Chatper 152


    Chapter 152


    As Natalie weathered the barrage of insults, Brian had never uttered a word in her defense. She feared


    that he too had always harbored the belief that she was cunning and had taken. the rumors of her


    drugging him as gospel truth.


    There could be no second ident.


    The car fell into a deathly silence the moment she mentioned “contraceptive.”


    Brian’s hand, resting protectively on her lower back, tightened ever so slightly.


    “After all this time, I wish I’d never carried your child,” Natalie said after a while, her voiceced with


    self–deprecatingughter.


    Reid cautiously nced at them through the rearview mirror, his grip on the steering wheel betraying


    his nerves.


    Brian’s eyes, mirroring a stormy sea, remained fixed on Natalie’s profile, refusing to calm. However,


    even as they arrived at the hospital, Brian remained silent.


    As soon as the car stopped, Natalie tried to get out on her own, but a few shifts caused her vision to


    cken with pain.


    Brian leaned over and lifted her out of the car. For a fleeting moment, Natalie was close enough to


    brush against his face, but she awkwardly turned away, unwilling to be so near


    him.


    A nurse wheeled a gurney out from the emergency room, but Brian, without a word, didn’t set Natalie


    down. Instead, he carried her swiftly toward the emergency room.


    Several attending physicians, alerted in advance, waited anxiously at the entrance. On seeing Brian


    approach, they wasted no time in wheeling Natalie into the emergency room.


    “Get a blood test, now!” Natalie heard Brianmand in a deep voice from outside the


    room.


    Lying on the bed, she stared nkly at the stark white ceiling. She remembered going to the hospital


    alone the first time she found out she was pregnant, intending to hide the blood test results. Yet, the


    very next day, she learned of the Howard family’s n to send her abroad.


    Theybeled the child in her womb a mistake and used her of scheming in silence, nning to use


    the child as leverage against the Howard family to shield Audrey.


    The Howard family said they would be shamed by her and the child, that she had to leave Streamville


    to prevent any tarnish to their reputation.


    Back then, her thoughts were foolishly fixated on Brian. She guarded her unborn child zealously,


    fearing any mishap would anger him.


    She couldn’t quite understand how her affection for him was strong enough to brave loneliness in a


    foreignnd, enduring scorn and prejudice to protect his offspring.


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    Chapter 152


    She had even naively hoped that after the child’s birth, Brian would, for the sake of the child, listen to


    her exnation and forgive her, right?


    If she could go back four years, she would tell her naive self, “End it, Natalie. He won’t care for you, nor


    the child. Don’t be so hopelessly deluded.”


    Natalie closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. She had known all along.


    “Go in and treat her.”


    He sat on the hallway bench, holding theb report, his emotions a tangled mess.


    Her attitude in the car had been resolute enough.


    When Natalie awoke from the anesthesia, dusk was settling in.