Chapter 4

Paige was right. I once had a child too, though I hadn't been able to carry it to term.

However, I couldn't bring myself to sympathize with Paige. At the end of the day, she was still the third party who had intruded into my relationship with Cyrus.

"Melanie, Caleb's surgery is scheduled for next week," Cyrus said before clenching his jaw. "But the surgery and the follow-up treatments will cost a fortune. The company's liquid funds are all tied up in your new project..."

I looked up at him. "So?"

Cyrus avoided my gaze. "I want to temporarily put your project on hold and reallocate the funds for Caleb's treatment. This is a matter of life and death."

That project was one I had poured my heart into. I'd spent three months burning the midnight oil to secure a new market for Parker Corp.

I trembled with rage.

"Cyrus, do you have any idea what suspending that project means? It means tens of millions in initial investment going down the drain!"

"I can always earn more money, but I can't just watch my son die!" Cyrus roared.

"Enough!"

My vision went black, and a heavy weight seemed to crush my chest. A wave of nausea and dizziness, stronger than ever before, washed over me. Clutching my chest, my legs gave way and I collapsed.

…

When I woke up, I was in a hospital room. Cyrus sat by the bed, clutching a piece of paper, his expression blank.

Seeing me stir, he jolted to his feet. He leaned in, his voice urgent. "Melanie, you're awake! Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere? Your stomach… Does your stomach hurt?"

I frowned and shook his hand off. "Cyrus, what act are you putting on now?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he just silently handed me the paper he held in his hand.

I took it and had a look. What I saw shocked me so much that I froze.

"Intrauterine early pregnancy, six weeks."

Cyrus' eyes were red-rimmed, and he choked up as he said, "The doctor said that your body is too weak. The previous miscarriage damaged your health, so this pregnancy is a fragile one.

"Just now, when you got overly emotional, there were already signs of a threatened miscarriage. You need strict bed rest, and you absolutely can't get stressed out anymore. It's a miracle, Melanie. This is a miracle from heaven."

He got so worked up he wanted to hug me, but he didn't dare touch me. "Grandpa will be overjoyed to hear this!"

Watching his ecstatic reaction, I felt nothing but biting irony. "You're happy about this, Cyrus?"

I stared at him coldly.

"Of course I am! This is our child!"

I caressed my stomach and fixed an icy gaze on him. "But I'm not happy, and I don't want this child."

I pointed toward the door. "Rather than have him be born to a father who's biased and have an illegitimate older brother who might come back anytime to fight for the inheritance, it's better to abort him now."

"No!" Cyrus shouted hoarsely, his eyes bloodshot. "This is my child! What right do you have to abort it? I won't allow it!"

I smiled bitterly. "You won't allow it? Cyrus, this child is inside my body. I decide whether it stays or goes. If you want me to keep it, fine."

I sat up straight, my gaze sharp. "Then choose. Either send Paige and that boy abroad again, forbid them from ever coming back or contacting us for the rest of their lives, or I'll walk into the operating room right now and end this pregnancy."