Farewell to Love: The CEO's Desperate Chase novel Chapter 36

"Hiss—"

The fall happened too quickly, too violently. Emilia's nails scraped jagged lines into the wooden railing before she tumbled down the stairs.

She barely had time to clutch her stomach.

It all unfolded in a single, breathless instant.

On the landing above, Vivienne and Joyce's heads collided with a sickening thud as they crashed to the floor together.

In the chaos, Tyler felt something push against his hand—and then he saw Emilia tumbling down the stairwell.

He reached out, desperate to catch her, but his fingers closed on empty air.

The stairwell was dim, the motion-sensor lights flickering off as soon as the commotion stilled. Only the eerie green glow from the exit sign bathed the scene in an unnatural light.

Emilia, battered and shaken, managed to sit up at the bottom of the stairs. She raised her head and saw Tyler's hand still frozen in the air, unable to pull it back in time.

It was his hand that pushed her.

"Emily!"

Joyce's voice trembled with fear.

The shout flicked the sensor lights back on, illuminating the aftermath.

She shoved Vivienne aside and stumbled down the steps, nearly tripping in her rush to reach the landing where Emilia lay.

"Emily, are you okay?"

Joyce's voice was thick with tears as she knelt beside Emilia, hands trembling as she tried to help.

Cold sweat drenched Emilia's face.

Pain radiated through her body—her arms, her legs, her head all ached from where she'd hit the stairs.

But nothing compared to the agony in her stomach.

It was so intense she nearly blacked out.

"Emily…"

Panic overwhelmed Joyce; she knew exactly what condition Emilia was in.

"The impact was hard—she hit her head, there's some scrapes and a possible concussion."

"There's some bleeding… The baby's still there for now, but it's dangerous. She'll need strict bed rest if she wants to keep it…"

The doctor had told Joyce all this when Emilia was discharged earlier.

Joyce remembered, too, that during the emergency, Emilia had begged the doctors to save the baby.

But now—after tumbling down a flight of stairs, all because of her—Joyce's guilt threatened to drown her.

He just stared into the cold, white light of the hallway beyond the stairwell.

It was late; the building was quiet, nearly empty.

But Tyler's heart was anything but calm.

He replayed the chaos in his mind—Emilia falling, his own hand outstretched.

His fists clenched so tightly his fingernails dug into his palms.

"Tyler." Vivienne's voice was soft beside him.

He looked down at her—her cheek swollen and red, a lump already forming on her forehead.

He closed his eyes.

When he opened them, his voice was steady, almost cold:

"Emilia, you've made your bed. Now lie in it."

Then he led Vivienne out of the stairwell, leaving Emilia behind.

"Tyler!"

Behind them, Joyce's anguished scream echoed through the empty stairwell.