Hearing this, Alexander’s face darkened instantly. He moved to step forward, but Elise caught his arm just in time.
Alexander stopped in his tracks and looked down at her, his expression heavy. "Miss Harper."
"Mr. Hayes, please wait outside," Elise said quietly, her voice entirely calm. "I’ll come out as soon as I check on Robin."
Alexander pressed his lips together, shot a final, sharp look at Dylan, and reluctantly turned to walk out of the ward.
Only after Alexander left did Elise turn her gaze to Dylan.
"I understand that you’re in a foul mood because Robin is hurt, so I won’t hold your words against you. But in front of the child, I expect you to show some modicum of self-awareness as an adult."
Dylan’s expression was grim, his hands clenched so tightly at his sides that the veins bulged on the backs of his hands. He knew his words had been uncalled for.
But seeing Elise arrive with Alexander, and witnessing the easy, familiar comfort between them, had ignited a sudden, irrational fury in his chest. Alexander’s proprietary tone, acting as if he weren’t an outsider at all, was something Dylan simply could not stomach.
He was furious that Elise would rather go anywhere and everywhere with Alexander than come home with him. And he was even more infuriated by her utter coldness and detachment toward him.
Dylan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. His lips parted as he looked at Elise’s indifferent, distant face, but he found himself entirely at a loss for words.
Seeing the tense silence, Fleur wiped at her tears and looked at Elise, her voice cracking with a sob. "Elise, I’m so sorry. Dylan is just distraught right now, please don’t take it to heart. Robin is so desperately ill, and Dylan is breaking inside. He didn’t mean to take his temper out on you."
Elise didn’t even bother looking at her. She wasn’t going to argue with Dylan, because it was completely pointless. Today, she had come strictly in her capacity as Robin’s godmother. Her only concern was the boy.
Elise glanced toward the bed. Robin had closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep at some point. The little boy lay swallowed by the hospital bed, his delicate features striking but entirely drained of color, pale as winter snow.
Looking at him, that same uncontrollable ache squeezed her heart once again.
"How is Robin doing?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the boy.
Dylan closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to force down his erratic emotions. When he opened them, his brow was knit tight, his voice heavy with exhaustion.
"Acute gastroenteritis complicated by a bacterial infection. He had a sudden spike in his fever and accidentally fell, striking the back of his head. The physical symptoms have stabilized, but... his psychological state is highly unstable."
Elise’s face fell. A chilling cold swept into her eyes as she shot a sharp glance at Fleur, before turning back to press further. "How exactly did he manage to fall and hit his head if he was supposed to be looked after?"
Fleur lowered her head guiltily, letting out another soft, trembling sob.
Dylan pressed his lips together. "Robin threw up all over himself last night. Fleur wanted to give him a quick shower, but he lost his footing in the bathroom and slipped. The back of his head hit the floor, leaving a hematoma. We’ve already run a brain scan, and there’s no internal bleeding. The doctors suspect the unresponsiveness is psychological."
Elise’s gaze locked onto Fleur once more. Fleur kept her head lowered, weeping softly, but her movements—wiping at her eyes every few seconds—felt entirely performative.
Those tears looked utterly fake.
Elise’s sixth sense was screaming at her that Robin’s fall was anything but an accident. She even suspected that Fleur had taken the humiliation she suffered yesterday afternoon and, the moment Dylan was out of sight, unleashed all that pent-up malice onto the child.
Before today, Elise would never have questioned a mother’s love for her child. But if that mother was Fleur, the doubt was entirely warranted.



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