An indeterminate amount of time passed before Stella finally opened her eyes.

It felt like she was waking up from a dream. A terrifying, inescapable nightmare.

"Ms. Cameron, you're awake."

A cool, melodic voice drifted from the side of the room.

Stella blinked, and a beautiful face came into focus. "Ms. Quinn..."

Laurel Quinn looked down at her. Her gaze held a mix of sorrow, pity, and a faint trace of guilt.

"How are you feeling?"

Stella's hand instinctively drifted down to rest over her flat stomach. "The baby..."

Laurel averted her eyes. "The baby... is gone."

Stella's eyes widened. "What... what did you say?"

Laurel's voice was quiet. "Mr. Burton said whatever was given to you wasn't a standard drug. It was a potent poison. Even if they had managed to save the pregnancy, the child would have suffered from severe defects or deformities. You'll need at least two years to recover from this. For the next two years, you can't risk getting pregnant... or the same complications will happen again."

The remaining color drained from Stella's face, inch by agonizing inch. The light in her eyes extinguished like a blown-out candle.

Laurel let out a soft sigh. "Mr. Burton and Colby were worried that the news would completely break Joshua, so they haven't told him yet. They wanted you to make the call."

"Make the call..." Stella repeated the words, her voice hollow.

Laurel watched the lifeless woman in the bed, hesitating. In Laurel's mind, Joshua's well-being always came first. But even with her cold rationality, she couldn't bring herself to say what needed to be said to a mother who had just lost her child.

It was simply too cruel.

But Laurel didn't have to say it. Stella already understood.

"So," Stella whispered to herself, "Foreman wasn't entirely lying."

She slowly lifted her gaze to Laurel. Her eyes were vacant, as if her soul had been hollowed out.

"If Joshua finds out about this and loses his mind," Stella said methodically, "the success rate for the hypnosis should double. If he believes I intentionally aborted the baby, he won't have any lingering attachment to me. He won't resist anymore. People naturally want to escape from agonizing memories, and Joshua is no exception. This blow will be so devastating that not only will he refuse to remember it, but he'll also actively bury it. Once the hypnosis takes hold, this memory-laced with so much hatred and pain-will act as the strongest lock of all. Maybe then, he'll finally be completely normal again. He won't ever need another session. Am I right?"

Laurel stared at her, a myriad of complex emotions flashing across her face.

When a subject resisted hypnosis, even if it technically succeeded, the chances of

the memory resurfacing were incredibly high.

But if the subject themselves desperately wanted to forget, it added a second, impenetrable lock to their mind.

A hypnotist's lock could be picked.

But a lock forged from a person's own shattered heart was nearly impossible to break.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Laurel let out a breath. "Yes. For Joshua, these memories are carved far too deep, and his situation is completely different from the rest of the Gardner family. The two of you aren't bitter enemies. You haven't done anything unforgivable, you simply don't want to be with him. The love you gave him was real, which is why he could never bring himself to hurt you. So, is only option is to accept the hypnosis, erase you from his mind entirely, and give you your freedom back."

"You sound very confident that he'll agree," Stella noted.

Laurel gave a melancholic smile. "Of course. Because he knows perfectly well that if he refuses, his sickness will eventually drive him to do something that truly harms

you.