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Chapter 71
Chapter 71
I was on the verge of losing control when I spotted Asher Reid walking briskly toward us.
That scumbag! How dare he show his face here?
Without a second thought, I stormed up to him and slapped him across the face with all the force I could muster.
His body trembled, disbelief flashing across his face. He couldn’t fathom that I would dare lay a hand on him.
“Isabella, move!” Asher’s voice cracked with urgency,
“What are you doing here?” I demanded, standing my ground.
“I don’t have time for this!” he snapped, brushing past me.
“You monster! Stay away from my friend! Asher Reid, you hurt my Cassie!” I screamed, my voice cracking as tears streamed down
my face. I pounded his chest, desperate for answers. “Cassie’s going through something, and you still chose to hurt her. You bastard!”
His body shook as he caught my hands. “I didn’t know, Isabella. I swear. I only found out because a friend owns this hospital.”
“Ms. Prescott, please control yourself!” the doctor intervened, commanding through my rage.
I delivered one final, vicious blow to Asher’s chest before stepping back.
The pain in my heart was unbearable, an ache that felt like it would consume me whole. How had I missed the sign? Why didn’t I notice what Cassie was going through! Why was I such a terrible friend?
She’d been there for me every day while I’d been blind to her suffering. I should’ve seen it–the long sleeves she insisted on wearing, her constant exhaustion, the emptiness in her eyes. I should have visited the apartment, checked on her properly, and done something..
This was my fault. I had failed her.
“Cassie baby.. I whispered, my tears unstoppable.
I made my way to the blood draw section, my resolve unshakable. I didn’t care how many bags they needed or how much it would take. If giving her every drop of my platelets could save her life, I’d do it without hesitation.
“We’ll need to run a pretest first, Ms. Prescott,” the nurse said gently. “We’ll contact you as soon as the results are ready.” “But what about my friend? Doesn’t she need blood now?” I pressed urgently.
“We’ve already contacted the blood bank,” the nurse assured me. “Once your tests are completed and cleared, we’ll proceed with the extraction.”
“You can take mine! This hospital has my medical records, including my blood test results,” Asher volunteered unexpectedly. stepping forward.
I turned to him, my fury reigniting. “Teh! My friend doesn’t need your tainted blood, Asher. Let’s not act like you care. We both know the kind of darkness running through your veins.”
He absorbed the insult without flinching: he stood there, unyielding. I turned away and sat outside Cassie’s room, weighed. down by fear and regret.
All night, I sat frozen on the hospital bench, staring blankly at the white tiles on the floor. Asher sat on the bench across
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Chapter 71
from me, the silence between us heavy with unspoken worry.
Time became a blur as I sat there, lost in my grief, my eyes sore and swollen from crying. Then Evan’s tall frame’s approaching. I had called him earlier, struggling to keep my voice steady as I told him about Cassie.
As soon as he saw me, Evan pulled me into a comforting embrace.
What happened to her?” he asked softly.
I shook my head, my throat tight. “I don’t know. She said she’s returning to Singapore to handle her business and modeling career. I didn’t even know she was here in a nearby hospital? My voice broke as I sniffled. “Evan, she’ll be okay, right? She has to be okay
My body trembled as fear clawed at me. Cassie wasn’t just my best friend–she was my sister, my soulmate, my family in every way that mattered.
Asher sat stiffly nearby, his fists clenched on his lap, his eyes rimmed with red despite his silence.
Evan took the lead, speaking to the hospital staff when I couldn’t summon the strength. I was too exhausted, too emotionally drained to ask any more questions. My heart felt like it was being crushed, and my head spun with the weight of everything that happened all day.
Evan asked all the questions I couldn’t confront: how long she’d been hospitalized, the progression of her leukemia–a diagnosis Id pieced together after discovering her medications in my apartment
The thing is, Ms. Monroe discovered she was pregnant three months ago,” the doctor explained. “She chose to discontinue chemotherapy at that point.”
“What?” Asher shot to his feet, his face pale as he grabbed the doctor by the shoulders. “You’re joking. Tell me you’re kidding”
The doctor remained steady, unaffected by Asher’s outburst. “Tm afraid not, Mr. Reid. We advised her that her body couldn’t handle the strain of both the pregnancy and her condition. But she said the baby was a miracle–something she never thought she’d have. Unfortunately, her body wasn’t strong enough. When she finally decided to take the baby out, she began hemorrhaging internally.”
After giving the necessary details, the doctor excused themselves and returned to their duties.
“No.. Cassiel” Asher’s voice cracked with disbelief.
My rage erupted. “You got her pregnant and still couldn’t stay faithful, had to crawl into someone else’s cunt, too! You’re absolutely despicable, Asher Reid!” My words seething with contempt.
He had no right to stand here, pretending to care about her now.
“Asher, our families have a long–standing friendship, which is the only reason I allowed you to stay here–as my sister’s fiancé,” Evan said, his voice tight with barely controlled anger. “How many times have I warned you about your reckless behavior with women?”
“I promised I’d change after the wedding” Asher’s voice trembled. “When Cassie ended things last week, I didn’t even take it seriously.”
I pierced him with a look that could have drawn blood.
Whenever I’d tried to discuss Asher with Cassie, she’d dismissed the subject with practiced indifference, as if he meant. nothing to her anymore. She always insisted their connection was purely out of obligation–nothing more than the tangled ties between their families.
The last time I saw Cassie cry over Asher’s infidelity was four years ago
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“Let’s not talk about him! That was her default response, and I respected it, never wanting to ruin her mood. But now, I wondered how much she had kept inside–how much pain she had been carrying by herself.
Fresh tears traced familiar paths down my cheeks as the hours crawled by.
Finally, the doctor emerged with news that Cassie was stable. Evan urged me to rest, offering his bodyguards as watchmen, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave.
While waiting alone, a nurse approached me with my blood test results.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Prescott, but we can’t accept your blood donation,” she said gently.
“Why not?”
Her next words stopped my world. “Because you’re pregnant.”
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