CHAPTER 19: CHAPTER 19: THE LAST TIME SHE CALLS HIM JULIAN

"Ah—"

The fall happened too quickly and heavily. Serena’s nails left scratches on the handrail as she tumbled down.

Serena only had time to clutch her stomach with her hands.

Everything happened in an instant.

On the stairway platform, Vera Hansen and Bianca Lynch collided, both falling to the ground.

Julian Lawson felt he had pushed something amidst the chaos, then saw Serena tumbling down the stairs.

He reached out to grab her, but caught only air.

The stairway lights were dim, and when no movement was sensed, the lights suddenly went out, leaving the eerie glow of the "Emergency Exit" sign to illuminate everything.

Serena, who had fallen down the stairs, struggled to sit up. She looked up to see Julian Lawson’s hand hesitating in midair.

It was his hand that pushed.

"Serena!"

Bianca Lynch’s voice trembled.

Her shout reactivated the sensors, turning the lights back on.

She pushed Vera aside and rushed down to the platform below in just a few strides.

"Serena, how are you..."

Bianca Lynch’s voice was filled with sobs as she nervously supported Serena.

Serena’s face was covered in cold sweat.

Her whole body ached—in her arms, legs, head, all bruised and pained.

But nothing compared to the pain in her stomach.

The pain was so intense she nearly fainted.

"Serena..."

Bianca Lynch was truly panicked because she knew Serena’s physical condition well.

"Her head hit in the fall, with abrasions and signs of a concussion."

"There is some bleeding below, the baby hasn’t been lost yet, but it’s very risky. To keep the baby, she might need bed rest later..."

This was what the doctor had said when Serena was first brought out.

The doctor had also mentioned to her that during the treatment, Serena pleaded with them to save the baby.

But now, after rolling down from such a high staircase... it was all for her, Bianca Lynch!

As she thought about it, tears rolled down Bianca’s cheeks, engulfing her in guilt.

Bianca immediately took out her phone to dial, her hands shaking as she pressed the screen.

"Serena, I’m calling for help now, hold on."

Serena was in too much pain to speak.

She felt something slipping away, something leaving her.

Through the intense pain, she lifted her head to see Julian Lawson turning to help Vera Hansen.

She opened her mouth, wanting to call out to him, to say something.

But no sound came out.

She just watched as Julian Lawson held Vera in his arms.

Tenderly, with great care.

The sensor lights in the emergency exit dimmed again, outlining Julian and Vera standing together with the light coming from outside the passage.

Tears flowed down Serena’s face, and her heart ached uncontrollably.

"Julian..."

As Julian was about to walk out of the emergency exit with Vera, Serena called out to him.

Julian stopped in his tracks.

But he didn’t turn back.

He just looked calmly at the cold white stairwell outside the exit.

It was late at night, and there weren’t many people outside, silent and still.

Yet Julian’s heart was not at peace.

Everything had been a mess moments ago.

By the time he realized it, Serena had already fallen down the stairs, and all he saw was his own outstretched hand.

His fingertips pierced into his palm as his tightly clenched fists trembled with effort.

"Brother Julian," Vera called out next to him.

He lowered his head, seeing Vera’s face swollen from the blows, and the small bump on her forehead.

He closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he said calmly:

"Serena, take care of yourself."

Then, he led Vera out of the emergency exit.

"Julian Lawson!"

Behind him was the heart-wrenching scream from Bianca in the passage.

This time, he did not stop.

In the emergency passage.

Serena watched Julian Lawson leave.

As he left, Vera glanced back at her.

Her eyes were filled with mockery, provocation, and triumph.

With the stance of a victor.

Serena closed her eyes, tears incessantly falling.

Yes, she had already lost completely.

Why did she call out to him again?

Hadn’t she already anticipated such a result?

Unwillingness?

Or because this child also carried his blood?

She had long warned herself to guard her heart.

Why did she break that promise?

Tears kept coming, and her stomach hurt terribly.

She was so sad.

So sad it felt like dying.

"Joy..."

She didn’t know what to do, she just unconsciously called out Joy’s name.

Bianca was already a crying mess.

She kept wiping Serena’s face, but the tears kept falling, no matter how much she wiped couldn’t clean them.

"Serena, it’s all my fault."

Crying, Bianca tightly hugged Serena: "I’m sorry, Serena, I’m sorry..."

Serena was in so much pain she was losing consciousness.

Before her eyes appeared the scene from her dream again.

Her parents’ red dress swirling as they danced, young Julian’s innocent face.

Pain...

She was really in so much pain.

[Dad, Mom, what should I do?]

Serena cried until she was powerless, sobbing continuously.

Before she lost consciousness, her hand reached out to the air, as if trying to grasp something.

But in the end, she held onto nothing.

"Serena!"

Bianca watched as Serena’s hand fell, and she cried out in anguish.

The sensor lights in the stairway turned on once more.

Bianca saw the large pool of blood seeping beneath Serena.

It stained Serena’s clothes, and also Bianca’s white coat.

She didn’t know what to do, only continued to urge the doctors to hurry.

The doctors arrived swiftly, hoisting Serena onto a stretcher and rushing her to the emergency room.

"Don’t worry, we’ll save her." A colleague with whom she usually had a good relationship patted Bianca’s shoulder reassuringly, then hurried away.

Bianca was left staring blankly at the large stain of blood on the floor.

It wasn’t until the cleaners came to scrub it that she reacted, wiping her tears and following them to the emergency room.

...

On the other side.

Julian Lawson helped Vera into the car.

With the doors closed and the seatbelt fastened, he did not start the car.

In his mind flashed countless times those eyes Serena looked at him with when she fell.

"Brother Julian." Vera spoke from the passenger seat, "If you’re worried about her, go back."

"We’re still downstairs at the hospital, you can see her by just going upstairs. I can go back by myself, it’s no problem."

Julian Lawson said nothing, gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white.

Vera lowered her head, taking a tissue from her bag to gently wipe the corner of her mouth.

There was lipstick on it, along with traces of fresh blood where Bianca had struck her.

She left the tissue smeared with lipstick and blood in Julian’s view, feigning guilt: "I was impulsive, fighting with Dr. Lynch in the hospital, though I wasn’t the one who pushed Serena, but..."

She put down the tissue, leaned over, and held his hand, looking at him with tearful eyes.

"I’m sorry, Brother Julian, I just wanted... to protect you."

Julian gently lowered his eyes, looking at Vera’s hand holding his.

For some reason, what flashed through his mind was the memory of years ago when Serena held his hand as he worried and grieved over his grandfather’s illness.