Page 40 of The Call She Made That He Never Answered
Before reaching Professor Williams's office, I deliberately held my breath and softened my footsteps.
Stronger than the humiliation of seeing Lucas and Vivian's photo in the paper—shame boiled in my chest. I had to know the truth.
The office door wasn't fully closed.
The moment I approached, that familiar voice drilled into my ears.
Deep, magnetic, tinged with anxiety.
"Professor Williams, with twins, severe morning sickness, what measures should be taken to reduce the suffering?"
Twins?
My head buzzed like something had slammed into it. Everything went black.
Lucas wasn't here for me. I hadn't even scheduled a proper prenatal checkup yet, so the woman pregnant with twins couldn't possibly be me.
This was why he came to the sanatorium. However impatient, however glued to his phone, he hadn't left. His purpose from the start wasn't to accompany me. It was finding a leading obstetric specialist for the woman he truly loved and her children.
I felt cold all over, shaking, barely able to stand. But I still forced myself through the dizziness, almost masochistically peering through the door crack, compelling myself to witness the truth.
Lucas stood with his back to me at the consultation desk. Beside him stood a woman gazing at him with tender devotion.
That profile. I'd recognize it anywhere.
Vivian.
My world collapsed in that instant.
Suddenly, I understood.
I understood why Vivian had come to confront me yesterday with that twisted expression. She'd known Lucas for over ten years, worked alongside him for two. She already had Lucas. She had no reason to see me as a rival worth provoking.
Unless...
Vivian was pregnant!
Everything she'd done was a mother's instinct. She needed to drive me away, seamlessly become the new Mrs. Rockefeller, secure her children's position in the family, and inherit all the Rockefeller wealth and prestige.
As for Lucas, he already had the woman he loved and the children she was carrying. How could he possibly care about my child?
Pathetic that I'd been fantasizing just minutes ago! That if I could just endure enough, I could keep living at the manor.
Impossible now. Not only would Vivian never accept it, but even Lucas himself could never treat my child well!
I don't remember how I got back to Maya's room.
I only remember crying the whole way, tears I couldn't stop, like a broken faucet, streaming down. When I reached the room, I scared Maya. She shut the door, pulled me to the bed, anxiously asking what happened—didn't I go find Lucas? Why was I crying so hard?
Lucas's name bit me like a viper. I broke into sobs again, pouring out everything I'd just seen, everything from the past two years. What Lucas had done completely shattered me. I couldn't keep enduring. I spoke in a mess, choppy and incoherent, but I knew she understood. She held me tight the whole time, never interrupting, just occasionally patting my back, letting me know she was listening, she was there.
I don't know how long I cried, until my tears finally dried up, my voice too hoarse to speak, and I gradually calmed down.
Maya laid my head on her lap, passing her warmth to me. I felt her body trembling too. It made me regret telling her, made my heart ache.
Maya suddenly spoke. "Ella, do you remember? Two years after Dad died, Mom abandoned us."
I looked up at her.
