"Miss Flora..." The guard looked at the beautiful woman standing before him, his eyes full of difficulty. After a while, he managed to stammer: "You cannot go in.
That's the boss's order."
He didn't know what had happened between the woman before him and his boss.
Even if he did, it was not his place to interfere.
As a low-ranking guard, it would be best for him not to meddle in others' affairs, even though the woman in front of him appeared truly pitiful.
"But the little one is my son..." Flora shivered, her eyes full of yearning and sorrow, gazing through the metal gates as if she could see her son if she tried just a bit harder.
She had been pleading with this building's guard for almost an hour, but he remained unmoved.
To see her son once was proving harder than she could have imagined.
Seeing Flora like this, the guard was somewhat reluctant.
Just at this moment, the earpiece he was wearing relayed a voice as cold as ice: "Tell her, the young master is busy studying, he doesn't have time to see her.
Also... she's not worthy to be the kid's mother, tell her to scram, don't disturb my son again.
A wayward woman like her... will be a bad influence on the kid."
"This..." Matthew's words were deeply hurtful.
The guard sighed heavily, carefully phrasing his reply to Flora: "Right now, the young master is busy studying, he can't see you.
The boss also doesn't want the young master to meet you, fearing a wayward person like you will be a bad influence on him." He paused for a few seconds, then gritted his teeth: "I'm sorry, ma'am, please leave!"
Emma, who had been standing behind Flora, now stepped forward: "What if we insist on seeing him?" She rolled up her sleeves, prepared to force her way in.
"If you try to force your way in, I'll have no choice but to call the police."
Intruding into a private residence wasn't a serious crime, but once the police arrived, Flora would definitely not be able to see her son.
"Sir..." Emma clenched her teeth, preparing to charge.
Flora sighed again, holding the young girl back: "Let it go! We won't go in anymore!"
By now, she understood Matthew's intentions.
He deliberately wanted to prevent her and her son from meeting. Even if she did manage to get inside, it was not guaranteed she would find her son.
It would be better to respect his wishes and return home.
"You want to be my woman that badly? You've even followed me here?" With an emotionless tone, his face as cold as sculpted ice, Matthew slipped his hands into his pockets, slowly approaching Flora: "Do you want it?"
He was giving this woman a chance, and also his last chance to himself.
If she accepted his conditions, he would continue to let her stay by his side.
After all, he himself couldn't get used to life without her.
Flora was stunned, looking up at the man gradually approaching her.
She pursed her lips, unsure of what to say to him, and even less certain about what he was thinking.
His cold hand gripped her wrist, pulling her towards him: "Follow me!"
"Matthew! What the hell are you doing?" Emma shouted: "Let go of the lady!"
"Shut up!" Matthew signaled the guard to stop the girl, while dragging Flora into the house.
The mansion was dark and empty, showing no signs of life.
Flora hurriedly followed the man pulling her, her voice revealing her confusion: "What... what are you planning?"
Pushing her onto the sofa, Matthew stretched out his hand to turn on the lights.
The room was suddenly illuminated, so brightly it hurt the eyes.
One hand rested against the arm of the sofa, he leaned in, coldly boring his gaze into Flora's brown eyes. Each word he pronounced chillingly: "Isn't it you who wanted to stay by my side? If you want to stay, get rid of the child inside you!"
"What are you saying?" A chill ran down her spine, her body feeling as though it had just plunged into an icy abyss. Flora widened her eyes, staring deep into the loveless black eyes of the man she cherished: "That's your child..."
No, she refused to believe.
How could he bear to brutally murder their child?
But what met her plea was Matthew's scornful smirk: "My child?" Her words had no credibility in his eyes at that moment.
A clear tear trickled from the corner of Flora's eye.
Gently, she laid her hand on her lower belly, where their yet-to-form child was nestled.
This poor little one, barely made its existence known and had to wander with its mother, weathering storm after storm.
Now, it was hearing the ruthless demand from its very own biological father.
Seven years ago, she couldn't abandon the child in her womb, even though she was unaware of the father's identity.
Now, she could even less.
Stubbornly, Flora wiped her tears, trembling as she negotiated with Matthew: "Let me give birth to the baby... After that, we can do a paternity test.
If it's not your child, then..."
She intended to say "if it's not your child, then dealing with me is still not too late." but was interrupted by Matthew: "No need, it's unnecessary trouble." Then, he raised his voice: "Come in!"
A figure dressed in a white coat, a mask completely covering their face, and carrying a box of medicine entered.
Unfazed by the scene within the room, they calmly opened the box, selecting a syringe and a vial of medicine.
"Are you certain you want the injection now?" Flicking the syringe, they tilted their head, asking for the final confirmation.
Matthew nodded: "Inject her."
Her arm was held firm, Flora watched numbly as the needle penetrated her skin, the unknown drug following straight into her bloodstream.
Her eyes moistened, but she could not voice her tears.
After that, she felt her eyelids weigh down, and her consciousness gradually succumbed to the infinite darkness.
"Why let her misunderstand like that?" The doctor sighed deeply, his voice laced with a soft lament: "There's no such abortion drug like this.
It's a nutrient supplement, a good deed yet..."
He received a warning glance from Matthew and shrugged: "Alright, I won't speak further.
Temporarily, both her and the baby's conditions are stable, nothing to worry about.
But it's only temporary.
If she's put under stress again, I don't know what could happen." Miscarriage is one thing, it could affect the mother's body too.
"Done talking?" Matthew did not hide his impatience.
"Not yet." The doctor shook his head: "If she's telling the truth, if the baby is truly yours, then Paul has hope."
That's the best-case scenario.
If the baby in Flora's womb was indeed Matthew's, Paul's biological sibling, they could use the stem cells from the umbilical cord to save her.
Only that, Matthew himself didn't know, whether to trust the woman he had once placed his heart in..
"How is Paul's condition now? How long did Andrey say she could hold on last time?" Matthew abruptly changed the subject.
Obviously, he didn't want to reveal his true thoughts to the doctor.
He didn't want to show any confusion, fear, or weakness of a man before others.
"Currently, Paul has slipped into a deep coma..." The doctor hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and continued: "... she could face life-threatening danger at any time."
Matthew made no attempt to hide his dissatisfaction. He furrowed his brows, slightly raising his voice: "Didn't the stem cell transplant from me stabilize her last time?" Before he was forced to leave due to enemy threats, Andrey had said Paul was recovering well.
The doctor shook his head: "A same-species stem cell transplant has a high probability of rejection.
In reality, you and Paul only have half HLA compatibility, and this rate keeps increasing." What the doctor meant was that the stem cells Matthew donated had been rejected by Paul's body: "Right now, we can only wait for her health to recover, find compatible stem cells, and perform the operation again.
For now, we'll use medication and chemotherapy."
Having run around for months dealing with his daughter's illness, Matthew had some understanding of the disease.
He knew, if the child in Flora's womb truly was his, it would be a rare lifeline for Paul.
"Miss... miss... you're awake!"
The frosty voice of Emma rang out beside the bed.
Flora's eyes fluttered open, for a moment disoriented and not knowing where she was.
Slowly, she pushed herself upright, as her consciousness gradually returned.
Her face drained of color abruptly, her trembling hand reaching out to tentatively touch her vague abdomen.
Turning her desperate eyes towards Emma, her voice croaked out: "Emma... the baby in my womb..."
"It's still there, miss, the baby is still inside." Emma smiled brightly, placing her hand on her mistress's lower abdomen: "Your child is still here... That man didn't do anything harmful to you or the baby, rest assured."
Whether it was because of Flora's influence or not, Emma had never been fond of Matthew.
Even until this day, at the mention of him, she certainly couldn't put on a good face.
Flora nodded lightly, letting out a sigh: "He..."
"Recently, that man has been loitering around you all the time..." Pretending to cough, the young girl corrected: "Alright, I admit, lately, that man has been taking care of you tirelessly, seems quite concerned about your condition.
But earlier someone came looking for him, so he has left." Saying so, she jerked her chin towards the entrance, indicating that Matthew had indeed departed from that direction.