Babies and Departures

At the very next instant, I saw Quentin standing up and leaving with a doctor to get Kelly's prenatal checkup report.

As for Kelly, she turned toward the pillar where I was hiding with a taunting grin. "Come on, Ms. Lester—you came all the way here, so why don't you show yourself already?"

I slowly walked out and stared at her in silence.

Kelly held my gaze and laughed as I was clearly going to keep quiet. "Do you get it now? Quentin never loved you. Have some shame and stop clinging on to being Mrs. Smith.

"Oh, look at you—can't even keep your own man in check. Don't you feel useless? Might as well hand him over to someone else… Someone like me, who has just broken off my engagement and returned from abroad. Ah, I'm just so helpless, and I have no one other than the baby in my belly…"

I simply shrugged—everything she said was just so amusing.

Sighing, I said, "Strange—you know Quentin is married, but you're still so eager to hook up with him. Don't you feel ashamed?"

"What…" Kelly was left speechless, but she soon took a deep breath and snapped, "God knows where you were when Quentin and I first met! You wouldn't even have the chance to marry him If I hadn't left the country! Now that I'm pregnant with his child, you should have the sense to back off!"

I felt a pang of pain in my chest and had to fight back my tears.

That was when Kelly saw the medical report in my hand and snatched it away, scanning through it before bursting into laughter. "So you're dying! Stage four cancer? Honestly, I wonder if you'll even make it to the delivery bed?"

She suddenly reached out and grabbed my wrist, clenching firmly as she threatened me, "So do the right thing and leave, or else..."

I was about to struggle, but at the very next second, her savage expression suddenly turned to vulnerability, and she abruptly collapsed to the floor, crying out, "No! Please, calm down! I'm pregnant too… How could you do this to me..."

I was stunned, not realizing what was happening until Quentin suddenly pushed me to the floor when he saw that Kelly had fallen.

"Jolin!" he bellowed without even waiting to find out what happened. "Why did you push Kelly for no reason?"

At the same time, Kelly rubbed her belly and feigned concern, grabbing Quentin's arm as she said, "It's alright—I'm fine, it's not her fault. The baby's fine too. I'm fine with a little push…"

That only infuriated Quentin further. "Jolin! Apologize this instant!"

I was so angry I could barely breathe, and I flung my medical report at him as I snapped, "Take a good look before you run your mouth!"

However, Quentin simply ripped it into pieces and kept yelling, "Don't bother trying to change the subject! You were out of line, Jolin! You don't get to hurt Kelly even if you hate her! And you're soon going to be a mother too. How could you do this to another pregnant woman?!"

Despair was eating me even as I looked at him in turn, and I had to wipe off the tears I couldn't fight back.

Quentin paused, and his tone softened. "Fine, I get it—I haven't been paying you much attention lately. And you're pregnant now, so I won't keep arguing. Just apologize to Kelly, and we can all put this behind us. Once our baby is born, I'll make it up to you."

I could see the triumphant gleam in Kelly's eyes and felt a gaping hole in my chest as I turned to Quentin.

Suddenly, I realized that the man who had once said he loved me and would always believe in me was gone.

And now, I shouldn't expect anything of him.

Taking a deep breath, I wiped the tears from my face again and calmed myself before I said softly, "I won't apologize for something I didn't do."

And with those words, I turned and walked away.