From Forgotten Wife To Fierce Queen - Chapter 146: Chapter 146

Serena's surgery took three hours, but her spleen was saved. She was now transferred to a recovery room. The anesthesia hadn't worn off yet, so she was still unconscious.
Maria sat by the bed, tears streaming as she looked at Serena's pale face.
"My poor Rena. She's been through so much," Maria sobbed as she wiped her tears with her sleeve. "If I hadn't taken Rena to the restaurant, this wouldn't have happened. I was so clueless that I didn't even notice. If I had realized sooner, none of this would've happened."
Saying this, Maria slapped herself hard across the face. "Maria!" Paisley quickly reached out to stop her before she could slap herself again.
"Paisley, I feel terrible. I just can't stand it," Maria sobbed uncontrollably.
Seeing Maria's torn clothes, scratches on her face, and messy hair, Paisley felt a pang of sadness. "Maria, you did everything you could to protect Rena today. No one wanted this to happen."
It was just bad luck that Serena's abdomen hit something hard during the chaos, and the strong impact caused her spleen to rupture. Thankfully, her spleen was ultimately saved. With proper rest, she would recover without major issues.
Paisley looked at Maria and said, "So really, this isn't your fault. If anyone's to blame, it's me. I've been neglecting Rena because of work. You only wanted to make her happy by taking her to that restaurant, didn't you?"
Whenever Paisley thought about how her job almost cost her the chance to see Serena again, she was filled with fear.
And of all days, today had to be the one when she was finishing the most important part of her script, working tirelessly without eating or sleeping.
It just so happened that today, her phone had run out of battery, and she didn't even realize it. As a result, she missed so many calls from Maria.
And also today, the explosion caused Serena to suffer a ruptured spleen, requiring an urgent blood transfusion, forcing her to reveal Serena's true blood type in front of Dominick and the Vanderbilt family.
It felt as if everything was preordained. But so what? Nothing would change. In the future, her life and Serena's life wouldn't change either.
At that moment, a doctor walked into the ward and politely said to Paisley, "I'm here to check on Serena's condition."
Seeing that it was the doctor who performed Serena's surgery, Paisley didn't think much of it. She didn't notice that while examining Serena's condition, the doctor discreetly took a few strands of Serena's hair.
"The condition looks good. She should wake up in a little while. Once awake, she might feel some pain from the wound," the doctor advised before leaving the room.
After the doctor left, Paisley realized she hadn't seen Max in a while. It seemed like he disappeared after Rena returned to the ward. Paisley wanted to thank him properly for his help today.
"Maria, have you seen Max?" she asked Maria, hoping to shift Maria's focus away from her guilt.
Sobbing and wiping her tears, Maria replied, "I didn't notice. I was just looking at Rena the whole time. Maybe he went home?"
Paisley nodded. "Probably went home." She didn't overthink it. They were just neighbors—if he saw that everything was fine, it made sense for him to leave.
"Maria, maybe you should go home too," Paisley said, noticing how disheveled Maria looked and feeling bad about making her stay.
Knowing Maria would refuse, Paisley continued, "Go home, take a shower, change your clothes, and get some sleep. Also, pack some clean clothes for Rena and bring them over tomorrow morning, okay?"
Maria finally looked at herself and realized how messy her clothes were, recognizing it wasn't appropriate to stay in the hospital like this. She also understood that Paisley was being considerate of her.
"Alright, I'll go home tonight and come back tomorrow morning," said Maria.
"Don't worry, Rena's fine now, and I'm here with her. Nothing will happen," said Paisley.
Hearing Paisley's reassurance, Maria's tightly wound nerves finally relaxed. What followed was an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. Paisley was right—she really did need some rest.
Maria grabbed her bag and headed to the door. As she opened it, she saw a tall figure leaning against the wall, head down, expression unreadable. It was Dominick.
Hearing the door, Dominick immediately looked up. But when he saw that it was Maria and not Paisley herself, the light in his eyes dimmed. Maria noticed the change in his expression, then turned to look at Paisley in the room.
"Paisley," she said, motioning toward Dominick with her chin, her eyes hinting at something.
Paisley immediately understood Maria's implication and, with a somber look, nodded. She knew that if she didn't give Dominick an explanation today, he wouldn't leave.
After signaling Maria to go home, and ensuring Serena wouldn't wake up soon, Paisley walked to the door. The moment she saw Dominick up close, she was startled.
She hadn't paid much attention to him before, but now, up close, she realized he had lost a lot of weight. His already well-defined face now looked even sharper, with hollowed eyes and slightly red corners.
Just one glance revealed how broken he was. Seeing Paisley, his eyes turned even redder. "Paisley, you're finally willing to see me."
"And if I hadn't come out? What would you have done? Forced your way in?" Her gaze drifted to Julian and the highly trained bodyguards standing behind him.
Dominick let out a bitter laugh, his voice low. "You know I wouldn't do that to you. Those men are here to protect you and Rena."
"Thanks, but I don't need them." Paisley really didn't—this was a hospital, so it was safe. And even if she needed protection, she could arrange it herself.
She was slightly surprised—this man hadn't immediately confronted her about lying about Serena's blood type. Instead, he seemed certain that Serena was his daughter.
It made sense. When she revealed that Serena's blood type was O, Dominick must have already figured everything out.
Dominick's voice was hoarse, "Paisley, I looked at Rena's hospital registration and saw her birthday. So, when we got divorced, you were already pregnant, weren't you?"
"What are you trying to say?" Paisley didn't want to revisit the past. Those memories weren't pleasant.
"Why didn't you tell me? If you had, I wouldn't have signed the divorce papers back then."
Paisley found it laughable. Not to mention, at the time, she hadn't even known she was pregnant.
Even if she had known, would she really want to use a child to humbly salvage that failed marriage? Doing so would only make her even more miserable.
Dominick understood the decisiveness and sarcasm in Paisley's eyes. If he could, he would go back in time and kill that arrogant, selfish version of himself.
"Paisy, I really know I was wrong. Please forgive me, for the sake of our children, okay? Sonny needs his mother, Rena needs her father, don't they?"
Paisley shook her head. "Dominick, there's something I hope you understand. Sonny's mother doesn't have to be me. You can find any woman to be his mother. Similarly, Rena's father doesn't have to be you. I can find any man to be her father."
At that moment, Max walked over holding two delicate food containers. When he saw Paisley standing at the hospital door, he smiled warmly, "Are you hungry? I asked Leo and the others to pack some food for you."
As he reached the door, Max acted as if he had just seen Dominick. "Oh, Mr. Ex is here too? Do you want to join us for a meal?"
If one didn't know better, they might think he was Paisley's generous current boyfriend.