Chapter 21
Eddy flung open the car door, heart hammering in his chest. There were bloodstains on the driver’s seat-his wife was gone.
Panic crashed over him in an instant.
“Find her! Now!” he barked at his security detail.
They knew how much Mrs. Simmons meant to him; without hesitation, every guard sprang into action, fanning out to search for any trace of her.
Meanwhile, Blanche slowly drifted back to consciousness, blinking at the blinding white overhead.
“Blanche, you’re finally awake!” Dr. Turner exclaimed, clutching Blanche’s hand in excitement. “Congratulations-you’re pregnant!”
At last, the nightmare was over.
Blanche’s fingers trembled as she pressed them gently to her stomach, hardly daring to believe her dream had finally come true.
“I’ll call Mr. Simmons right away-he’ll be so happy,” Dr. Turner said, already reaching for her phone.
“No,” Blanche interrupted softly. “I want you to schedule a termination.”
The joy vanished from her face, sorrow flooding her eyes.
God, what a cruel joke.
After all this time, why now?
Dr. Turner froze, stunned. “Blanche, this is the child you’ve prayed for-for five years! You’ve suffered so much, sacrificed so much-why don’t you want your baby now?”
Blanche turned her pale, drawn face toward Dr. Turner, her gaze distant, as if she was seeing someone else entirely.
Her lips trembled. “He doesn’t deserve my child.”
Eddy, who had never broken a promise to her, hadn’t just failed to send Jeannette away from Novandria-he’d barely waited for them to be apart before he started sleeping with her.
He wasn’t worthy of another one of her children.
Dr. Turner’s shock deepened.
Could the rumors at the hospital be true?
Was Mr. Simmons’s name really listed as the father of another woman’s baby?
Had he truly betrayed Blanche-cheated, and fathered a child out of wedlock?
Blanche saw Dr. Turner’s troubled expression and mistook it for fear-afraid Eddy would fire her if she helped.
She squeezed Dr. Turner’s hand. “If you’re uncomfortable, I won’t force you. I can go to a public hospital. But please-promise me you won’t tell anyone about my pregnancy. Not even Eddy.”
Dr. Turner was now certain: something was deeply wrong between Blanche and Eddy.
Blanche had always been kind and gentle; for five years, whenever Eddy was harsh, she was the one who smoothed things over.
“Blanche, don’t go to another doctor. No one knows your health as well as I do,” Dr. Turner pleaded. “After you had Healy, your body never fully recovered, and these last years of treatments have only made things worse. You fainted because you’re showing early signs of miscarriage-it’s not safe to have a procedure now. You need to recover your strength first.”
“When you’re healthy again, if you still want to go through with it, I’ll help you. I promise.”
She couldn’t let anything happen to Blanche-even if it meant losing her job.
Blanche nodded, her voice firm. “Alright. I’ll give you a month. Help me get well, and then help me end the pregnancy.”
She knew the child was innocent, but she couldn’t bring a baby into a home shattered by betrayal and grief.
Memories of her own childhood-of growing up in a broken home-came flooding back, tearing at her heart.
A sharp pain twisted in her chest.
Suddenly, Dr. Turner took her hand, her voice low and urgent. “Blanche, there’s something you need to know-but please, try to stay calm.”
Blanche’s decision not to keep the baby proved something serious had happened between her and Eddy. If Mr. Simmons had really betrayed her, Blanche deserved to know.
“Mr. Simmons might have another child,” Dr. Turner said quietly.
Blanche’s eyes flew wide, shock and pain spreading across her features. Her temples throbbed, her face drained of color. It took several moments before she could speak. “What did you say?”
Dr. Turner hesitated, unsure whether to continue.
At that moment, footsteps echoed in the hallway. The door burst open and a bodyguard stepped in.
Eddy stormed into the room, gently pushing Dr. Turner aside as he rushed to Blanche’s bedside. He wrapped her in his arms, voice trembling. “Sweetheart, you scared me half to death.”
“Why did you faint?”
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