Ethan was startled, his face turning pale as he hurried to help Clara up.
"Honey, what's wrong? Does your stomach hurt? Is the baby acting up again? What's going on with you? Is it the smell of the soup that's making you sick?"
His voice was filled with concern. His eyes reddened with distress as he urgently called for the doctor.
Even as Clara was wheeled into the emergency room, she could still hear Ethan's hoarse pleas.
"Doctor, please. I'm begging you. Save my wife."
After another round of emergency treatment, Clara once again managed to keep the child in her womb. Under the effects of anesthesia, she slipped into unconsciousness.
Familiar pain washed over her. She frowned and opened her eyes, only to hear Ethan speaking with his close friend, Damian Pierce. She chose to shut her eyes tightly.
"Ethan, you should give the special drug to Clara first. Ivy is only newly pregnant. She doesn't really need it yet."
Damian was the one responsible for developing the special drug and had grown up with Ethan since childhood.
He had never approved of Ethan and Clara being together and had always disliked Clara in particular.
Yet even now, he showed a hint of reluctance toward her situation.
Ethan's expression was firm. "No. Ivy is different from Clara. She can't handle any risk. Clara is strong. Even if the baby's gone, she'll survive it."
"But if there's no special drug and the baby's gone, how are you going to explain that to Clara?"
"No explanation is needed." Ethan gently stroked Clara's cheek, his words chillingly cruel. "We'll just prescribe some vitamins and tell her it's the special drug. It's the first batch anyway. Problems are normal."
Damian sucked in a sharp breath.
"But she's been with you for so many years. She's risked her life for you more than once. Back in Harborcliff, if she hadn't nearly died protecting you, you would've been—"
Ethan's fingertips turned icy, his voice sharp as a blade.
"You don't need to keep reminding me. I'm the one who controls the syndicate in Asterfall, and I survived back then because my own woman sold her body for me. I know she did it to save me. But she's tainted. I want my child to have a clean mother. What's wrong with that? I know I owe her. But I'm a man. I can't get past this. I can't stand the looks of ridicule from others."
Ethan let out a cold snort. "Everyone who knew about it back then is already dead. But there are still people in Harborcliff. They've stayed quiet all these years. They're probably afraid of me. One day, I'll wipe them out and repay the humiliation I suffered."
Clara kept her eyes tightly shut, biting her lower lip hard, forcing herself not to react.
So this was what he believed all along. That when he was captured by the local gangs in Harborcliff, trapped in danger, she had stormed the syndicate's headquarters alone to save him and had been violated in the process.
All these years, he had despised her for being "tainted," unwilling to let a child be born from her body.
How utterly absurd.
"Clara really seems to care about this baby. If she loses this one too, what if she can't handle it?"
Ethan scoffed softly and reached out to pull the blanket over Clara.
He leaned down, his breath brushing unconsciously against her neck, making Clara's breath catch.
Disgusting.
That indescribable wave of nausea surged up again.
After she heard the door close, Clara slowly opened her eyes. Tears flowed like a river.
She knew very well that many people in the research institute had been placed there by her biological father, for her sake.
For the sake of the child in her womb, she despised him, yet still felt a trace of gratitude.
But she never expected that after learning this, Ethan would be determined to kill the child in her womb, caring only about the mistress's baby.
She clamped her hand over her mouth, refusing to let a single sob escape.
Then she sent a message to the man bound to her by blood, telling him to withdraw everyone from the research institute. Ethan was not to benefit from them.
"Honey, you're finally awake. Don't worry, the baby is fine."
Ethan knelt by the bedside, his eyes red as if he'd been crying for a long time. His hand rested gently on Clara's belly, his gaze filled with the glow of a loving father.
Who could have guessed the disgust he felt toward the child inside her?
"Mrs. Grayson, seeing how much Mr. Grayson dotes on you, I finally understand why you're so determined to have a child for him. He's worth it. Unlike the husbands I've seen before, who only get angry and force their wives through injections and medication."
The nurse administering Clara's injection couldn't help sighing. Clara felt nothing but bitterness.
At least those husbands truly wanted their children to be born. Unlike hers…
"I miss my mom. I want to go home and see her."
Clara looked up at Ethan, watching every change in his expression.
Ethan paused briefly, then quickly recovered.
"Once you give birth, I'll take you back to see her. In your condition, it's not convenient for you to leave the hospital."
His expression was open and calm, giving no hint of deceit.
"But before giving birth, I want to visit the old place. I want Mom to give me some courage. I'm afraid I won't make it off the operating table."
Ethan seemed oblivious to the deep sorrow in her voice. He sat beside the bed and pulled her into his arms.
"Don't worry too much. You and the baby will be fine. If you want to go back, that's fine too. I'll have someone clean things up so you won't get hurt."
Clara understood. He was planning to deal with the mistress in advance.
That was fine. She didn't want to see that woman either. She just didn't want that filthy pair to keep defiling her mother's house.
What she never expected was that she would still come face to face with the mistress Ethan had protected for so long.
