Elisa was pregnant, and Hamish was caught off guard. He had taken precautions every time, so how could Elisa be pregnant? Where had they gone wrong? Hamish calculated the time; during that period, Elisa had been by his side constantly, with no opportunity to be alone. The only time she had been out was when she went to the hospital, and he had even had someone follow her.
Hamish leaned against the wall, his head in his hands. Elisa couldn’t have a child. It wasn’t just about her health; their relationship couldn’t withstand it. Elisa couldn’t have a child.
Thinking about the child that was about to be terminated, Hamish’s eyes reddened, his heart ached, making it hard to breathe.
Caleb also learned about Elisa’s pregnancy. He looked at Hamish and asked seriously, “Do you want this child?”
“I can’t,” Hamish replied. It wasn’t about whether he wanted to or not; he couldn’t.
“Her body doesn’t allow her to be pregnant, does it?”
“Yes.” If they decided to keep the child, Elisa might pay for it with her life.
“How are you going to tell her?” Caleb asked. “If you tell her, she might remember because of her stomach cancer.”
When Caleb had hypnotized her, he had sealed off anything that caused her pain, and one of those things was stomach cancer.
“It’s like putting shackles on her memories. If the lock is opened, she might successfully regain her memory.”
“Don’t tell her,” Hamish said simply.
“If she has the procedure without knowing anything, she will hate you.”
“That level of hatred is nothing compared to what she will feel after she regains her memory.”
Hamish returned to the ward to watch over Elisa, looking at her flat stomach.
When Elisa had been pregnant with her first child, he had pushed her down the stairs to induce a miscarriage. He had watched her engulfed in madness as the blood pooled around her.
The doctor had said her uterine wall was weak and pregnancy would be difficult. At that time, their relationship had been so strained, with Elisa longing to escape from him.
He didn’t know how to keep her, so he had used a child to bind her, but now even that was futile.
He tucked her in and then couldn’t help but reach under the covers to touch her flat belly.
Elisa grimaced in discomfort, dreaming of a snake coiling around her waist and abdomen. She woke up, and the first thing she saw was Hamish’s hand on her abdomen.
Her expression changed slightly, and she instinctively recoiled. “What are you doing?”
Her eyes were wary, distant in a way he had never seen before. The words before she fainted had come from the depths of her heart; she loathed Hamish, and now even his touch made her nauseous.
Hamish, wearing a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves, retracted his hand from under the covers when he saw Elisa open her eyes.
“You’ve been asleep for almost a day.”
Elisa looked out the window and realized it was dark outside.
No wonder she had woken up feeling parched, dizzy.
Hamish got up to pour a glass of warm water. “Drink some water,” he said, subconsciously reaching out to help her up as he usually did.
But Elisa dodged his touch as if he were contaminated.
Looking at her, Hamish’s dark eyes flickered with a fiery intensity, hot like a branding iron.
Elisa’s throat was dry. She looked at the glass of water in his hand, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took it.
She took a few sips, feeling a lot better. She gazed at him intently. “Why am I in the hospital?”
“You’re pregnant, four weeks.”
Elisa’s expression froze, gripping the bedsheet tightly. After the ovulation injection, she had indeed become pregnant.
Suddenly, everything she had found confusing made sense. No wonder Calista had said those things to her. Even a stranger could see it, but she had been kept in the dark.
“You said you couldn’t. Then whose child is in my stomach?” She sneered.
“Hamish, you are full of lies. I have to wonder if our marriage and my origins are all fabrications of yours.”
Hamish fell silent for a moment, feeling a dryness in his throat. Standing at the head of the bed, with his back to the light source, he was so tall and commanding that an inherent intimidation emanated from him.
He sat down, his gaze slightly softened. “We can’t have this child,” he said, trying to keep his tone even, but when he saw the cracking expression on Elisa’s face, his tone grew heavier.
“The surgical agreement will be sent over when the hospital’s morning shift starts. The doctorswill have it done.”
With a slight tilt of his head, Hamish’s lashes veiled his eyes, making it impossible to discern his gaze. After a while, he lifted his eyes, his expression unreadable. “Does that ease your mind? If not, you can keep slapping until you feel better.”
Elisa felt as though she had fallen into an icy cave, her palms numb, but the pain seemed distant. She hadn’t expected Hamish’s first words to be about terminating the child.
She gazed at her reddened palm, “This child is mine. I won’t terminate it just because of your words.”
“Your body isn’t suitable for pregnancy, Elisa, trust me. We won’t have a child. If you like children, we can adopt from an orphanage.”
“Trust you?” Elisa’s eyes reddened. “What gives you the right? Why should I listen to you and terminate my child?”
Elisa, who usually appeared gentle and delicate, was now using coarse language, indicating how angry she was.
“I warned you not to cross my bottom line,” she took a shallow breath. “Explain to me, what’s wrong with my body and why I can’t have a child?”
“The medications you take daily could affect the fetus.”
Elisa sneered, “I almost forgot about those. What are the ingredients in those pills? The handful I take at noon-are they affecting my nerves too?”
“No,” Hamish replied, “those are for your stomach.”
“But my stomach hasn’t improved. I’ve even vomited blood several times. If I hadn’t had an endoscopy, I would have thought I had cancer.” She gave a bitter laugh. “Besides, I’ve never heard that a stomach condition prevents pregnancy.”
Elisa’s attitude made it clear she intended to keep the child. Hamish knew that no matter how much he said, it wouldn’t make a difference. Fortunately, he wasn’t going to soften his stance.
“The surgery will be tomorrow, and there’s no room for negotiation.”
Elisa was consumed with anger, feeling as though her heart was alternately being roasted over a fire and then plunged into icy water. Before she could speak, Hamish cut in, “I’ve already bribed the hospital to say you have a mental illness. Even if you don’t sign the surgical agreement, you’ll be taken to the operating table for the abortion.”