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She glanced at the screen—an unknown number. After a moment of hesitation, she picked it up.
"Ivy? It’s Hank," a familiar voice came through.
Her body tensed. "Mr. Evans?" she asked, already sitting up straight.
“Yes. Ivy, come to Bristen Hospital right now. Christian had a paralytic attack. I’m heading there as we speak.”
Chapter 40 Suffering Again
Ivy stopped breathing. Her entire world went silent. It was as if all the happiness in her life had been cruelly wiped away in an instant, replaced by nothing but an empty void.
Her heart pounded, her breath caught in her throat, and for a moment, her mind went completely blank. But then, panic surged through her veins.
She scrambled off the couch, her hands shaking as she rushed toward the door. In her panic, she barely managed to slip on her slippers, not even noticing that she had put on mismatched ones.
As she stepped outside to look for a taxi, a sleek black car came to a screeching halt in front of her. The window rolled down, revealing Samuel behind the wheel.
“Mrs. Evans, I’m here to pick you up.”
Without wasting a second, Ivy flung open the door and got into the backseat. Samuel sped down the streets, his grip tight on the steering wheel.
Ivy’s throat was choked with emotion. She couldn’t breathe. Sitting in this very car, where she had once sat in Christian’slap so many times, felt unbearable now. The memories were suffocating.
The drive to the hospital felt agonizingly slow, despite Samuel pushing the speed limit. The moment they arrived, she and Samuel rushed inside, weaving through the hallways until they reached Christian’s room.
Outside, Hank paced back and forth, his face lined with tension.
The second Ivy reached him, Hank grabbed her arm and pulled her aside.
"The doctor is checking on him right now," Hank said, his voice laced with worry.
Ivy stiffened. "What happened to him all of a sudden?" she asked, her breath hitching in fear.
Hank exhaled sharply, running a hand over his forehead. “When Christian went to work, his mother was waiting outside his office. The moment he saw her, his body just locked up again, just like before.”
Ivy’s blood turned cold.
Hank’s expression darkened with pain. "I don’t understand why she keeps coming back. She was horrible to him. She found a lover while she was pregnant with Christian and started hating our marriage. Then, out of nowhere, she took Christian and disappeared—only to abandon him and run away! Why the fuck does she keep showing up in his life now?"
Ivy’s chest tightened with an unbearable ache. How could a mother do that to her own child? Even if she had fallen out of love with Hank, how could she abandon a young, innocent Christian—leaving him alone in the world just to chase her own happiness?
And now, because of her, Christian was suffering again.
A lump formed in her throat. The pain was unbearable. She had already lost five years with him. She couldn’t lose him again.
She hadn’t even told him that she was in love with him yet.
Her eyes burned with unshed tears, her chest aching with a pain in silent agony.
Just then, the door to the room opened, and a doctor stepped out.
“He’s in stable condition now,” he announced. “One of you can go in and see him.”
Ivy’s feet felt rooted to the ground. She turned to Hank, but before she could say anything, he had already let go of her arm.
"Go inside, Ivy. Help him get better faster," he said, his voice softer now. "I regret not bringing you to that brat five years ago. I’m not making that mistake again."
Tears spilled over Ivy’s lashes as she whispered, "Thank you, Hank."