The hospital room was filled with worried faces and heavy tension as Stella lay on the bed, twisting and whining in pain. Her nose was heavily bandaged, and her eyes were red and swollen from crying too much.
"I'm in pain…" Stella whispered weakly, her body moving restlessly as though she was dying.
Even though the doctor had already treated her, she still complained bitterly. It was expected. Stella was the daughter of a wealthy family—someone who had never truly experienced pain or hardship in her life. Any little discomfort felt like torture to her.
"Stop talking so much," Mrs. Jones said softly but anxiously as she moved closer to the bed. She gently patted Stella's back, her face full of worry. "You're only making it worse."
Inside the room were Mr. Jones, Adrian, and Scarlett. It was already late at night. The moment they received the news that Stella had been injured, they rushed straight to the hospital without delay.
"How did this even happen?" Adrian asked quietly. His voice was low, filled with concern.
Stella had always been careful—very careful. As an actress, she watched every step she took. She could not afford injuries, especially now when she had an important project at hand. A broken nose could easily make her management withdraw her from the role.
"A bastard came crashing into me!" Stella cursed loudly, her face twisting in pain. "And he even had the nerve to run away!" she added angrily, tears streaming down her face.
After the man crashed into her, he disappeared immediately before anyone could properly see his face or understand what had happened.
"We will request the CCTV footage," Mr. Jones said angrily, his face dark. "We will find him and make him pay for this."
"That's exactly what we'll do, Dad," Scarlett added unhappily. "He can't hurt Stella like this and walk away freely. He must be arrested."
Earlier that evening, Scarlett had been spending time with Adrian. Their moment together was suddenly interrupted by the call about Stella's injury. She was already unhappy about that, and seeing Stella hurt—her best friend—made her even more upset.
"I always knew that cripple was a bad omen," Stella whimpered bitterly, her voice filled with hatred. "I met her, talked to her, and just look at what happened to me." She scoffed angrily.
She believed that meeting Elowen was the cause of her misfortune. To her, Elowen was nothing but bad luck.
"You met Elowen?" Scarlett asked, surprised. It wasn't strange that she understood who Stella was referring to when she said cripple.
"Yes," Stella replied coldly. "And I should have avoided her like the disease she is." She hissed.
"Where is she?" Adrian asked immediately, his expression changing. His eyes were filled with worry—more worry than he had shown before.
His heart tightened painfully. Elowen had left the Whitemere family mansion yesterday without her caregiver and still hadn't returned. He had been uneasy since then.
"Why should you care, Adrian?" Mrs. Jones snapped angrily. "You should be worried about your sister, not that useless girl."
"Tell me where she is, Stella," Adrian insisted again.
His face twisted with guilt and sadness. Yesterday was Elowen's birthday, and he hadn't even prepared a gift for her. Even though they were no longer together, she was once his lover. He believed she deserved at least that much kindness.
"I met her here," Stella said impatiently. "In the hospital lobby."
The moment Adrian heard that, he turned and walked toward the door.
"Where are you going?" Scarlett asked quickly, grabbing his arm.
Her heart trembled painfully as she held him. The hatred burning inside her nearly consumed her. Adrian still caring about Elowen hurt more than she wanted to admit. All through yesterday, he had been distracted, constantly worried about Elowen—even when he was with her.
Now, just hearing that Elowen was nearby, he was leaving without hesitation.
"I'll be right back," Adrian said quietly as he gently removed Scarlett's hand from his arm.
Before anyone else could say a word, he walked out of the room.
Scarlett stood frozen in place.
Her head spun violently.
Adrian had really left—to go look for Elowen.
She couldn't believe it.
Only she knew the effort she had put into making Adrian hers. Yet, at the mere mention of Elowen, he walked away from her without a second thought.
"Don't take his actions to heart," Mr. Jones said, breaking the heavy silence. "He's only concerned about her. Nothing more."
"Yes, Scarlett," Mrs. Jones quickly added. "You're the accepted daughter-in-law."
Stella said nothing, but her eyes were sharp and filled with displeasure. She was not happy with Adrian's behavior at all.
"I'm not sad, Mom… Dad," Scarlett said with a forced smile. "I'll go look for them."
She turned and walked out of the room.
At the hospital lobby, Adrian was asking the nurses about Elowen. He had searched around earlier, but there was no sign of her anywhere.
"The lady matching that description already left," one of the nurses told him.
Adrian ran his hand through his hair and sighed deeply.
"Let's return to the room, Adrian. Stella needs us."
He turned and saw Scarlett standing behind him, her eyes filled with sadness.
At that moment, Adrian finally came back to his senses.