STIGMA

A sharp, piercing cry sliced through the sterile air of the delivery room, followed immediately by another.

Chloe Hayes's vision swam. Sweat pasted strands of hair to her temples. The exhaustion was a physical weight, pressing down on her bones, but the sound of her babies' cries was a tether to life. Tears, hot and thick, blurred the already hazy lights above her.

With a kind expression on her face, the midwife placed the two warm little babies on Chloe’s chest. The weight was surprisingly solid. A tiny, thumping heartbeat pulsed against her own exhausted one. A wave of love, so fierce it felt like a physical blow, crashed over her, stealing what little breath she had left.

The midwife ’s voice a soothing balm. "You gave birth to a pair of adorable boy and girl twins . Both perfectly healthy."

Chloe smiled weakly, trying to look at the two babies surrounded by the midwives.

Outside the delivery room, a nurse cried out, “Where’s Chloe Hayes’s family? Where are Chloe Hayes’s parents?”

She called out again and again, but no one responded.

On the hospital bed, Chloe’s face turned even paler at the sound.

Had Julian really not come?

Even though they were divorcing, he was still the children’s biological father. So before entering the delivery room, she called him.

She lay in the hospital bed, completely exhausted and weak.

The doctor and nurse quickly took her to the ward.

However, she wasn’t taken to the private VIP ward that Julian had promised her, but rather an ordinary multi-person room.

There were many people in the ward. Besides her, there were also pregnant women lying in the other three beds. Each of them was attended to by several family members.

Some were taking care of their wives, some were leaning over the baby cribs to watch their children, and there were also new dads holding their babies and comforting them. Everyone had a happy smile on their face.

A sense of icy humiliation swept through Chloe’s entire body.

She gave birth suddenly, and now there was no one to take care of her. She was unable to care for the baby on her own, and the nurses couldn’t help all the time. So, she decided to call Julian for help.

A nurse handed Chloe her phone. Her trembling fingers fumbled across the screen until she found Julian Sterling’s name in the contacts. The sharp-looking business photo he used as his profile picture seemed to mock her from the screen.

She took a deep, shaky breath and pressed the call button.

The sound that answered wasn't his voice. It was the cacophony of a party-loud music, the clinking of glasses, a swell of laughter.

Then, his voice, sharp and impatient. "Chloe? What is it? I'm busy."

The coldness in his tone was a familiar ache. She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the words out. "Julian, the babies... have been born. "

A beat of silence on the other end. Just long enough for a sliver of hope to flicker in her chest.

Then it was extinguished. "Okay. Send the details to my assistant."