Page 39 of The Call She Made That He Never Answered
"Maya, I—" I tried to comfort her, but my throat closed up.
"Save the bedside manner." Maya cut me off gently, a bitter smile crossing her lips. "I know you only walked into that manor for my medical bills. Every check deposited into the hospital account felt like I was selling you out. I've been dragging you down. If you want a divorce, I'm all for it. We may be poor, but we don't have to sacrifice your whole life."
My sister's rationality caught my suspended heart like solid ground. Tears instantly filled my eyes, all that fear compressed in my chest finally finding release.
"But I don't know if divorce is the right thing..."
"Do what you want to do."
"No," I interrupted her. "I'm pregnant."
Maya's breathing stopped. Her grip on my hand tightened, almost painfully. After a long silence, she asked in a shocked tone, "How far along?"
"About two months."
She closed her eyes, the veins on her thin hands standing out, as if a tsunami raged inside her. Finally, she opened her eyes again, rational sharpness returning. "Ella, if this were just between you and him, I'd take you away without hesitation. But now we face reality. This child is Rockefeller blood. That man can be a terrible husband, but he has to be a father. That's his obligation."
"But he doesn't love me, Maya! He won't even look at me!"
"That's separate," Maya said, her voice weak but firm. "Divorce ends your suffering and his. But a child is a child. Even after a divorce, the child is an independent being. He should have everything that's rightfully his. You don't have the right to decide for the child, Ella. Tell Lucas you're pregnant. Don't let your child repeat what we went through, scraping by at the bottom."
Tears streaming, I nodded. I had to admit she was right. From the child's perspective, this was the best choice. As the mother, I couldn't be selfish, couldn't ruin its life on impulse.
Maya's eyes held encouragement. "Go tell him, Ella. You've already decided on divorce. It can't get worse than that."
I wiped my tears, straightened my appearance, and gathered courage to leave the room.
The corridor was dark and cold, swallowing my figure bit by bit. My mind spun in chaos. Seven months until the baby arrived, then the long nursing period, talking, walking... at least two or three years inseparable from the mother. If I didn't want to leave the child during that time, I'd have to keep living at the manor, enduring Lucas's cold violence, enduring Vivian's provocations. But for the child, I had to endure it. As long asLucas acknowledged the child's existence, as long as he loved the child, for the child's future, maybe I could bear it a little longer. That was a mother's duty.
I walked the corridors and stairways two or three times without finding Lucas.
Finally, I had to ask at the nurses' station.
Under the nurse's puzzled look, I awkwardly described him. "He's wearing a dark gray suit, very tall, with gray-blue eyes..."
"Oh, that very handsome gentleman is your husband?" I caught a strange note of pity in the nurse's voice. She pointed down the hall. "He asked me where Professor Williams's office was. Should be in the medical wing."
Why would Lucas see Professor Williams?
It made no sense. At Rockefeller Manor, a private medical team stood ready twenty-four-seven. Every family member had top-level clearance at New York's best private hospitals. He had no reason to seek medical help at a sanatorium.
Unless it was a secret that couldn't go through the family medical system.
My stomach twisted into a knot.
Professor Williams was indeed a first-rate doctor. After retiring from public hospitals, she occasionally did charity work at the sanatorium. She knew all specialties, but her most renowned contribution was in obstetrics.
Obstetrics...
A terrible feeling rose in my chest.
Did he find out I'm pregnant?
No, impossible. I'd disposed of all the pregnancy tests. And if he knew, why wouldn't he tell me?
My throat tightened with uncontrollable fear. Panic nearly swallowed me whole.
I couldn't think anymore. I quickened my pace toward the medical wing.
