The Illegitimate Flame: Bride of Ashes
Chapter 148- protect

Chapter 148: Chapter 148- protect

Charles’ Side

When Charles returned to the empty house, he kept searching—desperately, irrationally—for traces of her.

But there was nothing. Not a single trace of her shadow left behind.

Clutching onto his last sliver of hope, he told himself—this had to be a joke. Just one of her silly games to tease him.

But no. He was wrong. Terribly, laughably wrong.

He thought that after last night—after the way she had clung to him, cried beneath him, whispered his name over and over—she would finally stay.

He thought she had surrendered.

But it turned out... that night had only been a carefully laid trap. A gentle snare made of silk and kisses.

Had Janet been playing him like a fool this whole time?

The biggest mistake Charles had ever made in his life was trusting her too deeply. Believing too much in her soft eyes and trembling lips.

But what he couldn’t understand—what kept him awake and tearing at his own mind—was why she left.

He didn’t believe her when she said it was just for revenge on Elvira.

He didn’t believe she felt nothing for him.

He lay on the bed they used to share, the sheets still carrying her jasmine scent. Her delicate smile haunted every corner of the room, replaying over and over in his head like a film he couldn’t pause.

His heart suddenly felt hollow, like a cloud adrift in the sky—untouchable, invisible, lost.

"Janet..." he whispered, his voice low and dangerous. "I told you—you can’t get rid of me."

His fingers clenched the snowy bedsheets, knuckles white. When his eyes opened again, the sadness had vanished—replaced by a cold, sharp fury.

She dared to run. With his child.

This time, if he caught her again... he would never forgive her.

Suddenly, his fingers touched something cold and hard beneath him. He sat up straight, eyes narrowing.

A ring.

Her wedding ring.

The one he gave her.

Left behind on the pillow as if it meant nothing. As if he meant nothing.

His face darkened.

So she had planned this all along.

Even the symbol of their vows—discarded like trash.

Janet... how could you be this cruel?

He closed his fist around the ring, letting its sharp edges dig into his palm, drawing blood. But he didn’t feel the pain.

His heart had already gone numb.

Janet’s Side

By the time Janet woke up, night had already fallen.

The moment she opened her eyes, she reached for her belly—her hand trembling with urgency and fear.

It wasn’t until she felt the familiar curve beneath her palm—firm, safe, unharmed—that she finally let out a breath.

The baby was still there.

Three months.

It had already been three months.

She could feel it now—truly feel the life growing inside her. Not just as a fact, but as a presence. A quiet, stubborn existence rooted deep inside her body.

It was that feeling—so powerful, so undeniable—that made her even more certain.

No matter what happened.

She was going to keep this child.

"You’re awake?"

A low, hoarse voice came from the doorway, laced with fatigue and helplessness. When Manfred saw Janet’s anxious little face relax, he finally stepped forward and stood quietly at her bedside.

"She’s okay... She’s really okay..." Janet sat up abruptly, her fingers flying to her abdomen. The moment she felt that steady, rhythmic presence within her—alive and undisturbed—tears rolled down her cheeks. Tears of relief. Of guilt.

I’m such a terrible mother... I let myself bleed again...

"Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?" Manfred’s voice trembled with suppressed anger. He honestly wanted to pry open her skull and figure out what the hell she was thinking.

Risking your life for an unborn child—is that really worth it?!

"I’m keeping her, Manfred," Janet said, her voice firm despite the tears. "No one’s taking her from me. Not even myself."

No one could understand what she felt when she first learned about the little life inside her. That tiny spark had become her hope. And Charles’s too.

She loved her.

Deeply. Fiercely.

"You think you’ll live long enough to give birth? Do you even realize that if you don’t start treatment soon, you’ll go blind?!" Manfred finally lost control, his voice echoing through the sterile white room.

He’d thought she left Charles because of health issues. But no—she left so she could give birth in peace. Her love for Charles ran so deep, she was willing to die for it?

The moment the doctor confirmed that the bleeding was from minor placental disruption and stress-induced irregular heartbeat, Manfred knew something was wrong. He’d demanded a full brain scan.

And when he saw the growing mass of clotted blood in her head on the imaging slides—he had to resist the urge to shake her senseless.

Because she was pregnant, she couldn’t be treated with meds. She was surviving on sheer willpower. And although her injury occurred after the pregnancy began, so the baby wasn’t affected—it didn’t change the fact that she was slowly deteriorating.

The doctors begged her to terminate.

To undergo surgery.

She refused.

How much courage did it take for a woman to make that kind of decision?

"I can do it," Janet said softly, gripping the sheets. "Seven more months. I can last that long. Even if I go blind, I don’t care. I will give birth to her. Manfred, I can’t promise I’ll survive the operation... but I need this child to be born safe and sound."

"You’ll never understand what it’s like to feel a baby move inside you. She’s real, she’s alive—I feel her. I love her. And I won’t let anyone take her from me!"

She was trying her best not to get emotional. Her body was already weak—she couldn’t afford another breakdown. But she had made a promise—at her mother’s grave—that she would protect this child with everything she had.

"Janet." Manfred’s voice softened, nearly pleading. "There are more important things right now. Terminate the pregnancy. Cooperate with the doctors. Get the surgery. When you recover, you and Charles can have another baby—ten more, if you want. But only if you live. That’s the condition."

Everything had spiraled beyond what he ever imagined. But he’d already made his choice—to protect her, no matter what. Even if it meant giving her up to another man. Even if it meant pushing her toward Charles.

As long as she lived, it didn’t matter.

"But what if I don’t make it?" Janet asked quietly. "What if I go through with the surgery and still die? Will you ask me to bury this child with me in the grave?"

She shook her head firmly, tears glimmering in her eyes.

"I can’t do that. I won’t do that."

"Don’t say things like that!" Manfred’s voice cracked. "You’re not going to die! Janet, listen to me—medicine has advanced so much. You’ll survive, you have to! You’re only twenty. Your life’s just beginning. You have a future with Charles. Are you really willing to throw all of that away?"

She looked so calm. So resolved.

He knew her too well—she was stubborn to the core. Once she made a decision, no one could change her mind.

"I love Charles," she whispered, her lips trembling. "And I want something that belongs only to us. A piece of proof that we existed... together. That’s why I have to give birth to this child, Manfred. You promised you’d help me. This is all I ask of you."

Tears gathered in her lashes, but she never let them fall. She wasn’t alone anymore. She had someone inside her who gave her strength.

No matter what happened to her body—she would hold on.

"Janet..." Manfred finally gave in.

How could he not?

How could he watch her face death alone, sleepless and trembling, and still hold onto this fragile life?

She didn’t leave Charles because she didn’t trust him.

She left because she didn’t want the baby to become collateral damage in their tragedy.

She wasn’t running from love.

She was protecting it.