He even used "not done having fun" as an excuse to keep pushing back our wedding, again and again.
The memory was cut short by Dr. Warren's voice.
He set the phone down with a puzzled look, muttering：【Was Mr. Harding drugged or something?】
【I already told him not to play the fall guy, and now he's asking me to make time tomorrow to give that woman a prenatal checkup.】
I laughed, bitter and hollow.
【Don't waste your worry on him, Dr. Warren. He's been with that woman for a long time.】
【If there really is a baby, it's his.】
Understanding dawned on Dr. Warren's face, and the pity in his eyes deepened.
I hated that look.
I'd seen too much pity over the past two years.
Every time I showed up at the casino to make a scene, that was exactly how those people looked at me.
Time after time I swallowed my pride, accepted their pity, all for the home Lewis Harding had once promised me.
But in the end, pity was all I ever got.
Nothing changed. Nothing at all.
I was tired. So this time, I wanted to leave standing straight.
No one's pity. No one's sympathy.
I signed the bone-marrow donation consent form.
【You said last time that the baby has to be terminated before the donation.】
【Let's do it today.】
On the operating table, I didn't shed a single tear.
I thought it was because when you're about to die, nothing matters anymore.
But when Dr. Warren brought that tiny ball of flesh to me and asked whether I wanted to take it and bury it or have it disposed of, my vision blurred all the same.
I used to believe our child would be the happiest in the world.
I never imagined I wouldn't even be able to give him the chance to see it.
I placed the remains in a small wooden box, planning to bury it at dawn beside the grave I'd already prepared for myself.
By the time I dragged my weakened body home, it was already dark.
I'd wanted nothing more than to sleep, but when I pushed the door open, I met Lewis's eyes.
Instinctively, I hid the wooden box behind my back.
Lewis caught every bit of that.
He closed the distance step by step and snatched the box from my hands.
The moment the lid came off, he froze.
【Stella, what is this?】
I hesitated for a second.
I'd planned to leave quietly, without a word.
But then I thought better of it. This wasn't something I could hide forever.
Besides, this child was half his. He had the right to know.
Before I could get the words out, a shriek cut through the room.
Lydia was clinging to Lewis's shirt, cowering behind him in exaggerated horror.
【Lewis, what the hell is that thing? It's disgusting!】
【I told you I didn't want to come here.】
【Stella already hates me. Now that I'm here, she's just going to find more ways to torment me.】
Lewis covered Lydia's eyes, his face tender with concern.
Then he slammed the box onto the floor. The remains tumbled out and rolled through the dust.
Pain pierced through me, sudden and everywhere at once, as though a thousand needles had been driven into my chest all at the same time.
I shoved Lewis hard and screamed, my voice raw and broken：【Lewis Harding, that is our child! You'll pay for what you just did!】
Lewis went rigid. For a long moment he didn't move, didn't speak.
Lydia, however, let out a cold, contemptuous scoff.
【Stella, you really are running out of tricks, aren't you? Same old routine, over and over.】
【If this were really your child, it would be over four months along by now, right?】
【You expect anyone to believe you could keep something that big to yourself for four whole months?】
【You would've used that baby to pressure Lewis into marrying you ages ago.】
After all the battles we'd fought, Lydia did know me well.
The old me would have done exactly what she said. I would have used the baby to force a wedding.
But what she didn't know was that the reason I'd stayed silent this time was because of something Lewis had said.
