Chapter 8
Early the next morning, Bradley woke me up, saying he had a surprise for me and wanted me to go with him.
I didn’t expect much, but I went along anyway. If he wanted to keep up the act, I’d play along.
When we arrived, I realized he had picked out a villa to give to me.
He took me on a tour, explaining every little detail with enthusiasm.
“Alice, there are two gardens here. I’ll plant your favorite roses all over them. I’ve already set up the nursery. One in blue, one in pink. No matter if it’s a boy or a girl, everything is ready.
“I even had a hundred–year–old sycamore tree transplanted here. We’ll hang a swing under it. You and the baby can sit on it, and I’ll push you both. We’ll grow old together, just like this tree, side by side forever. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?”
He was full of excitement, completely oblivious to the fact that there wasn’t a trace of joy in my eyes.
Just as we were about to leave, someone familiar appeared–Maisy.
She walked in with a bright smile. Her gaze landed directly on Bradley.
“I was looking at this villa too,” she said. “I was about to buy it, but the agent told me someone already had. Turns out it was you guys! Alice, Brad, I was really thinking about moving, and I love this location.”
I glanced at Bradley. The moment she showed up, his eyes never left her.
The second he heard that she liked the house, before she even had to ask, he said, “If you like it, then it’s yours.”
The real estate agent beside us looked shocked. “Mr. Sharp, this villa is worth over 100 million dollars.”
Bradley didn’t even frown. “It’s fine. It’s just 100 million dollars.”
I lowered my head and chuckled softly.
Of course, 100 million dollars meant nothing to Bradley. He’d hand over everything without a second thought for Maisy to be happy.
It wasn’t until he heard me laugh that he seemed to remember I was still there. He quickly turned to me and explained, “Alice, honestly, this place isn’t even that great. I promise I’ll find something even better for you before the baby is born, okay?”
Did my response even matter?
That future house wouldn’t have me in it. It wouldn’t have the baby, either.
Maisy’s house was in the opposite direction of our home. But when we left, Bradley suddenly said he had something to take care of and drove off with her, leaving me to take a cab home.
Fine. I didn’t want to be around them anyway. The sight of them together was unbearable.
After getting home, I lay down to rest for a while. Then my phone rang. It was the hospital.
The person on the other end told me that Bradley and Maisy had been in a car accident and needed family members to be there immediately.
I asked flatly, “Did anyone die?”
The caller hesitated, then answered, “No.”
After hanging up, I took my time going upstairs to change into fresh clothes and then finally hailed a cab.
When I arrived at the hospital, the first thing I saw was Bradley in the blood donation room. He was forcing the nurse to keep drawing his blood for Maisy.
Jacob was trying to stop him. “Mr. Sharp, you were hurt far worse than Ms. Doyle! If you keep giving blood, you’ll die!”
But how could Bradley possibly listen to Jacob? He shouted at him to get lost. Then, with a dark expression, he ordered the nurse, “Draw my blood! Take however much Maisy
needs!”
No one dared to disobey him, so the nurse had no choice but to draw his blood.
The blood bags filled up one after another until finally, Bradley lost consciousness and collapsed.
