Chapter 3

Elena grabbed the test tubes and threw them onto the floor, instantly covering it in glass shards.

"I don't want the child!" she yelled, her gaze sharp. "The Leones own this hospital. You'll get into a ton of trouble if Henry finds out about this, so you'd better keep this a secret."

Terrified, Eric started sweating. "But… what if Mr. Leone asks…"

"I'm the sole heir of the Shaw family. If he asks you about this, I'll protect you."

Since Elena had decided to leave, she wasn't going to do anything that would keep her attached in any way. Looking down at the broken test tubes, she teared up. She had once dreamed of having a child with Henry, but not like this.

Wiping her tears dry, she got up to leave. She desperately wanted to go somewhere to get her mind off things.

After packing some of her things, Elena drove to a private off-road park up north. Back when she was growing up in Etolia, she loved off-road biking and target shooting in the wild the most.

When she moved to Newshire, she wasn't allowed to use the private park the Shaws owned, and she couldn't find a place where she could hunt freely either. Gianna was the one who stepped in and bought a patch of forest land in the northern part of the state, complete with a mountain. She had even spent a great deal of money turning it into a private training ground.

The massive estate was done up rather lavishly. Once it was open for business, it became a secluded haven for the elites of Newshire. Even among the mafia families, it was known for being the place to have a luxurious retreat while remaining discreet.

As soon as Elena arrived, she saw a familiar black Maybach parked at the entrance. The door opened, and Henry carried Irene out of the car. After setting her down, he turned and saw Elena standing at the entrance in form-fitting gear.

Henry frowned. He thought Elena was still recuperating at the hospital. After all, according to Eric, the administration of the hormonal injection had elicited a strong rejection response from her body. How could she be here now?

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm testing out a gun," Elena replied coldly.

Meanwhile, Henry's friends had gotten out from the car behind him. After hearing Elena's response, they all started cackling.

"A gun? What gun is she talking about? Probably one of those pink plastic toy ones, huh?"

"Oh, right. She came back from Etolia, didn't she? The only mode of transport out there in the rural countryside where she's from is buses. She probably has never even seen an ATV before."

Anthony and Gianna, Elena's adoptive parents, ran a Mafia family back in Etolia. However, Elena kept a low profile and never revealed details about her adoptive family, so everyone thought she'd been taken in by an ordinary family out in the Etolian countryside.

"Shall we teach you how to shoot a gun? I promise we'll be super hands-on. We'll even hold the gun for you if it's too heavy for you."

The men snickered while staring pointedly at Elena.

Uninterested in dealing with them, Elena picked out a narrow path and went up the mountain. Soon after that, it started raining. The rain kept getting heavier, making the mountain paths incredibly slippery. She immediately turned around and headed back.

When she got back to the main building, she saw the men from earlier standing around looking distressed.

Frowning, she walked up to them and asked, "Where's Henry?"

"Elena! Help! Henry's stuck up on the mountain!" Irene cried out in a panic.

She tearfully explained that she saw a pretty snow leopard up on the mountain, so Henry went after it in spite of the rain. However, he was caught in a landslide and was now missing.

"Did he get kicked in the head?"

Elena's expression darkened at once as she snapped, "The mountain terrain becomes incredibly dangerous when it rains, and there are even more predators roaming about after dark. Has he lost his mind?"

One of Henry's friends retorted sarcastically, "Why are you yapping away, huh? Don't tell me you can fly over to him right away. The bodyguards have already gone out in search of him, and the nearby search-and-rescue teams will be here in four hours. It's not like you can be of any help."

He was still talking when everyone saw Elena jumping onto a modified tactical ATV with ease.

Turning around, she said, "I'll save him."

Then, she rode off on the ATV, kicking up a cloud of gravel and mist.

Everyone was stunned.

"What the hell? She knows how to ride that thing?"