Chapter 336: My Baby

Axel’s jaw tightened. “And the one pulling the strings?”

“We found lead, someone who has contact with Natalie Martinez’s personal assistant,” Ethan admitted.

A cold smile flickered across Axel’s face, sharp and humorless. “Good. She is my number one suspect!”

“I’ll keep digging into it and report to you early in the morning,” Ethan said. “Get some rest, if you can, Axel…”

“Hmm…” Axel ended the call without another word.

He returned to Evelyn’s side, sitting down once more and reclaiming her hand, his thumb brushing lightly over her knuckles.

“Eve… My love… I promise you, whoever did this,” Axel murmured, voice low and dangerous, “won’t get a second chance.”

After he gently kissed the back of her hand, Axel leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes to rest.

Several minutes passed in quiet stillness.

He sat beside her bed, head bowed, one hand resting near hers as if afraid she might disappear if he let go. Didn’t take long; exhaustion finally pulled him into a shallow sleep.

…

Axel didn’t notice when Evelyn’s fingers twitched faintly against the sheets.

A second later, her eyelashes fluttered. Light seeped in slowly, painfully.

Evelyn’s first conscious breath felt wrong, shallow and tight, as if her chest were wrapped in invisible wires.

Her body felt stiff, heavy, and uncooperative. Every attempt to move sent unfamiliar aches rippling through her arms, her legs, her ribs.

Pain bloomed in dull waves, not sharp, but deep enough to make her want to curl inward.

’What… happened?’

Her thoughts came slowly, swimming through fog.

She tried to turn her head, anxiety tightening her chest.

The room was unfamiliar, far too quiet, far too clean. Soft lights. Beeping machines. The faint scent of antiseptic.

’Hospital…’

The realization struck her at once, sending her heart racing.

Her throat burned when she tried to swallow. Dry. Like she had screamed for hours.

Panic bubbled up, but then she saw him, Axel, her husband. He sat beside her bed, slumped awkwardly in the chair, his broad shoulders curved forward, his usually sharp posture gone.

His head was bowed, dark hair slightly disheveled, his face pale with exhaustion. He looked older somehow. Worn.

The sight of him warmed her chest despite the pain.

’He stayed,’ she thought weakly. ’I’m sorry… Hubby, I’m really sorry to make you worry.’

Her eyes feel stung.

She tried to call his name. “A… Axel…”

But nothing came out. Not even a whisper.

Her throat refused to cooperate, the sound trapped somewhere deep inside her chest.

She frowned slightly, panic flaring again. ’Why can’t I speak? Why does it hurt everywhere?’

Memories returned without warning… The road. The headlights. The truck. The scream of metal. The sickening sensation of weightlessness.

Then Axel’s face, frantic and furious, appeared when she lay helplessly on the ground. His hands. His voice. The cliff. The cold rush of fear.

After that…nothing.

The memory slammed into her chest, and tears welled up instantly. They slipped down the corners of her eyes, silent and unstoppable.

’Thank you, Lord… Thank you… You brought me back from that terrible experience. I… I almost died…’

Her breathing swallows, emotion crashing into her all at once. She was alive. She was in the hospital. Axel was here.

Then another thought struck her like a sharp nail.

’My baby.’

Her heart lurched violently. Panic surged through her veins, drowning out everything else.

With effort, she shifted her hand weakly, dragging it over the sheets toward her abdomen.

Her fingers trembled as they hovered there, afraid to touch.

’Please… please be there…’

Her chest tightened painfully as fear squeezed her heart.

She didn’t remember pain in her stomach, only her chest, her limbs, but memory was unreliable. She didn’t know what surgeries she had undergone. She didn’t know what had been taken from her.

Her tears fell faster.

That slight movement, that barely audible shift of fabric, was enough.

Axel stirred.

He lifted his head groggily, instinctively turning toward the bed, and then froze.

Evelyn’s eyes were open.

Wide. Glassy. Wet with tears.

“Eve…?” His voice cracked instantly.

He was on his feet in a heartbeat, chair scraping softly against the floor as he leaned over her.

“Eve—hey—hey, you’re awake. You’re awake.”

Panic flooded his expression as his gaze swept over her face.

“Does it hurt? Where does it hurt? Your chest? Your arm? Your head?”

His hands hovered helplessly, unsure where he was allowed to touch.

“Are you dizzy? Nauseous? Please don’t move too much.”

He leaned closer, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, his lips trembling.

“A-Axel…I’m…” She can’t finish her words because the words she formed in her mind refuse to leave her throat.

Axel smiled, staring at her eyes. “Don’t be afraid, I’m here. I’m right here. By your side.” He said, holding her hand.

Evelyn tried to say more. She wanted to ask him about their child. But no sound came out, only a broken breath. Her eyes searched his face desperately.

Fear twisted inside her.

Her fingers curled weakly around his hand, gripping him as tightly as she could. She lifted her other hand again, this time deliberately, resting it over her stomach.

Axel saw the gesture.

His heart stopped.

“Eve…” he murmured, voice going quiet, strained. “Don’t…don’t worry about talking yet. Your throat is sore. You just woke up.”

Her eyes locked onto his.

’The baby,’ she begged silently.

Axel swallowed hard.

He had practiced this moment in his head a hundred times. Different words. Gentler phrases. Lies he could tell until she was stronger. Until she could handle it.

But standing there, seeing the fear in her eyes, the hope trembling on her lashes, every rehearsed sentence died in his throat.

“Axel…” she mouthed soundlessly, tears spilling freely now.

He reached for her hand and held it tightly, grounding himself. His jaw clenched. His eyes darkened with grief.

The silence stretched.

Too long.

Evelyn understood. She knows only see his expression.

Her breath caught, a soundless sob tearing through her chest. Her fingers tightened around his hand, clutching him as if he were the only thing keeping her from breaking apart.

“NO—”

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