One Night Stand, Eight Surprises: Pampered by My CEO Husband --- - Chapter 179: Chapter 179

The table was long. Full. Heavy with plates of food no one was touching.
A birthday dinner, meant to celebrate Leila’s college acceptance. But tension hummed like a frayed wire just beneath the laughter.
Amara’s fork clinked too loudly. Skylar rolled their eyes when Aiden mentioned scholarships. Ava gave a backhanded compliment. Zane sighed so hard it might have lifted the ceiling.
Julian said something about equity in inheritance, and Damien raised a brow.
It started small.
By dessert, it was a wildfire.
“You think your cause is more important than mine?” Amara snapped.
“No,” Skylar shot back, “but maybe don’t make every conversation about dance auditions.”
“Stop talking like you’re the only one who ever struggled,” Aiden added.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Zane bit out. “Did someone say the golden child had feelings now?”
Arielle tried to cut in.
“Enough, all of you—”
“Why is it always a competition?” Ava shouted. “Why can’t we just be?”
Julian stood slowly, his voice a whisper. “Because maybe we don’t know how to be family outside of performance.”
Damien slammed his hand on the table.
“Enough!”
The silence that followed was cavernous.
Then Arielle’s breath hitched.
She swayed.
And collapsed.
The panic was instant.
Chairs scraped.
Voices rose.
Damien caught her, shouting for someone to call 911.
Amara was already dialing. Ava held Arielle’s hand. Skylar fumbled for the emergency kit. Julian knelt and whispered, “Stay with us, Mom. Please.”
The ambulance came in under eight minutes.
It felt like hours.
At the hospital, they waited.
Side by side.
Not arguing. Not competing. Just—waiting. Together.
Leila clutched Amara’s hand.
Zane sat in Aiden’s lap like he was seven again.
Julian stared blankly at the tiled floor. Ava curled into Skylar’s shoulder.
Damien didn’t speak.
Didn’t move.
Not until the doctor came out.
“It was a vasovagal syncope,” he said. “A fainting episode brought on by exhaustion and stress. She’s okay. She’s awake. And asking for all of you.”
They flooded the room like a wave.
Arielle smiled softly, pale but radiant.
“You all look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“You were the ghost,” Ava whispered.
Arielle chuckled, and then looked at each of them.
“I love that you’re all passionate. But I didn’t raise you to burn each other down to prove your flames matter.”
No one spoke.
Aiden stepped forward. “We’ve been competing so long... we forgot we’re all on the same team.”
Skylar nodded. “We forgot to listen.”
Amara cried.
And Zane, always deflecting, simply said: “I thought I’d never see you again.”
Back home, the dinner table was reset.
No celebration this time. No occasion.
Just family.
They passed food gently. Shared stories. Laughed honestly.
At the end, Julian raised a glass.
“To our chaos. To our noise. To every cracked plate and too-loud voice. And to the woman who holds it all together.”
Arielle smiled.
Her pulse steady.
Her family—divided just days ago—now whole again.
Not perfect.
But perfectly theirs.