”

Near the door, Adrian stood in shadow-watching the scene before him with a very controlled expression but eyes full of overwhelming emotion.

He saw Alina-the girl he once watched from afar at Lincoln High.

The girl who smiled gently when lending him a pencil in biology class.

The girl who never knew that Adrian had noticed her for three years.

And now…

Now he saw that woman destroyed.

A dying body.

Eyes that were once full of life now empty and tired,

Something broke in his chest-something he had suppressed since first hearing Alina’s name from Richard Hayes a few weeks ago.

Deep and burning anger toward the man who did this.

Daniel Blackwood had taken that beautiful girl and systematically destroyed her.

“I swear,” Adrian whispered in a very quiet voice-too quiet for anyone in the room to hear, “I will free you. I will take you far from that man. And I will make sure he pays for every second of suffering he gave you.”

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Adrian’s hands clenched tightly at his sides.

His jaw tightened with fierce determination.

Alina—still hugging Emma while crying-suddenly raised her head.

Her eyes moved toward the door.

And for the first time, she saw Adrian standing there.

Her expression was confused for a moment-trying to remember.

That face was familiar but…

“Mr. Lawson?” she whispered in an uncertain voice.

Adrian stepped forward slowly-out of the shadow into the light.

“Yes,” he answered in a gentle voice. “I’m Adrian Lawson. The attorney handling your case.”

He stopped at the foot of the bed-not too close, giving Alina space.

“I’m glad to finally meet you in person,” he said with a thin sad smile. “Though I wish it were under better circumstances.”

Alina looked at him with still-glistening eyes.

“Thank you,” she whispered sincerely. “I heard you helped Papa file the petition and made it possible for me to leave that house.”

Adrian nodded slowly.

“I did what should have been done long ago,” he answered in a firm voice. “And I won’t stop until you’re truly safe. Until you’re free.”

There was intensity in Adrian’s eyes when he said that-something more than just professionalism.

Something more personal.

Alina didn’t notice it. She didn’t even recognize Adrian as her classmate from Lincoln High—too many years had passed, and she had never really paid attention to Adrian back then.

But there was something in the way Adrian looked at her now that made Alina feel safe. And gave her trust in him even though this was their first meeting.

“Thank you,” Alina said in a stronger voice. “Thank you for not giving up,”

Adrian smiled-a genuine smile this time though there was still sadness behind it,

“I will never give up on you,” he said with deep conviction. “I promise.”

Meanwhile in the eastern district of the city, Lisa Brennan sat on the sofa of her small apartment with a TV remote in hand and a tired face.

Her workday at the retail store was exhausting-eight hours standing, dealing with demanding customers, salary that was barely enough to pay rent and basic needs.

And on top of all that, she still had to take care of her two children-Emily who was ten years old and Jake who was eight-alone since her husband left them three years ago.

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Life wasn’t easy.

Never easy.

But at least her children were with her now.

Not like five years ago when Dr. Ingrid Halvorsen almost destroyed her family.

Lisa felt familiar anger rise every time she remembered it.

Not just about the investigation.

Not just about the abuse allegations that turned out to be wrong.

But about how it all started.

At that time, Lisa had just remarried a man named Michael Carter-a simple but kind mechanic who accepted Lisa and her two children unconditionally.

And her ex-husband hated her for it.

That man never really cared about Emily and Jake during their marriage. But as soon as Lisa started building a new life with another man who was more stable and loving, suddenly he wanted full custody.

He wanted to “reclaim his family.”

And Jake’s accident became the perfect opportunity.

Jake, who was three years old at the time, fell down the stairs and broke his arm.

Her ex-husband immediately reported to the authorities.

Said that Michael was abusive.

That Lisa was endangering her children.

And Dr. Ingrid Halvorsen-with her “objective” and “evidence-based” evaluation-immediately became suspicious.

Lisa still remembered how that woman looked at her like a criminal.

Invasive questions.

Judgmental stares.

Reports that made Child Protective Services almost take both her children.

All because of a misunderstanding.

All because her manipulative ex-husband wanted to destroy her new life.

And although the investigation eventually proved that the accident was indeed purely accidental-not abuse-the damage was already too great.

Michael never really recovered from that pressure.

Legal bills.

Stress.

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Neighbors’ stares.

Whispers of people who considered him a monster.

That man started working harder to prove himself. Taking extra shifts. Overtime without end.

Until three years ago…

Michael died in a car accident on his way home from work on a rainy night.

And since that day, Lisa always blamed everything on the beginning of that destruction.

On her ex-husband.

And on Dr. Ingrid Halvorsen who opened the door for all that nightmare.

As for Dr. Halvorsen?

She continued her career without any consequences.

Because she “followed proper protocol” and “acted in good faith.”

Lisa felt her jaw tighten with anger.