Chapter 239 Chapter 239
“Mother... you...” Edward raised his head, staring at her in pure shock. “You're agreeing to my marriage to Claire?”
Mrs. Collins laughed, a sound devoid of any humor. "You're not a child anymore, Edward. What can I do? Tie you to your bed? Marry her if you want to ruin your future. I won't stop you, and I won't waste my breath trying to save you from yourself anymore. But...“ Her gaze darkened, becoming sharp as a blade. ”If you're going to throw your life away because of this baby, the least you should do as CEO of this family is use the brain I gave you and investigate this pregnancy thoroughly."
Edward swallowed hard. “Don't assume she's making a ‘great sacrifice’ for you when you may very well be being made a fool of.”
Edward knew exactly what his mother was implying. “Mom, do you think Claire lied to me about the baby? But I insisted on taking her to the hospital yesterday! I was there! I...”
“Did you watch the video of the fight at the hotel?” Mrs. Collins interrupted him sharply, ignoring his excuse.
Edward hesitated for a few seconds before nodding, his voice losing its strength. “Yes. I saw it.”
“And you, in your infinite male wisdom, think that a woman less than three months pregnant—the most critical and unstable stage of all—could roll around on the asphalt and exchange punches like that?” His mother scoffed, crossing her arms.
“Edward, if I had fought with someone like that when I was pregnant with you, you wouldn't be alive today. The impact would have killed the fetus instantly.”
The silence in the room was deafening.
“If a woman is capable of doing something so violent and dangerous knowing she is pregnant, it only demonstrates her level of sociopathy and how little care she has for her own flesh and blood.” That woman is not psychologically fit to be a mother.“ Mrs. Collins took a step toward her son, relentless. ”When I was pregnant with you, I was afraid to even go down the stairs too fast. A real pregnant woman could never withstand that level of exertion and abdominal trauma without consequences. Even if by some miracle she didn't lose the baby right away, she would have severe cramping, bleeding, or discharge. Answer me this: when you found her after the commotion, was she bleeding?
Edward froze.
"When you took her to the hospital to force this exam, did the obstetrician mention anything about placental abruption? About the fetus being at risk of miscarriage due to physical trauma? Mrs. Collins fired, giving him no chance to defend himself.
Edward was stunned. His mouth opened slightly, but no sound came out.
His facial expression began to contort in pure horror over the next ten seconds.
The mother's suspicions were exactly the same dark suspicions he had tried to bury. It was precisely because of the absurd violence in that video that he dragged Claire to the hospital the next morning. The biological math simply didn't add up.
But... he was calmed by the bureaucracy.
“Mom... but the official hospital report... the printed paper proved that she is pregnant and healthy. I read the ultrasound with my own eyes...”
Mrs. Collins rolled her eyes and snorted, her patience completely exhausted. “Report? A piece of paper from a hospital where her family has connections? Edward, with the right money and the desperation of an actress wanting to secure her future... I could order a report with a doctor's stamp proving that I'm pregnant with triplets right now!”
Edward was completely speechless, the floor disappearing beneath his feet.
Mrs. Collins looked at her son, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper laden with experience. "Edward... back then, before I married your father, I almost lost him to another woman. And you know what? The woman also swore up and down that she was pregnant, and your father, naive as you are, had no doubt about it at first. He felt obligated to take responsibility.
Edward's eyes widened. He had never heard that story before.
“But he wasn't a fool for long. He soon discovered that she had bribed a doctor in her family to forge the test results.”
The matriarch gave a grim smile. “You have to understand the mind of a social climber, my boy. Women who covet the title of ‘Mrs. Collins’ will do absolutely anything to get it. Lying about a fetus is nothing to them. It's just another tool in their arsenal.” Mrs. Collins took a step back, letting the seed of doubt germinate.
“I'm not saying with absolute certainty that Claire is lying. But the likelihood of it being a pregnancy scam is colossal, given recent events. Even if you and Caroline can no longer be together, you can't allow yourself to be made a fool of and dragged to the altar by a shameless con artist. Edward, if you want to find out the truth, you'd better investigate that hospital. And the doctors.”
She lifted her chin, impeccable. “Or do you want me to call in the family investigators to check it out for you?”
Edward was already deeply shaken at the beginning of the conversation. Now, the gears in his brain were spinning furiously, and his entire face had darkened with restrained fury.
His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
Mrs. Collins watched him silently. “Edward?”
Edward rose abruptly from the sofa. The air around him turned icy. “I'll find out what happened myself.”
His mother's expression softened as she saw her son's old, unyielding stance return. “And if your investigators find out she's not pregnant... what do you intend to do?”
She's not pregnant?
If the pregnancy was a lie... it meant he had thrown away a ten-year relationship with Caroline, the woman he now realized he still loved, for absolutely nothing. He had destroyed his own happiness for a sham.
Immediately, Caroline's face popped into his mind, and a thick, sharp layer of ice formed in his eyes. “If she dares to have toyed with me like that... she'll wish she was never born. She'll pay dearly.”