Chapter 342

"Hey, Mom, you're up?" Quentin's voice was all raspy in the dim room.

Esme looked around the hospital room. Before she could ask, Quentin jumped in, "Isabella already headed back."

He was sitting with his back to the light, making it hard to read his face.

"Quentin, did you know about what went down tonight?" Esme's voice was shaky for some reason.

Quentin tilted his chin up a bit, eyes all intense. "Which part are you talking about?"

Esme was thrown off by his question, emotions swirling in her tired eyes. "Cheese only listens to you. Without your say-so, it wouldn't have barged in and exposed the woman hiding at Isabella's place."

Quentin let out a soft chuckle. "Yeah, I knew. I saw that woman sneak in myself."

"Why didn't you tell Isabella earlier?" Esme asked, almost immediately realizing something. "Have you been waiting for a moment like tonight?"

"Yep." Quentin nodded, still calm and steady.

Esme couldn't believe it. She tried to get up, but the knife wound on her body made her wince in pain. She fell back onto the pillow, sweating like crazy.

Siena's stab wasn't fatal, but it was deep. As Esme moved, she felt the stitches tear open, bleeding again.

Esme lay back, staring at the ceiling. The pain messed up her breathing, making it all irregular.

"Why?" Esme murmured, "Do you know that stab could've been fatal?"

Whether it was her or Isabella, it was super dangerous. If it had been an accident, Esme wouldn't have said anything. But thinking Quentin was in on this made her feel like something was crushing her chest, making it hard to breathe.

"I know." Quentin lowered his eyes. "But without this, we'd be stuck. I'm just trying to get things moving."

Esme didn't say anything. She knew what Quentin meant by getting things moving.

Quentin said, "I didn't let Siena in. I just wanted to use her to make Isabella see the truth sooner."

Esme shook her head. "Quentin, I know you're anxious. I'm even more anxious than you. But things need to move gradually. I just wanted to take it slow."

"Take it slow?" Quentin sneered, snapping back, "You have time to take it slow, but does Lova?"

Esme was speechless.

After a moment, she slowly closed her eyes, looking super tired. "You gotta give me some time. After all, Bella is my daughter too."

Quentin straightened up and leaned back in the chair. "I'll give you time. But from now on, you gotta follow my lead."

With that, Quentin pulled out his phone, turned on the camera, and pointed it at Esme.

Seeing Quentin slowly get up, Esme's eyes filled with fear. "Quentin, what are you doing?"

Isabella lay down on the bed after her shower, touching her empty wrist, lost in thought.

Sweetie was lying next to her. Probably napped too much during the day, so now she was all wide-eyed and kicking her little feet, waving her tiny hands, making those cute baby noises.

Isabella turned her head and locked eyes with Sweetie.

Seeing her, Sweetie immediately squinted and smiled, reaching out to touch Isabella's face, making those adorable cooing sounds.

Isabella gently held Sweetie's little hand. "Sweetie, do you think I should forgive Esme?"

"Ahh." Sweetie happily waved her little hand.

Isabella muttered, "You think I'm being cold for not acknowledging her? But she ditched me when I was a kid. How can I just let that go?"

With each word, Isabella's mood got heavier. But her mind kept replaying the scene from a few hours ago when Siena lunged with a knife, and Esme jumped in to shield her without a second thought.

In that split second, no one could've predicted what would happen. But when danger hit, Esme rushed to protect her without hesitation.

Isabella closed her eyes, her mind a mess.

Her phone buzzed twice, showing a video from an unknown number.

The video's thumbnail was Esme lying on a hospital bed.

Isabella held her phone, not opening the video. Sebastian walked over. "Bella?"

Isabella snapped out of it, turned off the phone screen, and tossed it aside.

That night, Isabella couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw that intense scene and remembered Esme's words on the way to the hospital. It played in her mind like a movie on repeat.

Her phone buzzed twice again, this time with news from a website.

Isabella deleted the news and looked at the unread video message below.

After hesitating for a moment, she finally opened the video.

In the video, Esme was curled up in pain on the hospital bed, tears mixed with sweat streaming down her face. There was the sound of a nurse's bell, doors opening and closing, and Quentin urgently calling for a doctor.

The screen shook a few times, the phone fell, and the video ended in darkness.

Isabella was moved by the video. She almost immediately stood up and rushed to the door.

She didn't even think about Sweetie in the cradle.

While changing shoes at the door, Sebastian grabbed her. "What's wrong?"

Isabella's face was pale. "The hospital, I need to go to the hospital."

Sebastian's expression showed understanding. He nodded. "I'll go with you."

When they got to the hospital, they only saw Quentin.

Isabella glanced at the empty hospital bed, her heart sinking. She immediately grabbed Quentin's wrist. "Where's my mom?"

Quentin looked at her, a subtle expression flashing in his eyes. "Her wound reopened and got a bit infected. She's in the debridement room getting it stitched up again. Don't worry; it's not a big deal."

Sebastian frowned. "Reopened? How did the wound reopen?"

Sebastian had also seen the video Quentin sent to Isabella. Honestly, he was a bit suspicious of Quentin's motives.