The Billionaire Ex-Wife and the Beggar He Became novel Chapter 387

As she questioned Yves, Winona took in her surroundings.

White walls. A vase of fresh flowers on the bedside table. An IV drip in her hand.

"Why am I in the hospital?" she asked.

"You had a fever last night, you were delirious. Why don't you take better care of yourself? You scared Zane half to death; he wouldn't stop crying," Yves said, his expression a mixture of sternness and worry. He sat on the edge of the bed, his arms still around her, holding her close.

A nurse standing nearby added, "Miss Perkins, you must have been having quite a nightmare. You were crying and flailing your arms. If Mr. Prescott hadn't held you down, your IV would have come right out."

Winona's mind was blank at first, but then the memories slowly returned.

After refusing Tiana's plea last night, she hadn't been able to sleep. A sense of unease settled over her. A little while later, she received a call from Sue.

"Miss Perkins, I saw Tiana called you. I was worried you'd be anxious about her, so I wanted to let you know she's asleep now. I've calmed her down, so you don't need to worry."

"Why was she crying?" Winona had asked.

Sue had explained, "Miss Shepherd is pregnant. I think the little princess overheard Miss Shepherd and the master talking about being a family of four. She feels like she's been left out."

Winona didn't know what to say. After hanging up, sleep was even further away. She went to the living room and sat on the sofa in the dark.

In the middle of the night, Zane got up to use the bathroom and saw a figure sitting in the pitch-black room. He let out a terrified shriek and stumbled, hitting his head on the corner of a table. Winona snapped to her senses, flipped on the light, and saw blood trickling from Zane's forehead.

In the dead of winter, without even grabbing a coat, she scooped him up, ran downstairs, and drove straight to the hospital.

The cut wasn't deep, just a superficial gash a little over a centimeter long. The doctor used a local anesthetic. As they stitched him up, the six-year-old boy buried his face in his mother's arms, his cries heart-wrenching. Winona, wearing only a thin shirt, was so racked with worry and panic that she broke out in a sweat, her clothes clinging to her skin.

Only after Zane's wound was bandaged and he had quieted down in her arms did she feel the bone-deep chill seeping into her.

Zane shook his head. "Not at all, Mommy."

"It's my fault," Winona said, her voice filled with guilt. "I shouldn't have been sitting in the dark like that. I scared you."

"Nona, what were you doing sitting in the living room in the middle of the night?" Mia asked, confused.

Yves looked at her with the same question in his eyes.

Winona gave a wry smile. "Tiana and I have always spent New Year's together. This year we can't. Even though she's the one who pushed me away, she's still my daughter. With Felicity pregnant, Julian and she are bound to neglect her. She called Zane last night, looking for me. She was crying her eyes out."

"Serves her right," Mia muttered.

Winona sighed. "Maybe so, but she's still just a five-year-old child."