?<strong>Chapter 127:</strong>


    Amara shifted her gaze, her guilt palpable. She had sent people to locate Adrian, but he remained elusive.


    “I don’t know where Adrian is,” she confessed. Katie chimed in eagerly, “Grandma, I know! He must be at the hospital with Reba!”


    “No, that can’t be,” Amara interjected quickly, aware of Irene’s disdain for the Lloyd family. The thought of Adrian being with them was unthinkable to Irene. “I was just at the hospital. Reba was there, but Adrian wasn’t.”


    Irene’s voice was tinged with disappointment. “So, you have no clue where your own son is?”


    “Enough!” Irene interrupted sharply. “Someone go to the hospital and bring Reba here. That will surely bring Adrian back.”


    It seemed a feasible n, but Amara hesitated. “Irene, remember, Reba is seriously ill. If we move her here…” Irene’s eyes shed with cold dismissiveness. “She should count herself lucky. Without our financial support, she wouldn’t havested this long. We practically own her life! And if she dies, it’s merely bad luck on her part.”


    Amara fell silent, unable to counter.


    Meanwhile, Joelle was quietly packing her belongings. Downstairs, Leah hung up the phone and hurried upstairs, her expression urgent. “The Miller Mansion is in chaos!”


    “I see. It’s about Spencer, isn’t it?” Joelle responded calmly.


    “No, it’s worse!” Leah eximed, her voice tinged with urgency. “Irene is furious because she can’t find Adrian. To force him out of hiding, she’s nning to send someone to the hospital to bring Reba here by force!” Joelle paused, her heart skipping a beat. Adrian was protective of Reba—if anything happened to her, the consequences would be severe.


    Irene’s drastic measure to force Adrian’s appearance spoke volumes about her anger. Oddly, this brought Joelle some relief, knowing Irene was taking her side. Leah’s anxiety was clear. She feared for both Reba’s safety and Adrian’s response.


    “I think Irene will send for you soon. Have you decided what you’re going to do?”


    Joelle took a deep breath, her resolve firming. “Whatever happens, I’ll face it. I’ll go with Adrian.” She knew who had been at Adrian’s sidetely.


    Not long ago, Michael had called her. “Joelle, you need to take Adrian home. He’s been drinking non-stop. He might not survive if this keeps up!”


    “I’m not his girlfriend, nor the wife he acknowledges. Don’t you think it’s a bit inappropriate to call me?” She had hung up immediately, and when Michael had called again, she had ignored it.


    Adrian was drowning in sorrow, but his remorse was likely centered on the baby they had lost.


    But why should he feel remorse?


    If the child had been born, it would have be just another tool for him in his relentless pursuit of power. But Joelle had secretly kept the child, and only a few people knew.


    She intended to raise the baby on her own and leave this painful chapter of her life behind.


    “Mrs. Miller?” Leah lightly patted Joelle’s shoulder.


    Joelle gathered her thoughts and said with resolve, “Leah, you can head downstairs now. I’ll reach out to Adrian.”


    “Okay,” Leah replied, and then left the room.


    Michael had secured a vi in the suburbs. It was a secluded ce, rarely visited by others.


    Adrian had wanted to be somewhere quiet, so Michael could only bring him here.


    The living room floor was littered with empty bottles. Adrian had fallen into a pattern—he would drink until he passed out, wake up, and start drinking all over again. “Adrian, that’s enough!” Michael wrestled the bottle from Adrian’s grasp.


    Adrian was relentless.


    “It’s not enough. It’s never enough.”


    His trust in Joelle shattered alongside the grief of losing a child and the betrayal by Erick.


    At twenty-eight, he felt he had never been so defeated in life.


    “Leave me be! Give me the wine!”


    Just then, Adrian’s phone rang. Michael, seizing the moment to interrupt the cycle, pushed Adrian slightly and answered the call. “Hello? Joelle…”


    Hearing her name, Adrian ceased his struggle for the bottle and instead reached out urgently for his phone. “You want to speak with Adrian? Okay. I’ll hand him the phone.”


    When Adrian took the phone, he was momentarily at a loss for words. “I’m sorry,” he began hesitantly. Joelle’s voice was steady as she responded, “Don’t worry about that now. Irene has sent someone to the hospital to bring Reba to the Miller Mansion. If you care about her safety, you shoulde back immediately. I’ll go with you to sort things out with Irene.”


    The alcohol had slowed Adrian’s reactions, and it took him a moment to process her words. “Are you helping me and Reba?” he asked slowly, disbelief coloring his tone. “Or what?”


    Despite her resentment towards them both, Joelle didn’t wish any harm on Reba. Such a scenario would onlyplicate matters further for her.


    In a fit of frustration, Adrian smashed an empty bottle on the table and stood up abruptly. “Joelle, since when are you so magnanimous? Calling me to protect another woman? We had a child! What do I and our baby mean to you?”


    “Who are you to speak of our baby? Adrian, you’ve never cared for me. We should just part ways.”


    At the mention of the baby, Adrian’s heart tightened, rendering the rest of her words insignificant.


    In a mix of anger and sudden rity, he pped himself hard across the face, shaking off the remnants of inebriation to regain his usual detached demeanor.


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