"Bro?" Alessia called out.
Riley looked up, adjusted the silver glasses on his nose, and smiled politely, "Sia, why are you here?"
"I'm sending the kids to school." Alessia noticed that Riley was still wearing yesterday's clothes, and his face looked a bit tired. Sensing that something was wrong, she furrowed her brows and asked, "You didn't go back yesterday? Why are you here, and where's Bianca?"
"She's in the hospital." Riley replied.
Alessia was surprised, "Why is she in the hospital? She seemed fine when she called me last night."
Riley tiredly took off his glasses and rubbed his brow, "She lied to you. It's not a big deal, but last night, Bianca didn't want to go home. We had a little argument, and she accidentally sprained her foot. Don't worry, she'll be discharged after breakfast."
Alessia breathed a sigh of relief, "Then I'll go with you."
Riley didn't refuse.
At the hospital, Bianca limped and pushed open the door to the doctor's office.
Since last night, she had been cold-shouldering Riley until now. She had waited until he went to buy breakfast before leaving the ward.
She wanted to handle the discharge procedures herself and didn't want to deal with Riley, that scumbag. She could live without him.
After sitting down, Bianca looked at the attending doctor, "Doctor, I want to be discharged."
"Are you Miss Bianca Carter?" The doctor took out her medical records and flipped through them, then said, "The problem with your leg isn't serious, you just need to rest for a while. However, you're already one month pregnant. The baby is still small, but you should go to the gynecology department as soon as possible to establish a file and do the necessary checks."
Bianca listened to the doctor's words, completely stunned. After a moment, she came back to her senses and asked unbelievably, "Doctor, you... did you say I'm pregnant?"
"Yes." The doctor nodded affirmatively, "Your husband was worried last night and had a full-body examination for you. There should be no mistake about this."
The doctor's words echoed in Bianca's ears, but she couldn't hear them anymore.
She hadn't forgotten the conflict with Riley last night, all because Riley suspected she was pregnant and explicitly stated he didn't want the child.
Bianca forced a bitter smile and pleaded, "Doctor, can you please not tell about the child to... my husband?"
She knew the doctor had misunderstood her relationship with Riley, but she didn't have the mood to explain right now.
Before she decided whether she wanted this child or not, she didn't want Riley to know.
The doctor paused for a moment, then smiled knowingly, "You want to surprise your husband, right? Young people these days are so affectionate. Don't worry, I won't say anything."
"Thank you."
Bianca got up, holding the documents, and left the office. As she walked, she couldn't help but touch her stomach.
It was miraculous that there was already a little life inside her. But Riley didn't want it.
"Bianca." A familiar female voice sounded, and Bianca looked up to see Alessia and Riley walking side by side.
Bianca's hand holding the documents subconsciously tightened, instinctively wanting to hide them behind her back, but she controlled herself in the end.
If she hid them, wouldn't it be admitting guilt?
"Sister-in-law," Bianca forced out a stiff smile.
"Where are you going? Didn't you sprain your foot? Why did you come out by yourself?" Alessia asked with concern.
"I'm fine. The doctor said my condition is not serious. I just finished the discharge procedures." Bianca replied, trying to keep her expression natural.
"You went to handle the discharge procedures?" Riley's gaze fell on the documents in Bianca's hand, and he reached out, "Let me see the test report."
Bianca looked at the hand Riley extended towards her, and she instinctively took a few steps back, resisting as she said, "It's okay, the doctor already told me that there's nothing wrong with my body. I don't need to trouble Mr. Sinclair."
After saying this, she looked at Alessia and said, "Sister-in-law, are you going back? I'll walk with you."
Alessia pursed her lips. She could clearly see that the conflict between Bianca and Riley hadn't been resolved but had deepened instead.
Bianca's current demeanor indicated that her emotions were obviously not good. Alessia didn't want to ask too much about the specifics, so she said, "I made an appointment with Grandma and need to go to the old house first. But it's okay, I can accompany you back first."
"No need." Bianca interrupted immediately, her face pale, "I'll go back to the old house."
Being back at the old house was quiet, with no one to disturb her. More importantly, she was afraid that her brother would notice something was off about her.
"As you wish." Alessia saw Bianca's fragile, helpless, and conflicted appearance, and how could she bear to refuse her again?
The three of them left the hospital.
There happened to be a taxi parked outside. Seeing Bianca getting in first, Alessia turned back to Riley and said, "We're leaving first. Take care on your way back."
"Okay, be careful." Riley absentmindedly replied.
Seeing Riley's distracted appearance, Alessia suddenly hesitated to get into the taxi. Tentatively, she asked, "Brother, have you really decided not to give it a try with Bianca?"
If possible, she naturally hoped that Bianca and Riley would get along well. After all, she cared about both of them.
Riley looked up, his face calm and gentle. He said, "Silly girl, you still care about me? I know what I am doing. I am used to being free, and it's better not to delay her."
Alessia furrowed her brows, looking at the seemingly gentle but actually inwardly closed-off Riley, speechless. After all, she couldn't make decisions for him.
When they arrived at the old house, just as they reached the main entrance, Bianca, who had been silent the whole way, finally spoke up.
"Sister-in-law, you go meet Grandma. I'm a little tired and will go back to my room first."
"I'll accompany you!" Alessia didn't let go of Bianca's arm.
"No need, I can go back by myself." Bianca refused, looking lively, but in reality, she seemed especially quiet. Alessia felt uncomfortable with this sudden silence, as if her entire heart was worrying for Bianca.
Alessia didn't know what had happened between Bianca and Riley since they left the bar last night, leading to this current situation.
She sighed and was about to say something when Bianca suddenly tightened her grip on the documents she had been holding onto since leaving the hospital. She looked up and stared at Alessia's face intently, as if hoping to see a certain kind of courage in her.
"Sister-in-law, can you tell me, when you gave birth to Elle and Chris, how did you feel?"
How did she feel?
Alessia's eyes flickered, suddenly realizing something. Her expression became serious, and she truthfully replied, "You know I was in an amnesiac state, completely unaware of my past and with no relatives around me. I wanted to leave something behind, but everyone's situation is different, so it can't be taken as a reference."
Bianca blinked, her eyelashes drooping somewhat dejectedly. "Sister-in-law, I just suddenly thought of it, I didn't mean anything else. It's not a reference. I'll go back to my room now."
Alessia didn't expose her, saying, "Okay, if you're tired, don't think about anything else and just have a good sleep. If there's something, deal with it when you wake up. Don't forget, both the children and I are your backbones."
"Sister-in-law, you're really good!" Bianca's eyes moistened at Alessia's words.
She truly felt that way. She had been so terrible before, always causing trouble for her sister-in-law.
But her sister-in-law didn't hold grudges and cared about her so much.
Alessia watched as Bianca left, then heard applause behind her.
***