Chapter 8 Broken Dignity

Zoey saw her too.

After an initial moment of surprise, her eyes flashed with malicious delight.

She quickly covered her mouth, feigning shock as she spoke in a deliberately audible voice.

"Keira? What are you doing here? And dressed like this? It's been what, just a few days since your divorce from Aiden, and you're already so desperate that you're working as a hostess? I know you love money, but this is absolutely shameless!"

Her voice wasn't low, successfully drawing everyone's attention to Keira.

Their gazes were filled with contempt, disdain, and voyeuristic amusement.

Aiden's expression instantly darkened to something terrifying.

Self-degradation? Working as a hostess? And in such a miserable, pathetic state?

That momentary pang in his heart was immediately buried beneath overwhelming anger and disgust.

Was she so desperate for men? For money?

Divorced from him, she immediately ran to a place like this to sell herself? Even willing to reduce herself to this wretched state!

A powerful possessiveness and sense of betrayal made him speak without thinking.

He stared at Keira, his eyes cold enough to freeze her to death.

"How cheap can you get? Get out of my sight. You're disgusting."

His words were brutally cruel, crushing what little dignity Keira had left.

She didn't even have the strength to look at him, the excruciating pain in her stomach and the metallic taste of blood in her throat nearly causing her to faint.

She struggled to stand, desperate to escape this place.

The men's laughter and comments grew even more obscene.

"So she's Aiden's ex-wife?"

"Looks like she can't survive without Aiden, so she's selling herself now?"

"Wonder what Aiden's leftovers taste like."

Keira kept her head down, wiping the filth from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, staggering toward the exit.

Each step felt like walking on knife edges, the physical pain nothing compared to the thousandth of the heartache she felt.

Just as she was about to reach the doorway, a drunken man deliberately stuck out his foot to trip her.

She cried out in surprise, losing her balance and about to crash hard onto the floor.

The anticipated pain never came.

A strong arm caught her around the waist, steadying her.

Keira looked up in shock, her blurred vision once again finding Sean's tense and concerned face.

"Are you alright?" His voice was deep, laced with suppressed anger.

His eyes swept over the stains on her clothes and her paper-white face, a flash of fury crossing his gaze.

Witnessing this scene, Aiden felt an inexplicable irritation peak within him.

He snorted coldly, looking away, unwilling to watch anymore.

Sean ignored everyone else.

He lifted the weakened Keira into his arms and strode out of the revolting place.

"Mr. O'Neill, why are you here?" Keira asked weakly.

He had helped her three times now, each time so coincidentally.

"I was invited to a gathering in the circle, upstairs," Sean explained as he carried her to his car. "You should be grateful you ran into me."

In truth, he had received information that she was here working as a hostess and had rushed over, canceling his work appointments. He was too late.

Why wouldn't she ask him for help if she needed money?

He took her directly to the emergency room.

The medical results were alarming.

Acute gastroenteritis, combined with long-term malnutrition and severe emotional depression, had left her in an extremely poor physical condition.

More seriously, when the ophthalmologist was urgently called for consultation, he grimly informed Sean that the pressure on her optic nerve was dangerously high and required immediate hospitalization.

Without treatment, she would not only go completely blind but could also face life-threatening complications.

The situation was so dire that even the doctor sighed with concern.

Sean looked at Keira sleeping on the hospital bed, her brows still furrowed in pain, and felt an overwhelming sense of heartache.

He couldn't imagine how much suffering and torment she had endured.

Just then, the ward door was violently pushed open.

Martha stormed in, clearly having learned about Keira's activities at the club through Zoey.

She saw Keira on the bed and showed no concern whatsoever.

Instead, she rushed forward and delivered a vicious slap across Keira's face!

The sharp sound of the slap echoed through the quiet room.

Keira, just awakened by the commotion, found her left cheek instantly swelling as she looked up at Martha with confusion and pain.

"You worthless slut! Bringing nothing but shame!" Martha screamed.

"Barely divorced and already rushing to be a whore in places like that? You've humiliated the entire Lynn family! How could you be so cheap? You reject Aiden and run off to service those old men? Can't you be useful for once in your life!"

The venomous words rained down like hailstones.

Keira covered her stinging cheek, tears silently streaming down her face.

Even in this state, Martha wouldn't leave her alone?

Sean abruptly stood up, blocking Martha, who was about to strike again, his gaze sharp as a blade.

"Get out. You're not welcome here!"

Martha was momentarily startled by his intensity, but continued her tirade.

"Who the hell are you? I'm disciplining my daughter—what's it to you? She deserves this!"

Sean barely contained his fury, pointing at the door, his voice ice-cold. "I said, get out!"

Martha was instantly cowed by Sean's frigid demeanor.

But her greedy nature remained unchanged. Her eyes darted around calculatingly.

She switched to a pitiful, begging manner, trying to pull at Keira on the bed.

"Keria, I had no choice! We're out of money, and those debt collectors come knocking every day. Come back with me. Brandon said if you just apologize to him and spend a few days with him, he'll forget about the compensation and even give our family another business opportunity."

Keira heard these words and felt her heart turn to ice, her body beginning to tremble as she instinctively retreated further into the blankets.

Sean was completely enraged.

He stepped forward, roughly pushing Martha's hand away, his gaze piercing.

"She's not going anywhere with you."

"Who do you think you are to interfere in our family business? She's my daughter!" Martha sputtered, trying to maintain a threatening tone.

"Because she needs medical treatment, and you're pushing her toward death!" Sean's voice barely contained the storm within.

He pulled out a checkbook from his inner suit pocket, quickly wrote an amount, tore it out, and practically threw it in Martha's face.

"This money should keep your Lynn family afloat for a while. Take it and leave immediately. Don't ever come harass her again! Otherwise, I guarantee the Lynn family will have no place left in this city!"

Martha saw the amount on the check, her eyes instantly lighting up with greed as she snatched it.

The harshness on her face immediately transformed into fawning.

"Mr. O'Neill, you're so generous! You should have said so earlier. Our Keira is truly fortunate to meet a benefactor like you. Take good care of her then. I'm leaving right now."

Terrified that Sean might change his mind, Martha clutched the check tightly and hurried away without a backward glance.

The ward finally fell into complete silence.

Sean looked at Keira, curled up in a ball, silently weeping, and his heart filled with compassion.

He gently tucked the blanket around her and said softly, "Don't be afraid. No one will force you to do anything ever again."

"Thank you, Mr. O'Neill. I truly don't know how to repay you," Keira whispered gratefully, fresh tears welling up in her eyes.

Sean smiled gently. "By living. That's all I need—for you to live."

However, Keira's condition didn't improve despite this momentary peace.

The pain in her eyes intensified, and the shadows in her vision grew increasingly dim.

Several days later, when she woke from a deep sleep one morning and habitually opened her eyes, she discovered a complete, endless darkness before her.

No light. No shapes. Nothing.

She frantically waved her hand in front of her face, but couldn't see anything.

A broken whimper escaped her throat.

Despite having mentally prepared herself for this possibility, when darkness truly descended, the overwhelming fear instantly consumed her.

She was blind.

Sean noticed her distress immediately.

Those once clear eyes now stared vacantly at the ceiling, without any focus.

"Keira?" he called softly, his heart sinking.

Keira slowly turned her head toward his voice, tears silently streaming from her sightless eyes.

"Mr. O'Neill, my eyes!"

Sean felt as if his heart had been violently wrenched. He immediately pressed the call button for the doctor.

The examination results were devastating.

Severe damage to the optic nerve had reached a critical point. Blindness was the expected outcome.

The most important concern now was preventing a further increase in intracranial pressure that could endanger her life.

A series of interventional treatments needed to be implemented immediately.

Sean arranged everything without hesitation, transferring Keira to the best ward and bringing in top specialists.

He stayed by her side, patiently describing her surroundings, telling her about the weather outside the window, helping her drink water, and eat.

But Keira's spirit visibly deteriorated with each passing day.

Blindness had become the final straw that broke her.

She lost her last shred of hope for the future, becoming silent and withdrawn, like a soulless puppet.

She appreciated Sean's warmth and protection.

But she felt undeserving of any goodness, seeing herself as nothing but a burden.

Just when she had fallen into complete despair, even beginning to refuse food, a routine full-body examination brought shocking news.

"Ms. Lynn, you're pregnant. Based on the gestational age, it's about four weeks along."