Chapter 146
"That's right, Mrs. Collins wakes up really early in the morning. When I arrived, she was just sitting on the sofa staring into space, crying uncontrollably. I asked her what was wrong, but she wouldn't say. Although she's been eating her meals and taking her pregnancy medication on time and in the right amounts, Mrs. Collins has been losing weight at an alarming rate."
Kaida's words made Martin frown deeply.
He rushed upstairs and knocked on the master bedroom door.
The door didn't open.
He could hear sobbing from inside even through the door!
Martin suddenly felt his heart racing with panic. He called out Victoria's name, but there was no sign of the door opening.
Kaida brought him the spare key. He used it to unlock the door, and Kaida, reading the situation, took off her apron and went downstairs to head home.
Martin walked into the master bedroom.
The room was pitch black, with no lights on.
Only the cold, bright moonlight shone through the milky white curtains, casting mottled shadows on the gray leather bed.
The comforter was bunched up high, rising and falling with the sobs of the person underneath.
The heartbroken sobbing felt like silver needles piercing Martin's heart, one by one.
Walking to the bed, Martin gently pulled back the comforter.
Victoria, wearing silk pajamas, was curled up in the corner, her pale little face covered with crystal-clear tears, looking even more pitiful.
Martin bent down, pulled her up, and held her in his arms. At this moment, Victoria seemed so fragile and small, unexpectedly stirring his protective feelings.
It was as if the old Victoria had come back!
Being pulled into his embrace, Victoria's body suddenly stiffened. She thought about how when she called him earlier, Mia had answered the phone.
So did he still have Mia's scent on him?
Had his hands just touched Mia, and now he was holding her?
This dirty, disgusting feeling made Victoria nauseous, and she used all her strength to try to push him away!
"Let go of me! Martin! Let me go!" Victoria shouted angrily, as if she'd been triggered.
Martin held her even tighter instead, as if afraid of losing her. "Kaida said you haven't slept well for days. Be good, get some sleep. You'll feel better after sleeping."
She knew, of course, that Martin was trying to comfort her. In the past, she would have accepted it gracefully, thinking he cared about her.
But now, she had completely seen through him! Between Mia and her, he would always protect Mia!
Crushing the voice recorder, having dinner with Mia, taking Mia home!
Even his phone calls were answered by Mia!
While toward her, it was always cold words, mockery, and humiliation! Pushing her toward death!
Victoria clenched her fists and kept pounding on Martin, crying and shouting for him to let her go.
He still held her tightly, firmly, his facial features tensed impossibly tight. He was angry too, but thinking about his child in her belly!
Thinking about how she was pregnant, thinking about how she hadn't slept for days, he forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart!
Victoria hit him until her palms went numb, cried until her voice was hoarse, but Martin still didn't let her go.
"Martin, I think I'm sick! Something's wrong with me!" She leaned against him, tears flowing silently.
His voice was hoarse, his brow furrowed. "No, you're not."
"Really! I think there's something wrong with my mind! I can't sleep! Whenever I have a moment to myself, I think of unhappy things, and I can't help crying, tearing up!"
"Martin, do you think I'm going to die? Will I die suddenly!"
"Tomorrow I'll take you for a psychological evaluation. Don't think about anything now. When you're tired, just close your eyes and try to sleep."
Martin patted Victoria's back, speaking gently.
"If I die suddenly, you'd be happy, wouldn't you? You've wanted me dead for a long time. You've already prepared my coffin."
Victoria smiled wearily. "Dying wouldn't be so bad anyway. Everyone has to die eventually."
Her negative tone made Martin feel extremely oppressed, his voice tinged with displeasure. "Stop talking and get some sleep."
He didn't dare imagine what his reaction would be if Victoria, whom he both hated and loved deeply, really did die suddenly one day!
The thought was terrifying. He would probably go crazy, have a breakdown!
Hatred was the driving force that had kept him going until now. Without Victoria, what motivation would he have left?
Half an hour later, Victoria finally fell asleep in his arms.
She had a beautiful dream where Martin gently placed her back on the bed and tucked her in.
Then he caressed her cheek with his rough fingertips.
Just like when they first started dating.
Then Martin grabbed her by the throat, viciously cursing her to die!
She couldn't break free!
Finally, Victoria woke up drenched in cold sweat, only to find it was barely dawn.
Martin was long gone from beside her. She figured he must have already left to be with Mia.
She really didn't understand—if he loved Mia so much, why not let Mia bear his children!
Just how much must Victoria hate her to come up with such a twisted way of torturing her? She thought her final destination would probably be dying on the operating table, taking two lives with her!
Victoria got out of bed, wearing cotton slippers, opened the master bedroom door, and came to the living room for water.
But she saw a man sitting on the sofa, still wearing the same dark coat from last night. The ashtray on the table was already full.
Through the swirling smoke, she couldn't make out the expression on Martin's face, much less know what he was thinking.
Martin noticed Victoria and quickly stubbed out the cigar he'd just taken a few puffs of in the ashtray, then walked to the window, opened it to let in fresh air.
"Why didn't you sleep more?" Martin turned around to see her holding a water glass, about to go back to the room.
She didn't respond, but instead told him to leave. "You should go."
"I said I'd take you for a psychological evaluation. What do you want to eat? I'll make it for you." Martin frowned.
Victoria turned back to look at him and smiled bitterly. "Kaida will come to cook. I wouldn't dare trouble Mr. Collins."
"Then I'll make porridge with side dishes. And boil an egg."
As if he hadn't heard her, he headed toward the kitchen.
Victoria didn't go back to the room. Instead, she sat on the sofa, watching the busy figure in the kitchen. At this moment, Martin seemed like a normal person.
He seemed to genuinely care about her!
It was more like going back to when they first started dating, when he would also wake up early to make her breakfast.
Except back then, she had been happy, full of hope for their future marriage. Now her heart was complicated, filled with an indescribable heaviness.
Victoria couldn't figure Martin out anymore. If he was willing to make her breakfast, why would he make her risk her life to have his child?
If he hated her, why had he stayed here all night last night?
The coat he was wearing now was one she had bought for him back then.
Could it really be as Martin said, just to remind himself that Victoria was his enemy's daughter?
Half an hour later, she ate the porridge he'd made himself. It tasted as sweet and delicious as it had a year ago. But her state of mind was no longer the same.
"Can we go to a different hospital for the checkup?" Victoria suddenly looked up at Martin, who was eating breakfast across from her, and asked expressionlessly.