Imprisoned While Pregnant, She's Back for Payback novel Chapter 478

Kylie nestled closer to Henry, resting her head gently against his shoulder. “Alright, I’ll do whatever you want,” she whispered softly.

Henry exchanged a brief, meaningful glance with Nadine before averting his eyes. His voice lowered to a quiet murmur. “Nadine told me everything. This is on me. I haven’t been around enough, leaving you all by yourself at home. Once Tess returns, we’ll all be together again. And when that time comes, please don’t be angry with her, okay? You really can’t afford to lose your temper right now.”

Kylie nodded earnestly, absorbing every word.

Henry lingered a moment longer, speaking a little more before finally releasing Kylie’s hand and rising to his feet. “Let me walk you out. The driver’s already waiting outside.”

Grasping his hand firmly, Kylie urged, “You should hurry home too.”

Henry smiled and nodded in agreement, but as soon as Kylie stepped away, the warmth drained from his face and eyes. His expression darkened, a frown creasing his brow as he turned to look at Nadine, who lay quietly in the hospital bed.

“How did this even happen? What did Tess do to you?” he asked, his voice low but edged with coldness.

Nadine caught the icy glare in Henry’s eyes but didn’t flinch. Biting her lip to hold back the pain, she finally spoke, her voice trembling with hurt. “It was Max. I went to Tess’s company, just like you told me to, to try and make peace with her. But Max held a grudge. He waited for me as I left, dragged me to the nearest factory near Hunt Group, and beat me up…”

She let the full truth spill out, the pain in her voice unmistakable.

Henry’s face remained unreadable, if anything, his annoyance seemed to deepen as he stared at her.

“Then you’re not going back to the villa tomorrow. Tess probably doesn’t want to see you anyway. Just stay here and rest,” he said brusquely, waving his hand before turning and leaving the room.

Nadine was left alone, swallowed by a hollow emptiness. The quiet hum of the hospital room was broken only by the occasional drip from the IV beside her.

So Tess didn’t want to see her, and now Henry was abandoning her too? She had endured all this pain because of his orders, yet not a single word of concern had passed his lips.

Her heart felt as if it had been torn to shreds, a deep ache settling inside her chest.

She bit her lip again, trying to swallow the bitter lump rising in her throat. Leaning back against the pillow, she closed her eyes for a moment, gathering her scattered thoughts before finally reaching for her phone and dialing Shannon.

“Mom…” she began hesitantly.

“What’s wrong, Nadine?” Shannon’s voice was soft and gentle, like the first light of dawn breaking through the mist.

Nadine’s nose stung unexpectedly. “Mom, I got hurt.”

“Hurt? What happened? Did you get looked after?” Shannon’s tone remained calm, but Nadine sensed an absence of real worry beneath it.

Nadine’s chest rose and fell deeply. Releasing her frustration had brought a small measure of relief.

Time passed slowly, and night settled over the hospital.

In the quiet darkness, everyone was wrapped up in their own plans and thoughts.

As dawn began to break, Henry’s assistant arrived punctually at the entrance of Mars Legal, standing in for Nadine.

Tess helped the two elders and Violet into her car, with Abel already behind the wheel.

Lyra and Raven still looked uneasy, trailing behind in a separate vehicle. Lachlan had also come to the company and didn’t want to be left out, so he climbed into their car as well.

The two luxury cars followed Henry’s assistant, heading straight toward Ember Villa.

“Why isn’t Nadine here?” Tess frowned, a sense of unease creeping over her.

Abel, however, seemed to know more. Resting one hand lazily on the steering wheel, he glanced at Tess. “It’s because of yesterday. Nadine got hurt by Max.”