A man with deep caramel skin, dressed in a laid-back polo shirt and tailored trousers, walked briskly through the bustling halls of the hospital.
His silky hair was neatly braided into cornrows, and a single earring glinted in his left ear.
His silver eyes, sharp and focused, scanned the corridors as a radiant smile played on his lips—but his expression betrayed the worry building inside him. He was clearly searching for someone.
As he passed by the wards, confusion began to cloud his mind. The numbers on the signs weren't matching up.
He pulled out his phone, quickly dialing a number.
"Hey, Tryson," Jude said calmly as soon as the call was answered. "Could you send me the exact location?"
Without waiting for a response, he kept moving, following the direction from his phone.
But it wasn't long before he spotted Tryson, standing anxiously, his face tight with concern. Tryson still had his phone pressed to his ear.
"Tryson!" Jude called, his voice cutting through the tension in the air.
Startled, Tryson dropped the phone from his ear, relief washing over his features as he turned toward the sound of his name.
Jude moved toward him, a small smile tugging at his lips. Tryson exhaled a soft breath, a weight seemingly lifting off his shoulders.
Without a word, he closed the distance, his arms wrapping around Jude in a tight embrace.
Tryson's head found its place on Jude's shoulder as his body trembled with quiet sobs, the years of worry finally pouring out.
It took a moment for the heaviness in the air to settle, and during that time, Jude could feel the fire of anger smoldering deep inside him.
As Tryson's childhood friend, Jude knew him better than anyone else.
They'd been close since college, their bond forged through years of shared experiences.
Jude was the son of a business tycoon, and he'd gone on to found a photography empire—his company now a major success both locally and internationally.
But none of that mattered in this moment. All that mattered was his friend, who was breaking right before his eyes.
He could feel it—the raw, overwhelming emotion from Tryson's tears. Jude knew this feeling all too well.
The moment Tryson's composure shattered like glass, he knew without a doubt that his friend was utterly and completely broken.
Jude understood the weight of it.
The thought of Tryson losing the child, the one thing he thought would make everything right again, was almost too much to bear.
But Jude also understood how much Tryson had done to hurt that girl—and how devastating the consequences were.
He saw it all now: Tryson was paying the price for his mistakes, and it was tearing him apart.
Jude had been equally stunned when he heard that Tryson had gotten engaged to another woman.
He'd confronted him about it just days ago, needing to understand what had led him down this path.
But when Tryson had answered, Jude could hardly believe his ears.
The words coming from his friend's mouth were unrecognizable, so different from the man he thought he knew.
The shift was jarring, as though Tryson had become a stranger.
Tryson and Riley's relationship had begun just before their final year at college, full of promise and excitement.
But just six months after graduation, the unexpected happened: Tryson and Riley broke up.
When Jude had asked him about it, Tryson had told him that Riley was the one who had ended things.
And while Tryson had said he understood, the truth was, the breakup shattered him.
It tore him apart inside, unraveling a part of him he hadn't known was so fragile. The pain of losing Riley drove him to bury himself in his work, throwing himself into his business as a means of escape.
He became a deep workaholic, choosing success over everything else—and in doing so, he built walls around his heart, vowing never to open it up to anyone again.
Jude had watched all of this unfold, but when Tryson got engaged to Riley months later, Jude thought it might be a sign.
Maybe they were finally reconciling, mending what had been broken. But what shocked him even more was when he discovered the truth: Tryson wasn't with Riley.
No, Tryson had moved on with someone completely unexpected. Someone who made Jude's head spin with disbelief.
Her name? Angel Johnson.
At that moment, Jude was overwhelmed with confusion.
Between these two women—Riley and Angel—who did Tryson truly love?
From the tears that had broken Tryson down, it became clear that his heart belonged to one person, and one person only: the woman in the emergency room.
Angel Johnson.
Slowly, Jude managed to calm Tryson down, and they both settled on a bench outside the emergency room.
Tryson hunched over slightly, as if the weight on his chest had lifted just a bit. Jude, sitting beside him, decided not to speak, just to listen.
He wouldn't judge, not now.
He could tell that the burden Tryson carried was heavy, and maybe, just maybe, if he listened enough, it would ease his friend's heart.
"How, Tryson?" Jude asked quietly, his voice almost a whisper.
For a few seconds, the room fell silent. Tryson fidgeted with his hands, his gaze lost somewhere in space. Then, with a deep sigh, he finally spoke.
"All she wanted from me was the truth, Jude," Tryson said, his voice calm but filled with an underlying sadness.
Jude, still trying to piece together what his friend meant, felt a wave of confusion.
What truth? But before he could ask, Tryson continued, his words heavy with regret.
"She wanted to know about my relationship with Arthur. I wanted to tell her, I really did. But then... then Riley came home, and everything just... changed. She interrupted everything. I didn't get to say anything to Angel. Now, I don't know what to do. I can't forgive myself if anything happens to her."
Jude's brow furrowed, his concern deepening. "What do you mean by that, Tryson?" he asked, his voice urgent.
He needed to understand, needed to know what had happened to make his friend feel this way.
"When I went to her room... I found her bleeding. She was in pain, Jude," Tryson confessed, his voice strained with guilt.
His eyes finally met Jude's, but there was a heaviness there that words couldn't explain. He had no idea how to fix what was broken, or how to carry the weight of his mistakes.
Before Jude could respond, the door to the emergency room suddenly swung open. Both men froze, their gazes snapping toward the doctor stepping out into the hallway.
"Doc!" Tryson and Jude said in unison, quickly standing up and moving toward him, their steps hurried, a shared anxiety in their every motion.