Jonah nearly crashed his car against the greenery on the way home after he picked Cecelia up from the hospital.

"Jonah, what's been going on with you these past two days? You even forgot you promised to watch a movie with me!" Cecelia complained.

"I'm a little tired today. You should ask Isla to go with you instead," Jonah replied dismissively, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel in irritation.

The unease creeping up his heart seemed to burrow further and further. It had been days, but Pearl hadn't texted him even once. 

When he got home, he was wondering whether he should take the initiative and give her a call when Cecelia started pestering him about calligraphy.

Jonah sighed helplessly. "I remember Pearl has a set of calligraphy pens. I'll find you some in her study."

Pearl was the only one using the study in this apartment. So, he was startled by how empty it was whe

Jonah frantically checked the name and the official embossed seal on the document over and over again. The darkness in his eyes as he did so caught Cecelia off guard.

The ever-accomplished Jonah had always been elegant and composed. She had never seen him looking so helpless.

"Jonah, this is probably one of Pearl's pranks. You've spoiled her far too much," she started.

Then, she wound her arm around Jonah's and added, "Pearl's just a naive little girl who hasn't faced the harsh life of the real world. Girls like her do so love their tantrums. You should just ignore her for now. Why don't you accompany me to shop for some calligraphy pens this afternoon?"

Those words had just fallen from her lips when Jonah suddenly shot her a cold glare and shoved her away.

"I'm sorry. I have a wife. You should find someone else to keep you company if you're so bored and lonely."

With that, Jonah s

"The patient had a miscarriage and is hemorrhaging. She needs a blood transfusion immediately!"

"We don't have any Type A blood in the blood bank!"

"If we don't get her a blood transfusion now, her life will be in danger!"

Pearl had already lost too much blood. Her consciousness was slipping further and further away from reality. She could vaguely feel her body being moved around like a brick while the sounds of the medical staff's urgent yelling seemed to come from a mile away.

"Take mine! I'm Type A!"

A clear voice broke through all the chaos and reached Pearl's ears like salvation. She used all her strength to open her eyes and saw the person who had just spoken. It was a familiar face, but she couldn't quite recall their name.

"I've got it…" she thought weakly.

Pearl was just about to give them her thanks when all her strength left her body, and blissful darkness enveloped her.

It was already the next day by the time she woke up. She stared at the IV drip above her blankly for a long while before her mind eventually knew what was going on. Regardless of her dazed state, she could tell that something inside her had left her entirely.

Two nurses came in to change her dressing. They hadn't noticed that she was awake. So, they continued gossiping as they worked. 

"Did you hear? Mr. Lawrence booked all the VIP rooms upstairs."

"Oh, I did. That girl is a travel influencer, isn't she? She's quite the looker, but I hear she's divorced."

"So what if she is? Mr. Lawrence likes her, and that's all that matters. She started a live stream threatening to kill herself. It started for maybe ten minutes? And Mr. Lawrence came rushing over like a madman! Heck, she only made a small cut on her wrist to boot!"

"So that viral video online… It really was Mr. Lawrence?"

"Exactly! He barged into the live stream and scooped her up in his arms like some princess. It was definitely something out of a drama, I tell you."

"Then, one of the nurses lowered her voice and added, "Word is, she's already pregnant."

The other nurse let out a gasp. "I see! It's no wonder Mr. Lawrence showed up this morning with a dozen different breakfast options just for her to choose from."

…

Pearl's hand fluttered over her lower abdomen. The little hummingbird heartbeat that had once been there was… gone.

The baby must've realized that it was just like her. They were both unwanted children. That had to be why the baby left her side.

"Hey, why are you crying?"

One of the nurses finally noticed that Pearl was awake. She gently wiped the tears off Pearl's cheeks and comforted her, saying, "It's okay. Don't be sad. You're still young. The most important thing now is to focus on recovering your health. Do you want me to help you contact your family?"

Pearl slowly shook her head and only asked weakly, "I remember someone donated his blood for me yesterday… Where is he?"

"Oh, him? He's one of our interns. He donated a whopping total of 1.7 pints of blood in one go just to save you. He's probably resting at home right now."

The other nurse added, "I've never seen anyone so desperate to save a life. It was so reckless of him! Once you're discharged, you definitely need to send him a gift basket or two as thanks."

Pearl was discharged nine days later.

During her stay, she had heard countless romantic stories from various sources about Jonah and Cecelia upstairs. 

To avoid running into Jonah, Pearl had made the executive decision to stay holed up in her hospital room as much as possible.

However, she had to handle things personally in order to be discharged.

"Pearl Hamilton!" the receptionist called out.

"Coming!"

Pearl immediately went to the front desk to pay the fees as soon as her name was called out.

Jonah, who was waiting for the elevator with Cecelia in the hallway, froze for a second.

"I think I just heard Pearl's name."

"How could that be possible?" Cecelia patted his arm and remarked, "This is a hospital. Besides, Pearl is studying. Why would she be at the hospital?"

"That's true." Jonah stepped into the elevator.

Just as the elevator doors slid closed, Pearl sauntered out with a bag of medication in her hand. When she saw that the elevator had just gone up, she clicked her tongue and turned toward the stairs instead, not wanting to wait.

Her lawyer was waiting for her downstairs and had brought along the divorce certificate.

Pearl only took her own copy. Then, she wired some money over to the lawyer and said, "Please mail the other copy to him."

Their child was gone. Now that she had gotten her hands on the divorce certificate, there was nothing left between her and Jonah. Pearl felt relieved and free from her shackles.

The team leader of the Nyora aid work project, Lionel Herbert, had initially approved for Pearl to stay in the country a while longer so she could recuperate. Alas, she refused to stay behind, saying, "I'm young and perfectly healthy. I refuse to hold the team back because of this."

Still, her teammates showered her with extra care on the day of their departure. They carried all her suitcases for her and even splurged for early boarding.

"I've gotten you a local SIM card. We'll be contacting each other through this number once we land."

Lionel handed her the card and was about to tell her to keep both SIM cards when Pearl threw her old one into the trash. "Hey now, kid. Aren't you going to keep in touch with your family back home?" He huffed in amusement.

Pearl shook her head and turned to glance at Northriver through the terminal's glass wall for one final time.

Jonah, this was goodbye—forever.

Jonah nearly crashed his car against the greenery on the way home after he picked Cecelia up from the hospital.

"Jonah, what's been going on with you these past two days? You even forgot you promised to watch a movie with me!" Cecelia complained.

"I'm a little tired today. You should ask Isla to go with you instead," Jonah replied dismissively, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel in irritation.

The unease creeping up his heart seemed to burrow further and further. It had been days, but Pearl hadn't texted him even once. 

When he got home, he was wondering whether he should take the initiative and give her a call when Cecelia started pestering him about calligraphy.

Jonah sighed helplessly. "I remember Pearl has a set of calligraphy pens. I'll find you some in her study."

Pearl was the only one using the study in this apartment. So, he was startled by how empty it was when he pushed the door open to the study.

"She used to keep a lot of books in here. She probably move

Chapter 8