1 Everyone's Little Highness

It was morning. Nidia South awoke to a strong scent of chemicals and disinfectants. She realized she was in a ward in the Baile Maternity Centre, not her hotel room.

A nurse came to withdraw her needle. She took a look at Nidia's intimate parts and said, "Please take your medicine on time and make sure to take care of your personal hygiene, as it's prone to infections."

Nidia shifted her body and felt a sharp pain below. Her face flushed, and her cheeks turned a shade of bright red. She came to realize what the nurse was referring to.

Yesterday was the night before Valentine's. For a single woman like her, it was just like any other normal day. Her mother was sick, so she decided to look for her sister who was staying in a hotel. Little did Nidia know, she was about to experience the messiest yet most enchanting night ever...

That incredibly ethereal man lifted her chin, and kissed her softly on the lips. He had such beautiful features, his deep black eyes piercing deep into her soul as they shared a kiss. Those calm, mesmerizing eyes were filled with emotions she could not fathom...

That man was at least 6 feet tall, and was slightly uncomfortable when he had to bend down to kiss her. He swept her off her feet and kissed her passionately, their bodies pressed against one another.

Nidia was a sensible woman. Yet, she was hypnotized by that man's irresistible charm and looks. Both his figure and his facial features were absolutely out of this world. Despite being the living embodiment of perfection, this man kissed her and even slept with her.

She did everything she could to struggle her way out. She cried, she yelled, and she even tried hitting him, but all of that was to no avail. It was no use.

His husky voice rang in her ears.

"Hey, stop moving so much. I don't want to hurt you, okay?" Her face still flushed, Nidia thanked the nurse and limped out of the hospital, barely able to carry her sore body. She couldn't care less about it, and immediately rushed to the General Municipal Hospital.

"Miss South, weren't you informed? Your mother passed yesterday. I'm so sorry..."

Nidia became numb, feeling as though every drop of blood inside her had stopped flowing.

"Doctor, my mom was about to receive her second bone marrow transplant. How could she have just...? You even said her condition was still stable yesterday."

Seeing Nidia's shock, the doctor sighed. "I'm sorry, Miss South. Your sister came to see your mother yesterday. She informed that she would sign the forms to have your mother euthanized. Please wait here, your sister is downstairs handling the rest of the procedure."

"Oh, your sister is here." The doctor glanced in Nidia's direction, facing the door.

Abby South was dressed in a tube top and a short skirt. She was not surprised to see Nidia.

Instead, she approached Nidia and said coldly, "Mom's in a better place now. I hope you can help with her funeral preparations. It'll be held in our hometown."

Nidia was still shaken up. "... Abby, mom could've been cured! A lot of her friends were cured after a second bone marrow transplant."

"Really, now? I guess we have different views on life." Abby's tone was unnervingly calm. Her words pierced through Nidia's heart like sharp knives. "I think she's better off dead than to continue suffering in that state."

"Besides, I'm her daughter too. I have the right to have her euthanized. Nidia, you're older than me by a year. Aren't you supposed to be the more rational one? I took the biggest burden in your life off your shoulders, and this is the thanks get?" Abby peered innocently at Nidia.

"Abby..." Nidia's voice was shaking. "How could you?"

"How could I not?" Abby's voice was still calm, as if her own mother was nothing but a beggar in the streets. "I think she died peacefully. She did say she didn't want to be a burden to anyone. I granted her wish."

Peacefully?

"Admit it, you just hate mom because she was from the countryside. You were worried she would embarrass you in front of your fiance's family! You thought she'd bring you down!" Nidia screamed. Abby's expression darkened immediately, as though Nidia had read her thoughts.

"Whatever. Oh, yes... by the way, my dear sister. How was the man I set you up with? Before mom died, I made up a story for her. I told her you were selling your body to a bald old man to fund her surgery. Mom immediately agreed to be euthanized."

Nidia knew that Abby was a heartless monster, but she did not expect Abby would go this far.

"So you were the one behind everything that happened in the hotel yesterday?"

"No shit, My dear dear sister, back when dad and mom divorced, you insisted on staying with mom. Now that dad's doing well, I, Abby South, am living the best life. With all that have now; luxurious cars, a villa .. do you think it'd be hard for me to ruin your life?"

Nidia went speechless. She never imagined her sister would do so much just to ruin her life. The trauma this dysfunctional family had caused was enough to drive one insane.

"I don't care if you're living in a villa. Frankly, I don't even care if you'd be living six feet under, Abby, you're a sorry excuse of a human being!" Nidia spat. She snatched the pen out of the doctor's hand and stabbed Abby in the neck.

"Ah! She's gone mentally! Someone! Someone call the cops now!"

***

Eight months later ... a pregnant woman was helped into the taxi.

The taxi driver yelled to the girl at the door, "Hey, you! Put your purse under her, it'll help support her lower body and prevent the water from flowing out! Quick! The doctor taught me this when my wife had our first child!"

The girl did as told, and Nidia's pelvic area was now boosted up. Her child seemed to be quite restless, moving about in her womb. Nidia's chest tightened. It had only been eight months, yet her water had already broken. This could only mean a premature birth.

Her heart was pounding out of her chest. She closed her eyes and tried to regulate her breathing. She prayed her child would be fine, and that it would be born safely into this world.

After helping her in, Nidia's assistant got into the car and sat in the passenger's seat. The taxi driver then rushed to the hospital.

As an employee of the design department, Nidia had brought her assistant to one of their properties to record its measurements. She hadn't overworked herself at all, but it would seem that the little guy decided that it was time.

Nidia caressed her belly, still desperately trying to calm herself down.

Everything will be fine. This child was a gift given by God after her mom passed. This child was the only family left to stay with Nidia and her grandmother.

The pain was getting increasingly unbearable, but the driver was kind enough to encourage her, "Don't worry! We're almost at the hospital! Hang in there!"

However, they were stuck in traffic, and Nidia was slowly losing consciousness from all the pain. She bit down on her lower lip so hard that it started bleeding.

Enduring the pain as much as she could, Nidia couldn't make out what the driver was saying.

The driver was dialing the traffic radio hotline.

He asked them for help with the traffic as there was a pregnant woman who was about to give birth prematurely, and that her condition was very urgent. Her water had broken, after all.

This heartwarming action had caught the attention of local television broadcasters.

When they finally reached the hospital, a camera was shoved into Nidia's face as the medics carried her out. There seemed to be a new reporter who was broadcasting her condition live. Nidia overheard them mentioning that this was the afternoon live broadcast.

"What, Baile Television..." Nidia shook her head weakly. "No, please no!'"

She did not want to appear on television.

At the same moment, this incident was live broadcasted on every television in the whole city. A pregnant woman was sent to the hospital as a female reporter explained what had happened.

On television, medics carried the pregnant woman with a stretcher. The pale-faced pregnant woman seemed to be in a lot of pain, her hair damp and cold sweat rolling down her cheeks.

Just then, the camera was cut to the kind-hearted taxi driver. After listening to what the reporter had to ask, the driver smiled as he waved his hand back and forth, "It's nothing, really! My wife gave birth last month too. She was so frightened that she cried when her water broke. I was heartbroken! Now that I'm a father myself, I know that giving birth isn't an easy task. Women are very strong for that! In this situation, every second is Important!"

"Ahaha, I didn't expect to catch Baile Television's attention. I just wanted the traffic radio to help out! Wow, this is my first time on television!" The driver added.

Meanwhile, in a spacious morandi-colored meeting room, a meeting was being held among the directors and shareholders of the company.

Ten minutes ago, just as the meeting ended, the secretary had switched on the television as ordered. The condition of one of the company's projects will be broadcasted today.

However, after watching the said broadcast, they kept the television on. Everyone was able to watch the live broadcast of a kind-hearted citizen who parted the traffic to help a pregnant woman reach the hospital.

Dylan Hudson goes to their CEO, Jackson Cunningham, who was watching as well. His sharp eyebrows twitched slightly, and his lips pressed against each other into a fine line. His dangerously calm expression made the air in the room tense. He squinted his eyes slightly, seemingly deep in thought.

Following the calendar, could this child... be his?

...

Nidia was then brought to the delivery room, where a doctor came to check up on her condition. Her pain grew stronger and stronger. Her child was already being pushed out, even without anesthesia. As her cervix started dilating, she let out a terrifying scream of pain.

Sweat soaked her entire body. She had been pushing for several hours under the supervision of the doctors. Finally, as immense pain tore through her body, her child came to be born.

Nidia lay on the bed, weakened and semi-conscious, anticipating the cries of her child. To her dismay, there weren't any.

Just as Nidia was about to call out to the doctor, she approached Nidia. In the doctor's arms was a baby wrapped in a white blanket.

"It's a boy, weighing around 2.5 kilograms. He didn't cry for some reason, so he must be placed in an incubator for further examination... You should rest though. Don't worry!"

Nidia's sanity was now hung on a string.

Three days later, Nidia was still unable to see her child. The town had a high birth rate, and pregnant women were sent to the hospital every single day. By then, she had to be discharged.

On the fourth morning, Nidia called the hospital as per usual. She wanted to ask about her son's condition.

However, the nurse said, "Miss South, your child has already been discharged by his father. Are you unaware of this? I heard your people hired the world's best specialist in treating prematurely born children?"

"What? His father?" Nidia asked, gasping in shock.

Her initial reaction upon hearing these words was that her child had been kidnapped.

There were rumors about kidnappers who preyed on babies in hospitals!

"Yes, Miss South. The child's father came with lawyers and talked to the director of our hospital. He even presented a DNA report that proved his identity as the child's father."

Nidia felt as if she had stopped breathing.

She remembered she had been on television when she went in for labor. The kind-hearted driver caught the attention of the broadcasters, and they even did an interview with him.

So it was true the biological father of the child had found them out...

That was nearly impossible.

How unlucky can she be?

In a strictly disinfected infant room in the Cunningham mansion, the little thing was crying non-stop. His personal caretaker had tried giving him a milk solution, but he refused to have any.

Even when they changed into different brands of milk powder, he remained as stubborn as an ox and refused to drink.

It would seem that without his mother's milk, the little thing would keep crying until the end of time. The doctors were sweating bullets. This child was born as the son of the business tycoon, Jackson Cunningham. This child was not just their young master, he was their god!

Wiping off the sweat on his forehead, one of the doctors walked out of the room and dialed Dylan's number.

"Mr. Hudson, the child just won't stop crying Since he's born prematurely, he's at a disadvantage when it comes to his health. If he were to become sick from all this crying, I don't think I'd be able to handle the consequences!"

After listening to what the doctor had explained, Dylan immediately understood the situation. He knocked on the door to his boss' office.

A deep voice resounded from inside. "Come in."

Dylan opened the door and looked at the CEO, who was working at his desk.

The man was wearing a tailored black suit. His coat was only half buttoned up, revealing a dark dress shirt underneath. This style of dress made him look even colder and more mature. His aura was immaculate.

He was reading some documents. Dylan approached him. "Mr. Cunningham, I received a call from the Cunningham mansion. The young master refused to drink milk powder and was crying non-stop. According to the doctor, he might've gotten used to having his mother's milk. It would seem only that can calm him down."

Upon hearing these words, Jackson paused from signing the document.

He'd only drink his mother's milk?

Wasn't this brat being a little too picky for his own good?