He looked at my pale face, his brows tightly drawn.
"Reese? What are you doing here and why didn’t you answer my calls?"
I instinctively shielded my lower abdomen.
His eyes dropped to the pregnancy exam form in my hand, his expression changed at once.
"You’re pregnant?"
His cold, sharp stare made me freeze. I nodded, then shook my head in panic.
"This child has to go!"
Kaden glanced behind him without thinking, then quickly grabbed me and tried to drag me to the OB-GYN department for an abortion.
He was scared Sabrina would find out I was pregnant.
He held my wrist so tightly I couldn’t help but cry out in pain.
"Let go! The baby’s already gone."
I held back my hatred and told him the truth.
Kaden froze, his face full of disbelief.
I couldn’t blame him. I had loved him so deeply, blindly and foolishly for three years, never seeing that he was lying to me all along.
Someone like me, who loved him that much, how could I possibly have ended the pregnancy without a word?
Realizing he may have overreacted, he quickly tried to explain, "Reese, my body hasn’t recovered yet and you’ve been donating blood for so long. If we had a child now, it would definitely be weak. Let’s both take some time to get healthy, then have a healthy baby together."
He was clearly nervous, sweating with panic, yet still used that gentle voice, trying to comfort me, trying to talk me into giving up the baby.
Dragged to the entrance of the exam room, the doctor saw me return and instinctively asked, "Is there discomfort after the procedure?"
"Please schedule her for the fastest abortion possible. She can’t keep the baby!"
Kaden hadn’t even heard the doctor’s question. He only pushed for what he wanted.
The doctor looked at him, confused.
"The child has already been aborted. Are you Miss Harris’s husband?"
Her words hit like a heavy blow. Kaden stood there, stunned.
"I’m not her husband."
He denied it without thinking, then quickly realized and added in a rush, "I’m her fiancé."
The doctor glanced at my wrist, still red from his grip, then seemed to recall how I had come in alone for the surgery. Her gaze flashed with a trace of anger.
"This gentleman, your fiancée has just come out of surgery and is very weak. From now on—"
"Doctor, I’ll take good care of my health."
I cut her off right away, afraid she might bring up my cancer diagnosis.
Kaden treated me like his personal blood bank. If he found out I had cancer and couldn’t give blood anymore, he might, just like in my past life, turn to my younger brother.
I couldn’t let that nightmare happen again.
But Kaden kept frowning. His eyes shifted between me and the doctor, like he was sensing something was off.
I forced a smile and quickly changed the subject, saying, “Kaden, didn’t you just say you weren’t feeling well? Let me come with you to donate blood.”
At the mention of blood donation, a flicker of panic flashed across Kaden’s face. But he quickly masked it, returning to his usual gentle look.
Hearing that I had gone through with the abortion and still put his health first made his doubt fade away.
He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, walking close beside me, even apologizing.
“Reese, I was too anxious earlier. I was afraid you might insist on keeping the child and if the baby ended up weak or didn’t survive, wouldn’t you be heartbroken?”
“You didn’t answer my calls, were you scared I’d misunderstand and think you didn’t want to have my child?”
If that’s what he wanted to believe, I wasn’t going to correct him. I nodded lightly.
He immediately looked like he understood everything. He gently patted my head, his face full of affection.
“Silly girl, you’re so good to me. How could I ever think that?”
In the hallway, the sharp scent of disinfectant mixed with the blood on me. It made my weak stomach twist.
