Chapter 10
Time dragged on.
Four days later, Lucy was still confined to the bedroom.
She was visibly wasting away, her face gaunt and her cheekbones prominent. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to eat; her sense of smell had become agonizingly acute. The slightest whiff of food triggered violent nausea, followed by uncontrollable
retching.
With nothing in her stomach, she was left heaving until she was spitting up nothing but bitter bile.
Eventually, she couldn’t even keep down the fruit she had managed to eat earlier. Everything came back up.
The lack of food left her dangerously weak. Standing for too long or walking too fast made her heart palpitate and her legs tremble.
She had even fainted once-the maid had found her collapsed on the floor, pale as a sheet, after knocking with no answer.
Now, she relied on daily glucose IVs just to maintain barely enough energy to exist. Her once-bright eyes had lost their luster, dull and gray.
Day after day, she sat by the window, staring blankly outside like a bird with broken wings trapped in a beautiful cage, too exhausted to even struggle.
A few short days felt like a century of suffering.
She began to wonder if she would survive long enough for Jane to find her.
That morning, the atmosphere in the study was suffocating.
The family doctor stood before the desk, watching Kingsley’s expression—which was dark enough to summon a storm—and waited nervously for questions.
“What is her condition?” Kingsley’s voice was ice-cold.
“The fetus is stable,” the doctor reported cautiously, “but Mrs. Sherwood is suffering from severe hyperemesis gravidarum. She can hardly keep anything down. She’s losing weight rapidly p>
Kingsley’s brow furrowed into a deep ravine, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Is there no way to stop the vomiting p>
Intimidated by the cold fury in Kingsley’s eyes, the doctor stammered, Well… there is no specific cure. Morning sickness usually subsides as the pregnancy progresses p>
He wanted to add that the mother’s emotional distress was likely exacerbating the physical reaction, but meeting Kingsley’s gaze, he swallowed the words.
“Get out,” Kingsley dismissed him with a wave of his hand, his impatience palpable. Relieved, the doctor practically fled the room.
The moment the door clicked shut, Kingsley’s phone vibrated. A message popped up: [Mr. Sherwood, Miss Mason woke up for a minute just now, then fell back asleep p>
He stared at the screen for a few seconds before typing a reply: [Take care of her. I’ll head over at noon p>
Meanwhile, at BK.
Jane had just returned to the capital the previous night after a three-day business trip.
After lunch, she returned to her office and opened her chat with Lucy. The message she had sent the night before still lay there, unanswered.
Jane frowned, muttering to herself. Lucy was known to sleep in, but it was already afternoon. She should be awake by now.
Jane tried a voice call. The line rang and rang with a monotonous “beep… beep but no one picked up. It eventually timed out.
A flicker of unease rose in Jane’s
chest. she tried dialing Lucy’s phone number directly. A mechanical voice responded coldly: “The number you have dialed is currently not in service p>
Panic seized her. She immediately texted Thurston: [Is Kingsley in the country p>
Thurston replied instantly: [No idea p>
[I can’t reach Lucy!] Jane’s message radiated anxiety.
Thurston’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the text. “Did that bastard do something to her?v He thought, then typed back quickly Don’t worry. I contact Kingsley p>