The Officer's Runaway Wife & Secret Son novel Chapter 228

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Clara ate her apple, her gaze sweeping over everyone in the room. In this world, she was wrapped in an abundance of love.

At four in the morning, Clara went into labor early.

Three grown men carried her into the prepared car, laying her flat. Clara wasn't in much pain yet; she was mostly afraid. She asked Noah, "Is it... too early?"

"Thirty-eight weeks and four days. It's full term, not early," Noah reassured her, holding her hand. "Felix is just impatient. He wants to see the sunrise."

But once inside the delivery room, the process wasn't smooth. Felix, who had been fine during checkups, had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. Clara was terrified.

She had never been good with pain. From those first agonizing contractions to the final stage of labor, as the sky outside turned dark, she was delirious with pain, her voice hoarse.

One moment she said she had no strength left and wouldn't give birth, the next she was begging them to save the baby, even telling Noah the access codes to her bank accounts.

Noah stayed by her bedside in scrubs, looking at her intently.

"Don't talk nonsense. You said you wanted to take Felix to see the ocean. He's right at the door. He's fighting to come out and meet you. It's just this last step."

"I can't..." Clara shook her head, sobbing.

"You can." Noah's voice grew stern. "Clara, think about how you got through these past few months. You managed to do something as difficult as leaving Rhys. What is this pain compared to that?"

Hearing that name, Clara's eyes refocused. In truth, she hadn't thought about Rhys much lately. If she could survive the pain of a broken heart, should she fear childbirth? She bit her lip until it bled, gripping the bedrails tightly. "I can..."