On the Ruins of His Regret I Soar novel Chapter 190

Amy stole glances at her father. Whenever he looked back, she would quickly look down. She could tell he was unhappy.

After Amy was down for her nap, Lance cornered Jessica outside George’s room.

“Let go of me!”

“Jessica, I need to talk to you.”

“I said, let go!”

“Just a few words. Come with me.”

Lance pulled Jessica out onto a terrace. She tilted her head back, defiant. “If you have something to say, say it.”

His gaze dropped to her stomach. “Are you… pregnant?”

Jessica frowned but didn’t deny it. She just stared at him. “What’s this about?”

“Jessica,” he said, his words measured, “you can’t have this child.”

Jessica was silent.

Lance had already thought it through. If Jessica was pregnant, his grandmother would never allow the divorce to go through. The shareholders, who had just been placated, would start making trouble again. On top of that, with all the rumors swirling, even if she had the baby, people would relentlessly gossip that the child wasn’t his.

It was better this way. Better not to have the child at all.

Jessica understood what he was implying and knew he was mistaken. He must have seen her with Lillian at the OB-GYN clinic and assumed she was the one who was pregnant. A part of her was profoundly grateful it wasn’t her. While Lillian was also pregnant at the time of her divorce, she had the absolute right to decide the fate of her child. If it had been Jessica, she, the mother, would have been stripped of that right.

The thought of a man having control over a woman’s womb was laughably tragic.

“You’re the one who schemed to get me pregnant,” she retorted, “the one who had Patricia Allen go against medical ethics to implant an embryo in me. And now you’re the one saying you don’t want the child. What am I to you? A piece of property?”

Lance knew he was in the wrong. “Jessica, we can have other children in the future.”

Jessica said nothing, simply turned around and left with the meal.

…

When Jessica returned after throwing away the trash, George told her, “Your phone was ringing a moment ago.”

“Oh,” she said, assuming it was Rebecca. She dialed her number, but there was no answer. A knot of anxiety formed in her stomach.

“What’s wrong?” George asked immediately.

“I can’t reach Rebecca,” Jessica said, clutching her phone.

“Don’t panic. I’ll have my assistant look into it.”

Frank Ward replied quickly. Rebecca was at a club on a blind date.