Chapter 100
At last, panic set in for Rosetta. She clamped down on her daughter’s hysteria, her voice urgent and trembling. “Emma, you’re still young. You can have another child someday, but your health comes first! If you ruin your body now and can’t have children later, think how much worse that would be.”
Emma froze, the outburst draining from her. Instead of lashing out, she collapsed against Rosetta’s shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.
Rosetta knew exactly what haunted her daughter. She shot Micah a hard, demanding look. “Micah, Emma has suffered all this because of you. You need to swear you’ll never let her down!”
Micah stood beside the hospital bed, caught between guilt and indecision. “I…”
Emma caught his hesitation and started wailing again. “You won’t, will you? I knew it! You’re still in love with Ivy, you’re both in this together, you wanted to get rid of my baby on purpose-”
“No, that’s not it.” Micah, helpless, finally raised his hand in a solemn vow. “Emma, I promise I’ll stand by you. Once you’re feeling better, we’ll go ahead with the wedding. I swear.”
That promise seemed to settle her. At last, Emma allowed herself to be wheeled into the operating room, though there was nothing but reluctance in her eyes.
With the chaos finally dying down, Jamison turned to leave.
Micah trailed after him, glum and uncertain. “Uncle James…”
Jamison glanced over, his gaze flat and cool, but he offered a perfunctory comfort. “You’re still young. There’ll be other chances to start a family.”
Micah shook his head, voice heavy. “It’s not that. Ever since Ivy came back, Emma hasn’t been the same. Things between us…they aren’t like they used to be.”
Jamison arched an eyebrow, a hint of a sardonic smile tugging at his lips. “Sounds to me like you just picked the wrong person. Is that really Ivy’s fault?”
Micah fell silent, then tried to defend himself. “Ivy hates me, I know it. She’s just stirring up trouble, trying to ruin things between me and Emma.”
Jamison’s eyes narrowed, picking up on something in Micah’s tone. “Are you saying Ivy was behind the miscarriage too?”
“Pretty much…”
“But I thought Ivy hasn’t even returned to the Windsor family. How could she possibly have caused this?”
Micah looked up, explaining, “A while back, Ivy brought home a pet snake – named it ‘Emma,’ of all things.”
Jamison’s eyebrows shot up again, this time in real surprise. “A pampered heiress, keeping a snake for a pet?”
“When she brought it home, everyone was terrified. She’d let it curl around her hands and play with it!” Micah shivered at the memory.
Jamison’s face grew more and more unreadable.
“Mr. Adkins lost his temper and ordered her to get rid of it, but she refused. She kept it anyway. Then, a few days ago, after Ivy got in her car accident and wasn’t home, the snake was left alone in her room. No one dared go near it. It must have gotten hungry, pushed off the lid, and escaped. Somehow it ended up in Emma’s room. Emma panicked, fell down the stairs, and…well, that’s how this happened.”
Saying it out loud, Micah felt his anger toward Ivy surge all over again. And yet, thinking about the lost child, a strange sense of relief crept in beneath his resentment. He didn’t know what to make of his own feelings anymore.
Jamison listened, but showed no sympathy for the Windsors or his nephew. Instead, he nodded with a faint, almost admiring smile. “Ivy’s a tough one. I’d say she could outmatch any of you.”
Micah flushed, glancing at him. “Uncle James, how can you praise her at a time like this?”
“Just stating the facts.”
Micah’s mood was a tangle of confusion and frustration. He stared at the floor, silent for a long moment before suddenly looking up. “By the way, she called me earlier this evening. She wanted your number–to thank you.”
“Yes, she already called.”
Micah eyed Jamison cautiously. “Uncle James, aren’t you worried about…well, you know, HIV? She was injured in the accident, there must have been blood…but you still helped her…”
Jamison’s temper flared at once, as if someone had poured gasoline on a fire.
“I’ll say it one more time: she doesn’t have HIV.” He spat out the words, then turned away, too angry to continue. “You and the Windsors are made for each other—go on, keep driving each other crazy.”
Micah frowned deeply, watching his uncle leave, more confused than ever. Who was telling the truth? The Windsors said Ivy was HIV-positive. Ivy herself had admitted as much – he’d even seen her collapse, pale and trembling. But Uncle James insisted she wasn’t…
The next day.
Ivy and Katrina stopped by the fire station to collect the black-and-white kingsnake. Ivy originally wanted to bring it back to Golden Maple Estate, but Katrina was so frightened she nearly burst into tears. In the end, they had no choice but to head to the pet shop and return the snake to its owner.
On the way home, Ivy’s phone rang – it was Rosetta. She hesitated, then picked up.
“Hello…”
“Ivy, are you happy now? Emma lost her baby because of you!” Rosetta’s accusation came in hot, her fury unmistakable.
Ivy gave a cold little laugh, pretending to be surprised. “She really lost it? What a shame–I guess I won’t be an aunt after all.”
“Ivy! We’re family–how can you be so heartless? Can’t you stand to see us happy?” Rosetta’s voice was raw with pain.
The smile vanished from Ivy’s face, her tone icy. “Heartless? You’re my own mother–maybe you should ask yourself why I ended up in that car accident in the first place.”