C16 Eliminate the Child

“He was planning to divorce me, anyway. If I told him, he would only think that I was using the child as leverage to hold on to him.”

He raised a sardonic brow. “But he knows about it now. What are you going to do about it?”

I was stunned into silence. I didn’t have the answer to that.

I glanced up at him and asked with caution, “Would Kieran want this child?”

“I’m afraid I’m not fit to answer that question.” He pocketed his phone before looking me in the eye. “But Kieran is well over thirty. He has no reason not to accept the child.”

With that, he took the white coat in both hands and left.

What now? Would Kieran really want the child?

It was too early for me to feel any sort of relief. And sure enough, whatever small comfort I felt was shattered in less than a day.

I was in the middle of an infusion when Regina barged into the ward. Her eyes were flashing wildly as she made a beeline for the bed and grabbed my throat in a chokehold. “Why?! Why the hell did you get pregnant? You killed my child! Don’t think that I will let yours live!”

I was struggling to breathe. All I could do was clutch at her wrists and try to pry her fingers off my neck.

Regina was clearly not herself. “I won’t let this child be born,” she snarled, her eyes wide, her nostrils flared. “I know you will only use the baby to tie Kieran down!”

I was in a state of panic and loss. The person who was known to be weak and sickly now displayed a shocking degree of strength, and I was powerless against her.

“Murder…” I squeezed the word out. “You would pay with your life… For murder…”

But Regina was undeterred. She sneered and tightened her grip around my throat. “So what?! I’m eliminating two useless lives, and there will only be one corpse! It’s a bargain, and I won’t pass it up!”

“What are you doing, Regina?” came a cold, male voice from the doorway.

Regina instantly stiffened, and the ferocious glint in her eyes vanished, to be replaced by a well of tears that streamed down her cheeks. All her excitement seemed to drain out of her upon Kieran’s appearance, and she slumped to the floor.

Kieran quickly walked over and picked her up. Of course, he did. As for me, I opened my mouth and took in large gulps of air. I could breathe again.

It took a while for Regina to finally calm down. She snuggled in Kieran’s embrace and sobbed against his chest. “You promised me that you won’t let other women have your child. You promised me!”

At that point, I had also calmed down. I leaned over to look at the couple on the floor. I couldn’t tell exactly what I was feeling, but it certainly wasn’t good.

Kieran’s dark and aloof eyes swept over me momentarily. His large hand was stroking Regina’s back in a soothing motion. “Don’t cry,” he all but crooned to her. “You’re not in good shape, it won’t be good for your body if you keep crying like this.”

Regina looked up at him and wiped her tears away. There was a determined set to her jaw as he said. “You’re not going to allow her to give birth, are you, Kieran?”

I tensed and stared at Kieran, anxiously waiting for his answer.

He didn’t even bother to look at me. His eyes were fixed on Regina the whole time. “Come, now, Regina,” he said in an achingly gentle voice as he wiped another tear away. “Stop with this nonsense.”

I closed my eyes, feeling more or less relieved. At the very least, Kieran didn’t want to get rid of the child. For now, anyway.

“I’m not speaking nonsense!” Regina shrieked as a fresh torrent of tears fell from her eyes. She pulled at Kieran’s shirt and whined. “Kieran, you promised my brother that you would take good care of me. Now that he’s gone, all I have is you.”

She let out a couple more sobs before pointing at me. “Tell me, are you still going to divorce her if she gave birth to your child? You won’t, right? You won’t keep your promise to look after me for the rest of my life. You will have your own family, and I will have nothing. I don’t want that! I don’t want to be left alone.”