Chapter 4 I Won't Love You Anymore

Skylar patted Thea gently, but his voice sounded a little distracted. "You're not putting me in a difficult position. She's not worthy of bearing my child." Thea looked up at him, touched. She said gently, "Sky, thank you for not despising me. Back when I was abroad, I thought I'd die there in humiliation." As she finished speaking, she rose slightly on tiptoe, wanting to press her lips to his. But in that instant, he turned his face away. He wrapped an arm around her as he led her out. "You're tired. I'll take you back to your ward to rest." Thea leaned obediently against him. As they reached the hallway, she glanced toward the operating room at the end of the corridor. An almost imperceptible smile played on her lips. Inside the operating room, Elaine was pinned to the table. She struggled with all her might, but her limbs barely twitched. Her chest burned with a stabbing pain. Combined with her fever from being soaked in the rain, she no longer had any strength left to fight. Just before the anesthetics were administered, she heard two doctors talking. A doctor entering the room said softly, "Mr. Frey has instructed that the fetus is not to be kept. Proceed directly with the abortion." The lead surgeon sounded displeased. "Dr. Wood, you've seen her test results. This woman's uterine wall is so thin that it's practically a miracle she conceived at all. If we proceed with the abortion, she'll lose the ability to have children in the future. And besides, she wants to keep the baby. I'm a doctor, not an executioner." The doctor who had just entered sighed. "Dr. Xander, I understand, but this is Mr. Frey's instruction. He said that under no circumstances should the baby be kept." The lead surgeon said in a low voice, "Even so, we can't just—" Elaine suddenly lost the strength to resist. She cut the lead surgeon off, "Proceed with the surgery. It's my own choice not to keep the baby." The lead surgeon let out a sigh and said nothing more. She gave a signal for the anesthesiologist to proceed. On the operating table, blinding white light shone down as Elaine's consciousness gradually faded. Once again, she dreamed of that night. … She was feeling weak from a cold and hadn't eaten all day. In the middle of the night, she pouted and clung to Skylar's arm, saying that she was hungry. Skylar actually got out of bed to cook her favorite seafood pasta. But after eating it, she vomited and dry-heaved for a long while. Both of them got so excited that they rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night for a pregnancy test. However, it turned out she had simply caught a cold. Although he was clearly disappointed, he still pulled her into his arms and softly comforted her as she scrunched up her little face. He said, "Giving birth is very painful. You're still young. You won't be able to bear that pain. Our baby loves you so much. That's why they've decided to wait a little longer before coming to us." … Back then, Skylar must have taken her for Thea. How laughable that Elaine had fantasized he might love her, even just a little. She couldn't help but think, "Skylar, our baby finally came, but you killed it with your own hands." Her consciousness gradually returned when she was being transferred onto a gurney. Skylar's bodyguards wheeled her out of the operating room. The gurney passed the ward she had just been in and continued forward. Elaine felt a growing sense of dread and asked weakly, "Could I rest for a while in the ward I was in before?" One of the bodyguards replied coldly, "Ms. Lancelot feels sorry for you. She wants to see you." Elaine's lips twisted into a bitter, self-mocking smile. Tears slipped down her cheeks. She had just lost her baby. Did she have to be paraded in this utterly broken state just so Thea could watch and savor her misery? The gurney was wheeled into another hospital ward. Skylar sat with his back to the door. He must have heard them come in, but he didn't turn around. He was peeling an apple with a fruit knife, and his hand trembled ever so slightly. However, that single tremor didn't escape Thea's eyes. Elaine lay on the gurney, her face deathly pale—almost translucent. Seeing her, Thea looked as if she wanted to get out of bed but didn't have the strength. She said softly, "Sky, I can't get up. Can you help me over to see Ms. Shelton?" Skylar didn't react at first. It wasn't until Thea called him again that he seemed to snap out of it. He carefully got up to help her out of bed. Elaine's eyes were tightly shut. From her fingertips to her earlobes, her entire body was drained of color. If the white blanket draped over her were pulled up just a little higher, she would look no different from a corpse about to be wheeled into the morgue. Thea's hand trembled as she grasped Elaine's, her voice full of guilt and unease. "Ms. Shelton, it's all my fault. I'm so sorry. You must be in so much pain." Tears streamed down her face. She sobbed so hard her breath hitched, as if she were mourning at a funeral. Skylar pulled Thea into his embrace, his voice gentle. "Enough. Don't look at her anymore. After how she's hurt you, even letting her live is mercy enough. She's nothing but an eyesore." Thea choked on her sobs. "Sky, I'm so scared. I'm going to have an abortion too, but it looks so painful. It must hurt so much." Skylar felt his heart shatter. Without hesitation, he promised, "Don't worry, Thea. I won't let you suffer like that. You're going to carry this child to term. From now on, this baby will be my own flesh and blood—the true bloodline of the Frey family." Elaine's fingertips trembled weakly. Inside, she could only let out a sorrowful, bitter laugh. Nothing could be more agonizing than this. Skylar had killed the child in Elaine's womb, his own flesh and blood, himself and would rather raise the bastard in Thea's belly. Elaine had poured her heart out into loving him all these years, only to realize now how terribly wrong she had been. A stand-in was nothing but a stand-in. Skylar had never loved her, not even a little. From beginning to end, all he had ever loved about her was her face that resembled Thea's. A sharp spasm of pain seized her chest. Elaine finally lost all her strength and gave in to exhaustion, falling asleep. When she woke up again, it was already the next day. Daylight streamed in brightly. She lay in her bedroom at Birchwood Estate, the sunlight filtering in like golden dust. It felt like a different lifetime. Birchwood Estate was her and Skylar's marital home. She'd chosen it herself two years ago. Elaine reached out and felt the warmth beside her. Did Skylar sleep here last night too? She tried to get up. But the moment she moved, a searing pain surged in her chest. Clutching her chest tightly, she coughed violently and struggled to the edge of the bed. She reached for the bedside table, pulled open a drawer, and swallowed a few pills dry. People said half a year was a short time to live. But for Elaine, it meant enduring nearly 200 more days of this torment that felt worse than death. The pills caught in her throat, scraping her raw as she forced them down. She gently placed her hand on her belly, now flat and empty. A tiny life had vanished without a trace. Her heart went cold as she whispered, "Skylar, from now on, I won't love you anymore..."