Chapter 278 Trapped in the Past

Chapter 278: Chapter 278 Trapped in the Past

The surgery lasted nearly five hours.

The Hale family waited outside the operating room at Mercy General.

Alpha Roger sat rigidly in a plastic chair, Isabella paced the hallway, and Alpha Sebastian stood beneath the red Surgery in Progress sign, staring at it until his eyes burned.

"Why is no one coming out?" Isabella demanded for the third time.

"No one knows," Alpha Roger said. "The surgeon told us her odds were good."

Mercy General was one of Palo Alto’s best hospitals, equipped with advanced surgical technology and specialists recruited from across the country. But five hours was still five hours.

At last, the red light went dark.

The surgeon stepped out wearing a surgical cap and mask pulled beneath his chin.

"The procedure went well," he said. "But the follow-up treatment is critical. She cannot miss a single cycle."

The Hales were allowed to watch Luna Margaret through the observation-room window but couldn’t enter yet.

Alpha Roger turned to Alpha Sebastian. "You heard the doctor. Long-term treatment won’t be cheap. Your mother needs you focused, not cleaning up Serena Winthrop’s mess again."

"She won’t," Alpha Sebastian said quietly.

Alpha Roger hesitated. "And the baby...what happened was tragic, but it wasn’t entirely your fault. Don’t let Serena use your guilt to control you. You’ve already lost enough. Don’t become another casualty in her mess."

The words hit too close.

Alpha Sebastian muttered that he needed the restroom and left before anyone could stop him.

What he really needed was a moment away from everyone watching him fall apart.

Instead, he ended up in an empty stairwell with an unlit cigarette between his lips. His lighter clicked over and over, but he never lit it.

The tiny flame flickered against his red-rimmed eyes.

Tears slid silently down his face.

He finally dropped the cigarette into the trash, pocketed the lighter, and pulled out his phone.

He wanted to tell Eira the surgery had gone well. Good news like this had once belonged to both of them.

But Eira had blocked him months ago.

After hesitating, he opened the account he used under the name Finn. He typed, erased the message, then typed it again.

[Sebastian’s mother had surgery today. It went well.]

He sent it.

Eira stared at the message, confused. Why would Finn tell her about Margaret Hale’s surgery?

She didn’t reply.

Alpha Sebastian opened Eira’s profile. It was nearly blank. Only three days of posts remained visible. Even the announcement of their divorce was gone.

He had become a Chapter she had already closed.

He scrolled down, then back up, waiting for a sign that would never come.

Nothing changed.

Still, he couldn’t make himself stop.

--

Across town, Eira was already building a new routine.

Alpha Killian had arranged for her to practice on a private, gated lot after she passed the written test and received her instruction permit. He had also cleared the insurance with Sterling’s risk-management office and confirmed that the lot could be used for low-speed training.

Studying had always been her strength. She was the quiet overachiever who could outwork anyone in the room and remember every detail without making a fuss.

Driving was another story.

For the first lesson, Alpha Killian had chosen a black Maybach.

Eira stopped halfway across the asphalt.

He leaned against the hood in a dark sweater, his arms folded over his chest. When he saw her, he straightened.

"Over here."

She walked up and stared at the car. "You’re teaching me in a Maybach?"

"It has a full safety system."

"It also costs more than my apartment."

"That makes you less likely to hit anything."

"That is not how driving works."

The corner of his mouth lifted. "Get in."

Eira opened the driver’s door but didn’t sit down. "Why not use something normal?"

"Because this is the vehicle I had cleared for your first lesson."

"You could have mentioned that before I started having a financial crisis."

"I thought you were studying for your permit, not shopping for a car."

She gave him a flat look, then climbed into the driver’s seat.

Alpha Killian took the passenger seat and buckled his belt. With the gates locked and the lot empty, there was no traffic, no impatient driver behind her, and no one to witness her making a fool of herself. That helped, at least a little.

"No public roads today," he said. "We’re staying inside the lot. Seat position, mirrors, pedals, and braking. That’s it."

"I watched tutorials."

"Good. Show me what you learned."

Eira reached beneath the seat and pressed the first control she found.

The seat dropped backward without warning. She slid with it and let out a startled gasp.

Alpha Killian reacted instantly. One hand caught her wrist while the other braced against the seat. He pulled her upright before her shoulder struck the door.

For a second, they were inches apart.

Eira’s heart slammed against her ribs.

Alpha Killian’s fingers remained wrapped around her wrist, his thumb resting directly over her pulse.

The contact was practical, nothing more, but her body reacted as if he had touched something far more intimate.

"Did that scare you?" he asked.

"No."

"Your heartbeat disagrees."

"You’re still holding me."

His gaze dropped to the place where his hand covered her skin. Something possessive flickered in his silver-gray eyes before he released her.

He let go slowly, as if he had to remind himself to do it.

Eira pulled her wrist against her chest. "You could’ve warned me."

"I assumed you knew how to adjust a seat."

"I watched a video. I didn’t memorize your car."

"Then stay focused."

"I am focused."