Chapter 265
Baron was swamped with work. Though he wanted to chat with Willow longer, a meeting came up, and he had to cut things short.
Willow said goodbye, went downstairs to return her badge, and severed all ties with the Lancaster Group.
Leaving the Lancaster Group Building, she checked the time and took a cab to the hospital for her prenatal checkup.
She didn't know if it was her mood affecting her, but her stomach had been uncomfortable these past couple of days.
"Why are you alone again? Did you fight with the baby's father?"
At the hospital, the doctor casually asked while writing out examination orders for her.
She didn't know much about Willow's situation and assumed Matthew, who'd brought her in last time, was her partner.
She'd been doing this for years and had seen countless young couples like this.
They'd throw tantrums about not wanting the baby when they fought, then change their minds after making up.
She figured Willow was the same.
Willow froze, then tugged her lips into a bitter smile. "We broke up."
The doctor didn't take it seriously. "Had another fight, huh? You're already having a child together. You two need to calm down and stop acting like kids. A pregnant woman's emotional state has a huge impact on the baby."
Willow smiled without responding.
After finishing the orders, the doctor saw her poor complexion and sighed again. "The main thing is—it's not convenient for you to be alone. It's fine now, but what are you going to do later when your belly gets bigger?"
Willow's heart jolted, belatedly realizing that her stomach would grow larger later on.
Right now, it was an early pregnancy. Her belly was still flat, nothing showing.
What would she do when it got bigger?
How would she explain it to Maria? And Sterling—would he find out?
When the examination ended, Willow still hadn't pulled herself out of her thoughts. She was clearly distracted.
"Ms. Spencer?" Seeing her zone out, the doctor called her name.
Willow snapped back. "Sorry."
The doctor said, "The baby's condition is somewhat precarious right now. I'll prescribe some medication—take it on schedule. Also, you must control your emotions and maintain a happy state of mind. The baby can sense it, and development will be better."
Willow obediently agreed and went to pick up the medication.
Leaving the hospital with the bag of medicine in her hand, she felt utterly lost.
Her original plan had been to confess about the pregnancy after Maria's surgery—tell Sterling, too.
But now...
Willow's mind was in chaos.
Even so, she'd never reconsidered not having this child.
She just wondered how she'd hide it later when her belly grew larger...
Willow sat alone on a hospital bench for quite a while.
In the end, she still couldn't come up with a good solution.
But it was getting late. She had to go back.
She hid the medication in her bag and took a cab back to the hospital.
She'd just arrived at the hospital entrance when she ran right into Charles's car pulling up.
"Willow, where were you?" Charles spotted her from afar and came over, scrutiny in his gaze.
Willow's heart raced nervously. After confirming the medication was well hidden, she said calmly, "Processing my resignation at the Lancaster Group."
Charles frowned, his eyes even more suspicious. "Resignation took that long? Did you run into Sterling?"
Willow met his gaze. "Charles, I won't gamble with my grandmother's life."
Remembering the oath she'd sworn, Charles's suspicion faded. He casually curved his lips.
"Willow, I didn't mean to doubt you. I'm just concerned. You were gone so long—I was worried something happened to you."
He reached for the bag on Willow's shoulder. "As long as you're okay. I brought dinner for you and your grandmother. Let me carry it up for you."
Willow subtly avoided his reaching hand. "That's thoughtful of you."
With that, she walked straight toward the hospital entrance.
Charles's hand caught empty air. But seeing she hadn't refused his dinner, he didn't think much of it. He grabbed the food and followed her upstairs.
Maria still had no pleasant expression when she saw Charles.
She just remembered what Willow had said before—that Charles was using Willow's exam as leverage—so she didn't say anything particularly harsh to him.
When Charles occasionally offered insincere concern, Maria responded perfunctorily.
Both of them reluctantly accompanied Charles in this charade of harmony.
After dinner, Maria claimed exhaustion and had Willow see their guest out.
Willow walked Charles downstairs.
"Willow..." Charles wanted to say something.
Willow's phone rang.
It was Percy calling.
Seeing the name on screen, Charles narrowed his eyes. "You're still in contact with the Brown family?"
Willow replied coolly, "Gloria is my stepsister. You've always known that, haven't you?"
She didn't explain further. The phone kept ringing. Willow raised her hand to decline the call—she'd call him back later.
Charles pressed down on her hand. "Answer it here."
Willow caught the suspicion in his eyes. Her brow furrowed sarcastically, but she answered anyway.
"Mr. Brown." She brought the phone to her ear, but Charles took it away and put it on speaker.
Percy's steady voice came through. "Ms. Spencer, my apologies. Something came up on my end. I'd like to postpone our lunch appointment to tomorrow evening instead. Does that work with your schedule?"
Percy had previously said he wanted Gloria to apologize to her in person. The meeting had originally been scheduled for tomorrow at noon.
Willow hadn't been particularly interested to begin with. Now that Charles knew about it, she wanted to refuse even more.
Percy's postponement gave her the perfect excuse to decline.
"I'm sorry, I..." She tried to politely refuse.
Halfway through her words, Charles pulled the phone away from her.
Willow's voice faded.
Percy hadn't caught her answer and asked in confusion, "Is that inconvenient? We can arrange another time if you'd like."
Willow frowned at Charles in front of her.
Charles said quietly, "Since you'd already agreed before, why not accept now? Willow, are you feeling guilty?"
His suspicion of Willow had reached paranoid levels.
No matter what Willow did, he suspected her of having some connection to Sterling.
Willow couldn't help recalling when she'd still been with Charles—he'd been the same way, intensely monitoring her every move.
At first, Willow had found it strange, but consoled herself that Charles was just concerned about her.
Now she understood—he was simply suspicious, suspicious that she was seeing other men behind his back.
From the first day they'd gotten together, that suspicion had never stopped. It had only intensified.
Now seeing Charles's true nature, Willow only felt horrified.
Even his handsome face had become revolting.
"Tell him you'll be there on time." Charles held the phone out to her again.
Willow had no room to refuse. She could only agree. "I'm available tomorrow evening."
Percy got his answer and apologized to her again.
After hanging up, Charles said leisurely, "I'll go with you tomorrow night."