Marie and the rest of the domestic staff were nowhere to be found as Estre, overwhelmed by despair
and helplessness, wept inconsbly.
“Bryce,” No one came out of the house. Feeling waves of intense pain in her stomach, Estre burst
into tears.
Today, she shouldn’t have trusted Jason to pick her up, gone back to Sandalwood Oasis with Drew,
and waited for Jason at home.
If only she had returned to Waterfall Acres, she wouldn’t have had that nasty encounter with that stray
cat, and taken this terrible fall.
“E.” Just as Estre was about to muster the strength to get up, Bryce’s voice suddenly filled the air
behind her. Bryce went pale when he saw Estre crumpled on the ground. He rushed to her side,
dropping to his knees and steadying her. “E, what happened?”
His gaze settled on Estre’s face, red-nosed and tear-streaked, and his heart shattered into pieces. In
all the years he’d known Estre, she’d rarely ever cried, let alone appeared so disheveled and
helpless.
Bryce was there, and to Estre, he was a lifeline. She clutched at his cor desperately, “Bryce, the
hospital. Take me to the hospital.”
Bryce, trembling, lifted Estre off the ground and made a beeline for the hospital. On the way, Bryce’s
shaking didn’t cease. His lips turned a worrying shade of blue.
He had never been so anxious and frightened in his 23 years of life, especially seeing Estre’s face
drained of color. A mix of tenderness and rage boiled inside him.
Estre had to divorce Jason no matter what.
Outside the operating room, when the nurse handed Estre’s down jacket to him, Bryce only then
noticed blood on the clothes. Back at Sandalwood Oasis, Estre’syers had concealed the blood,
and the waterproof jacket hadn’t let it seep through. Now, gazing at Estre’s stained clothes, Bryce felt
as if his heart had been ripped out.
N?velDrama.Org content.
If he had known it woulde to this, he would have risked everything all those years ago to prevent
Estre from marrying Jason.
Sandalwood Oasis.
When Marie noticed Estre hadn’te in for quite some time, she ventured out into the yard to look
for her and found no trace of her, just her cell phone buried under a fresh nket of snow.
Marie searched the house top to bottom, sighing helplessly when she found no sign of
08:35
Estre sleeping or otherwise. Mr. Jason had really dropped the ball not picking up Ms. Estre, and
she had waited at home for hours for nothing. If Marie were in Estre’s shoes, she’d be livid too, not
wanting to see him either.
Ever since Holly’s return, with Jason starting to stay out, Marie had been worried sick about the young
couple’s marriage. She couldn’t help but feel a tinge of resentment towards Holly.
“If you’re going to y dead, at least do it convincingly! What sense does it make to suddenlye
back to life?” Marie thought to herself.
Meanwhile, in the hospital room.
After the doctors had done their work, Holly was awake. Lying in the hospital bed, she gazed out at the
heavy snowfall and then at Jason, sitting beside her. It had been so long since she’d felt this content.
Watching the snow, Holly said softly, “Jason, it’s been ages since Ravenwood has seen such a heavy
snow. It’s as if the snow is weing me back.”
Jason remained silent. Even without words, just having him by her side made Holly feel like she had
the whole world to herself.
After a long while of staring silently outside, Holly spoke again, her voice tinged with nostalgia. “Jason,
wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could turn back time, if we…” Noticing Jason’s mood, Holly tactfully let
the sentence trail off. Whatever the case, having him close was all that mattered.
After three grueling hours, Estre was finally wheeled out of the operating room.
“E.”
Bryce and Jesse hurried over, each taking one of her hands in theirs. It was just the two of them by her
side now.
Before entering the operating room, Estre had confided in Bryce that aside from the two of them and
her father, no one knew of her pregnancy. She’d asked not to tell her mother, fearing her mother might
cry her eyes out. So Bryce kept it to himself, only telling Jesse that Estre was in the hospital,
prompting Jesse to rush over in a panic.
“Estre, Estre,” Jesse called out to her several times, but when she didn’t respond, Jesse simply
held her hand tighter.
Before long, Estre was settled in her hospital room, still unconscious. Bryce was silent, his breaths
measured, while Jesse sat quietly by her side. They stayed through the night. The snow finally ceased
after seven or eight hours,yering the world in about a foot of white. The world outside was alive with
festive joy, but Estre remained enveloped in slumber.
Jesse finally broke the silence. “She’s been out for so long now.”
08:35
“Doctor said she’ll be alright,” Bryce assured her, though his voice was hollow.
Jesse sighed, “Back then, maybe we should have tried harder to persuade Estre.”
Bryce remained silent. The past was the past; there was no use dwelling on it. The important thing was
to minimize the damage now.
On the hospital bed, Estre had heard their conversation. In fact, she had been awake for a while, but
feeling unsure of what to say or how to face them, she kept her eyes closed, seeking a moment of
peace within herself.
She drifted in and out of consciousness until the next morning, when the outside bustle and the nurses’
chatter about Christmas finally prompted her to open her eyes.
“E.”
Bryce and Jesse had stood vigil by Estre’s side all night, and when she opened her eyes and came
to, they eagerly grasped her hands.
Bryce appeared disheveled with stubble, and Jesse’s face was etched with fatigue. Estre smiled at
them and said, “I’m alright.’
Estre, are you hungry or thirsty? Anything you’re craving?” Jesse asked with concern.
With a chuckle, Estre replied, “I could eat a whole cow.” Estre’s mood was hard to pinpoint, but she
didn’t want to worry Jesse and Bryce.
Bryce let out a soft chuckle and gently caressed her cheek with his right hand. Yesterday/ when he
went to pick her up at Sandalwood Oasis, she looked deathly pale, with tears streaming down her face.
She sat on the ground crying, and it almost scared the life out
of him.
Estre tenderly held the hand Bryce rested on her cheek, “Bryce, thank you.” Bryce squeezed her
hand in return, a gentle pinch to offer sce.
With Estre awake, both Jesse and Bryce could breathe a sigh of relief.
When Estre was rushed to the hospital the day before, Jesse had sat with her for a bit before
heading back to Waterfall Acres to pack her things. Bryce, on the other hand, had stayed in the room to
keep herpany.
As the doctors examined Estre, Bryce was on the phone trying to reach Jason, but just getting his
voicemail. After the doctors left the room, Bryce, in a fit of frustration, hurled his phone against the floor.