“No, I disagree.” Lila stood up abruptly, tears streaming down her face.
Choking on her words, she said, “Hamish, I didn’t come here to talk about breaking up with you. I’m just really scared. You don’t know how scared I am of losing you. I have nightmares every night, dreaming that you don’t want me anymore.”
Hamish glanced at Lila, her tear-filled eyes, and his heart skipped a beat. He took a deep breath, extinguishing the cigarette he hadn’t had a chance to smoke yet.
“I promised you, I will divorce Elisa and marry you.”
Lila, her voice trembling, asked, “When do we have to wait until?”
“Until Elisa gives birth to the child.”
But what if Elisa can’t have children for the rest of her life? Does that mean they have to live like this forever?
Lila didn’t dare to ask that. She had a feeling that if she voiced those words, Hamish would get angry. She gently suggested, “Hamish, we don’t necessarily have to exclude her child. We can find a surrogate.”
Hamish furrowed his brow. “Surrogacy is illegal. Elisa is my legal wife, and it’s only natural for her to give birth to the child. Once she gives birth, I will have custody of the child.”
Lila didn’t know if she should believe his words anymore. She wiped away the tears on her face, her throat tightened as she asked, “Is what you said true?”
Hamish leaned in, turning her face to meet his gaze. “Lila, can’t you trust me? We have a court hearing on Wednesday, and Elisa will definitely use you as ammunition. You will be a witness on my side. I don’t need to tell you what to say, right?”
The warmth of the moment disappeared, and Lila couldn’t say anything else. She could only nod in agreement.
If she didn’t agree, judging by Hamish’s current attitude towards her, he would definitely end this relationship. The thought of losing Hamish in her life was unbearable. She couldn’t accept that over ten years of love would be shattered because of Elisa.
“As long as I can be with you, I’ll agree to anything.” Lila murmured, leaning against his chest.
After comforting her for a while, Hamish called the driver to take Lila back.
He stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the direction in which the car disappeared, thinking about the question Lila had asked him.
Why did it have to be Elisa’s child?
He couldn’t find an answer, but it seemed that if it wasn’t Elisa’s child, he’d rather not have a child from any other woman.
…
Elisa felt a growing unease in her heart, having nightmares for several nights in a row, dreaming of Hamish locking her in a dark, sunless cage.
Her mental state grew increasingly fragile, and she woke up every morning feeling lethargic, with a low-grade fever of 38 degrees.
With the court hearing approaching, falling ill at this time was out of the question. Elisa went to the hospital to get cold medicine and coincidentally ran into Hattie. They chatted briefly about the case.
When it came to the lawsuit with Hamish, no matter how well-prepared she felt, Elisa didn’t want to burden Hattie, so she didn’t go into details.
Hattie asked, changing the subject, “Where did you hurriedly go that afternoon? And why did you end up in the hospital later?”
Hattie had been wanting to ask for a while, but she thought it might be inconvenient to discuss over the phone. It wasn’t until now, when she came to the hospital to get cold medicine, that she remembered.
“It’s nothing, Ivan owed ten million at the casino that day, and they asked me to bring the money to secure his release.” Elisa casually mentioned what had happened that day.
“Which casino?” Hattie asked.
Elisa replied nonchalantly, “The Bankshire underground casino.”
Hattie’s usually composed face froze after hearing Elisa’s words. “You have quite the nerve. You dared to go to that place alone. And those injuries on you, were they caused by Lukas? Did he harm you?”
“How do you know it was Lukas?” Surprise flickered in Elisa’s eyes. She only mentioned that she went to the casino to bail out Ivan, without mentioning anyone in particular. How did Hattie guess that Lukas was involved when she went to the hospital?
Lowering her voice, Hattie said, “On the night you went to the hospital, Lukas had an accident and was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.”