Third person's POV
Lucian seemed to anticipate her question and said, "Go ahead."
"The time we've spent together is short. If initially, you helped me look for people out of consideration for Julia and the others on the island, then what about later? You secretly protected me, took care of my children, and even helped me escape without any complaints. We're not even friends, yet you risked your life for these actions. There must be a reason."
Lucian had somehow produced a tactical dagger, the blade gleaming coldly.
At this moment, he seemed not only mysterious but also like a venomous blade.
"Why don't you take a guess?" His voice was deep, sending a chill down Tabitha's spine in the night.
"I don't know, but there's no such thing as unreasoned kindness. Lucian, what do you truly want?"
When they first met, Tabitha had offered to pay child support, but he refused.
"I'm the kind of person who lives day by day, having seen enough of life and death. Julia saved me back then, and I stayed on the island for a few years. Your arrival brought an unexpected vitality to the island. I planned to continue wandering until I found the bounty related to you. As for the children, it was purely accidental that I saved them. Now, with the organization hunting me down, I have nowhere to run."
Lucian turned and said indifferently, "Perhaps I saved you because... you made me see the meaning of life. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?"
Tabitha intuitively sensed he had a story. "Do you have no family?"
"Family? I don't have that kind of thing."
The source of his innate loneliness was revealed.
"I have no family," he said.
This statement made Tabitha feel the void within him.
"Lucian, if you're willing, consider me and the children as your family. I think if I had an older brother, he would be like you. Though we're not blood-related, you've taken care of me all this way, and in my heart, you're family. The children adore you too. You won't be alone anymore."
"Brother..." Lucian muttered, the title both strange and familiar.
"Did you have a brother?"
Lucian leaned against the rock wall. "Yes, but he's dead."
"What about the rest of your family?"
He sneered. "Being alive is worse than being dead."
"From now on, Helios and Ayla will be your family," Tabitha sighed softly. "My adoptive parents passed away, and my biological parents are still missing. We're all the same, alone in the world."
Lucian repeated the word, "Family..."
"Ugh..." Tabitha suddenly felt nauseous.
Lucian handed her a water bottle, worriedly asking, "What's your plan? We're leaving tomorrow, and in three days, we'll reach the next city. You have to decide."
Tabitha gazed at the starry sky, recalling the nightmare of a child's piercing cry. Could the fetus sense her indecision?
"I have no idea," she said.
Jasper emerged from the motorhome and sat beside her. "Tabitha, you can't keep this child. You've had chemotherapy. The side effects will harm the fetus. If you continue with the medication, there's a high chance of birth defects."
Tabitha calculated the timeline—seven months since chemotherapy, two months at sea, over a month on the island, and another month and a half on the road before getting pregnant. Altogether, it had been a year since her chemotherapy.
"Maybe the child is safe..."
"Are you crazy?" Jasper exclaimed in shock. "Are you willing to gamble with your life? If your condition flares up, both you and the child will be in danger."
"Jasper, I've faced death and understand the value of life. The baby already has a heartbeat and an embryo. I can't do that."
"Can you guarantee you'll love it if you don't love the father?"
"I will. It's my child, and I'll treat it equally," Tabitha insisted.
"Try to reason with her!" Jasper appealed to Lucian.
Lucian stared at Tabitha, and she spoke up, "Let's wait for the MRI results. If my condition is stable, I can give birth and then start treatment."
"Alright, but if the results are bad, we have to terminate the pregnancy immediately. As the pregnancy progresses, both the wolfsbane and the fetus will compete for nutrients, and you won't be able to hold on," Jasper said.
"I promise," Tabitha agreed.
When Tabitha returned to her room, Gloria was sprawled out snoring, muttering in her sleep, "Jerk."
Tabitha shook her head and smiled, covering Gloria with the blanket.
Tossing and turning, Tabitha couldn't sleep. Wilmot's ordinary face surfaced in her mind again.
As a friend, he was reliable, but the thought of having his child still made Tabitha uneasy.
Yet the child was innocent, and she could only leave it to fate.
Miraculously, her morning sickness suddenly vanished.
Three days later, upon arrival, Jasper arranged for an examination through his connections.
Lying in the MRI machine, Tabitha listened to the machine's hum, her heart pounding—what would the results reveal?
It had been a year since Tabitha's last chemotherapy session. Her condition had been relatively stable during that time.
As the side effects of chemotherapy gradually subsided, the stomach pain had disappeared, and she optimistically believed the tumor might have significantly shrunk.
But as she waited for the test results, her fingers still unconsciously twisted the hem of her clothes—if the results were bad, perhaps she could find a valid reason to give up on this child.
The maternal instinct to protect the fetus made her conflicted.
Despite her lack of affection for the child's father, the existence of the embryo and fetal heartbeat made it impossible for her to make a hasty decision.
At that moment, Jasper walked out of the examination room with the report in hand.