“Ranita…” Brendon’s heart felt like it had been punched. He reached out and grabbed Ranita’s wrist, asking in a low voice, “That child, is it mine?”
Tears welled up in Ranita’s eyes.
“It doesn’t matter anymore. There’s no need to ask these questions. Brendon, we agreed to part amicably when we divorced.”
With that said, Ranita saw Shannon approaching from afar and pushed his hand away. “Don’t do anything that will make Miss Murphy misunderstand again. I don’t want to get involved between you two.”
Ranita didn’t go to the bathroom but went straight back to the private room.
During the second half of dinner, Ranita kept her smile and listened as everyone chatted about everything under the sun. Steve even gossiped with Eve about entertainment news while there were plenty of funny stories from the hospital that left Eve stunned!
Dinner ended.
Dylan took Eve home, Steve returned to the hospital, and Chris, as usual, escorted her back home. Under the apartment building, Chris looked at Ranita and suddenly took a step forward, opening his arms, “Ranita, can I give you a hug?”
“Sure!”
This hug provided Ranita with a lot of warmth.
“Chris, thank you for taking care of me during this time. I’ve always been grateful to you for saving my life,” Ranita felt indebted for the life-saving favor alone.
Chris sighed, glancing at her. “Are you leaving?”
“Yeah! I’m going to…”
“Don’t tell me now!” He was afraid he might accidentally tell Brendon, causing more trouble. “Contact me when you’ve settled down. If I have time, I’ll come see you!”
“Thank you!” Ranita let go of him and waved. “See you when I have time!”
Under the streetlight, Chris’ shadow stretched long, looking a bit lonely and desolate. His eyes gazed at her with tenderness.
Ranita’s heart twitched slightly.
“Go back! Rest well at home!” Chris said, rubbing her head playfully. “See you when you have time.”
Ranita turned and left.
She didn’t actually tell them that she had a flight tonight.
Brendon remained silent in the car, and Shannon, who was holding his arm, was gently pushed away by him, leaving her feeling frustrated.
“Brendon… What’s wrong?”
“Nothing!” Brendon replied coldly.
“Really?” Shannon bit her lip and asked, “Are you still thinking about Ranita? You’ve been like this since you saw her…”
Ring, ring, ring! Brendon’s phone rang.
It was a call from Caleb. “Mr. Stuart, I received a package here. Dr. Pearson had it delivered. It’s a hospital medical record report… I’ll send you a picture.”
Caleb sent Brendon Ranita’s ultrasound report, stating she was seven weeks pregnant, and the date was one week after they signed the divorce agreement.
“Stop the car!” Brendon suddenly raised his voice. “Shannon, I’ll have the driver take you home. I need to go out for a while.”
Brendon walked away quickly, and Shannon tried to catch up but failed, stomping her feet in frustration.
Brendon, out of breath, stopped at the entrance of the apartment. After hesitating for a moment, he rang the doorbell! After waiting for a while, he tried using the password to open the door, and to his surprise, the door clicked open.
It was very dark inside.
Brendon stepped in.
What met his eyes was white dust covers… Brendon’s heart ached, and he walked quickly to the bedroom. It, too, was tidied up, with all of Ranita’s belongings gone, indicating that the owner of this place had left.
For a week straight, Brendon came to the apartment every day.
But Ranita never returned.