The Devil's Contractual Bride-Chapter 29: Dead Ethan

Lucian’s POV

Immediately the words left the doctor’s mouth,Aria looked at me with terror in her eyes.

I could not imagine the pain she was going through, having to choose between herself and her child.

"I want to keep the baby," she turned to the doctor immediately and spoke with certainty. "No matter what,don’t let anything happen to my baby."

I felt something crack inside me,I couldn’t help but think that this was all my fault,I shouldn’t have pushed her away for conceiving a baby months before we even met.

"Aria," I said, gripping her hand tighter. "Listen to me,the doctor said there’s bleeding and if they try to save the baby,you could—"

"I don’t care," she cut in,tears forming in her eyes"I’m not losing this baby,not after everything I’ve been through just to protect it. I’m keeping my baby and nothing or no one can change my mind about it."

The doctor looked between us and spoke with a gentle voice

"Mrs. Voss, the bleeding is severe. If we delay, the risk to your life increases exponentially but I must advise you that trying to save you and the baby could lead to the death of both of you. The baby is still premature anyway because incubating it is almost impossible so you have an easy choice here ma’am—"

"There is no choice here,I want the bleeding stopped and myself and my baby out of the theatre safe and sound."

I wanted to argue. To scream at her that she was worth more than anything and to tell her that I couldn’t lose her because the thought of it alone scares but the look in her fierce and stubborn look in her eyes stopped me.

She was the mother of a child and she was choosing the baby over herself just like any mother would do.

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Okay," I told the doctor, snapping both of them from their bickering. "Do whatever it takes but save them both if you can."

The doctor had nodded and they’d wheeled her away into the operating theatre.

I stood in front of the door leading into the theatre fighting every urge to push it open and find out how Aria is doing.

I paced up and down the centre, five steps left,turn,five steps right continuously in rhythm.

The linoleum squeaked under my shoes and the fluorescent lights buzzed overhead like insects trapped in glass.

Every time a nurse walked past, my head snapped up, heart slamming into my ribs waiting for news but no news came.

Aria had been in there for forty-seven minutes.

Forty-seven minutes of silence and of me replaying every second of the last hour in my head, over and over until the guilt felt like a blade lodged between my lungs.

The doors to the theatre stayed closed.

After over an hour,I stopped pacing,leaned my forehead against the wall and closed my eyes.

"I’m sorry," I whispered to the empty hallway. "I’m so fucking sorry Aria."

I should have held her when she cried instead of causing her more pain and now I’m stuck with the image of the fact that I might contributed to her death if anything happened to her.

My thoughts were distracted by a slow and deliberate footstep approaching where I stood .

I opened my eyes and turned.

Ethan Caldwell was walking towards me smiling.

My blood turned to fire,I pushed myself off the wall, crossed the hallway in less than five strides,grabbed him by the lapels and slammed him against the wall.

"You son of a bitch," I snarled. " I know you did this. You sent that truck and the reason she’s in there fighting for her life and our baby’s is because of you bastard."

Ethan didn’t flinch, rather he smiled wider.

"Careful, Voss," he replied confidently. "Thr Press is already outside with cameras rolling. One wrong move and it’s all over the news in minutes or jail rather,your choice."

I froze.

He was right,I could see the flashes through the glass doors at the end of the hall.

Reporters waiting for me to lose control or for a news to digest and feed the world that wouldn’t mind swallowing the chaos raw.

I let go of his lapels and stepped back.

He straightened his tie."Smart you’re learning."

I clenched my fists so hard my knuckles cracked.

"Leave,get out of this hospital Ethan."I thundered, trying so hard to hold myself back from punching him.

Ethan laughed."I’m family now," he said. "The court gave me temporary custody of the parental rights so I have every right to be here. I’m only here to make sure my child is safe."

"The baby is mine," I said through gritted teeth.

"Not according to the test Lucian. The baby is three months old. That’s before you ever touched her so I suggest you quit dreaming Lucian."

I stepped closer, lowering my voice.

"If you come near her again, I will end you and bury you so deep they won’t find the body. No press nor the court will be able to save you from my wrath"

Ethan’s smile didn’t falter.

"You’re welcome to try but right now, you should be more worried about your wife and your alleged child."

He turned and walked away whistling with his hand in his pocket.

I watched him go even though every muscle in my body screamed to follow and finish what I started in the hotel room but I didn’t.

I couldn’t rather,not while Aria was in there fighting for her life.

I walked to the restroom to calm down a bit,locked myself in a stall and pulled out my phone

Hundreds of notifications and tags from Twitter popped on my phone. I opened Twitter,the top trends were already there and it dawned on my that I was not escaping the scrutinizing eye of the public

#AriaInSurgery

#VossMonster

#AriaDeservesVoss

Posts flooded in.

**"Poor Aria is in the hospital because she was running away from that monster Lucian"**

**"I blame Aria, she deserves what came to her for choosing money over love"**

**"Lucian Voss is a monster, he deserves to go to jail"**

**"I heard Aria’s best friend was also involved in the accident, that gold digger is trying to drag an innocent dude into her mess"**

I read them one after another until my vision blurred and my hands shook so badly I almost dropped the phone.

I smashed it against the stall wall,the screen cracked but I didn’t care.

I slid down to the floor with my back against the stall and head in my hands.

And for the first time in a long time,I wept bitterly.

Ethan was winning and he’s causing a lot of harm doing that while I’m here unable to even help my family out of this hell.

I stayed there until the tears stopped,then I stood,washed my face,straightened my coat and walked out of the restroom,down the hallway to the operating theatre.

I turned back to the theatre doors and continued to pace again.

After what seemed like an hour,the doors finally opened and the doctor stepped out with mask down and almost staggering from the long hours of surgery.

I rushed forward ignoring the tiredness written on his face."How is she?" I asked. " What about the baby?"

The doctor looked at me.

"The surgery was relatively successful," he continued. "We managed to stop the bleeding and the placenta was stabilized. Sadly we tried all we could but we couldn’t save the child. I’m very sorry for your loss sir."

I tried to hide the relief that hit me so hard my knees almost buckled but I couldn’t.

I grabbed the wall and whispered "Thank God," to myself

The doctor’s expression was stern, almost as if he was trying to understand what I was happy about.

"But," he continued. "Mrs. Voss has slipped into a coma."

The world stopped immediately and a though thoughts ran through my brain at once.

"She’s stable but unconscious and we don’t know how long it will last. It could take hours,days or even longer. We’re monitoring her brain activity and we’ll keep her on life support to make sure she doesn’t slip. Just hang in there, we’ll try our possible best to make sure she’s okay."the doctor reassured

I kept staring at him lacking words to express how I feel, coupled with the fact that I needed more explanation about what the hell happened to my wife.

He placed a hand on my shoulder in a final bid of reassurance "I’m sorry but you have to be strong now. This is going to be a critical time for your family but just know that your wife is in the best hands. You can see her soon once the nurse is out."he said and walked away.

I stood there alone in the hallway.My wife was in a coma and Ethan was downstairs smiling.

I’m sure as hell going to kill that bastard now.