After asking the question, Selena's hands clenched up without her even realizing it, and her heart was doing somersaults in her chest. She was desperate to know the answer but terrified it wouldn't be what she wanted to hear.
Everett seemed a bit taken aback, a mix of emotions flickering in his eyes. He took in her anxious expression, and after a moment, he finally said, “You still have the baby.”
Still here...
In that brief pause, before he spoke, Selena was on the brink of despair, never imagining her baby was still alive. Her lips trembled as she asked again, disbelief lacing her voice, “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
With that confirmation, words failed Selena as tears streamed down her face, a release of all the tension that had been coiled up inside her. Her hand instinctively moved to her belly, caressing it softly as if afraid to disturb the little one.
Everett gently wiped away her tears with his thumb. “Don’t cry. It’s not good for you.”
Selena closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, and once she felt a bit calmer, she pushed his hand away.
Everett frowned at her action.
“Even if I still have the child, you won't want it, so there's no need to pretend,” she said, her voice shaky but her words firm. She looked up at him with a sarcastic glint in her eyes. “Isn’t that right, Mr. Everett?”
He was momentarily speechless.
His brows knitted tighter, and his dark eyes were full of emotions she couldn’t quite read. Maybe she never really understood him.
That was why she kept falling for his sweet words, getting lost in his charming lies time and again.
Otherwise, why did she find herself in repeated danger? Why was her life constantly at risk?
Everett, looking rattled, instinctively reached for his cigarettes but, seeing Selena, tossed the pack onto the nightstand instead. He pulled a chair and sat down.
The memory of her lying there, lifeless and still, flashed in his mind, sending a sharp pain through his chest.
He couldn’t go through that again!
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands supporting his forehead, lost in thought. It felt like he was making one of the toughest decisions of his life.
“Alright, keep it,” he finally conceded.
Selena was surprised but quickly masked it with an indifferent, almost mocking look. “Are you feeling sorry for me?”
She took a deep breath and continued, “If you really pity me, then sign the divorce papers. Let’s get a divorce.”
Before, she had hesitated, hoping that if Everett had even a small place for her in his heart and could accept this child, they could maybe start afresh and live happily as a family of three.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Mission: From Divorcee to Millionaire