The Billionaire’s Secret Quartet novel Chapter 1378

Richard extended his hand to Isabella, his expression icy, his gesture not an invitation but a command.

At that moment, Isabella's face was a canvas of raw emotion—shocked, grief-stricken, defiant.

She glanced at Richard's outstretched hand and then, with a sudden movement, tucked the jade pearl behind her back. Her voice trembled with passion as she declared, "This was my mother's, Richard, and I won't hand it over to you! I'll go to Joshua myself and explain everything!"

With those words, Isabella turned on her heel and sprinted away.

Richard took off after her, his long strides eating up the distance.

Behind him, Thalassa, overwhelmed by sorrow and struck by the revelation of her paternity, could no longer hold herself upright. Her head spun, her vision speckled with bursts of light, and her body, exhausted, pitched forward.

Out of the corner of his eye, Richard saw Thalassa collapsing and doubled back, catching her just in time. Thalassa's eyes were closed, her body limp; she had fainted.

Panic edged his voice as he called out, "Thalassa, come on, wake up!"

He shook her gently, but she was unresponsive.

Gripped by worry and the knowledge that Thalassa was Lysander's beloved, Richard knew he couldn't let anything happen to her—not when it would devastate Lysander, whether or not he awoke from his own ordeal.

Swiftly, Richard scooped Thalassa into his arms and made a beeline for the hospital.

Bursting through the emergency doors, he bellowed, "Doctor! We need a doctor here. Someone's passed out!"

The ER doctors, scarcely having had a moment to rest, were summoned by Richard's urgent cries.