Chapter 178 Threatened Abortion
Late at night, Nicholas drove Emma back to the Jackson Mansion. She felt genuinely exhausted, yet the scene where they reached for the stars together kept replaying in her mind, leaving her wide awake.
She patted her head and walked to her computer to check emails.
Jack's message informed her that James had been sent back to White Feather Mountain. The Moore Group in Emerald City might relocate to Lumaria. Matthew wouldn't be returning.
She replied briefly, a trace of sadness crossing her brow. She truly owed Matthew an apology.
Outside the gates, Nicholas hadn't left immediately. He stepped out of his car, leaning against it as he lit a cigarette, he gazed towards her room with eyes full of light and anticipation...
The next morning, Emma didn't wake until after eight.
She went to the bathroom, and when she emerged, her face was deathly pale, drained of all color. She was bleeding, and it indicated a possible miscarriage.
Her mind went blank as she rushed frantically toward Evelyn's room.
Evelyn sat quietly at an easel on the balcony, sketching.
Every sheet of drawing paper bore Hawk's image—his mask, his eyes, his profile, his stern expression.
She told herself that whenever she missed him, she'd draw another picture.
Emma burst through the door with such force that Evelyn jumped, her pencil slipping from her fingers and rolling across the polished floor.
"What's wrong?" Evelyn stood up, her heart sinking at Emma's ashen face.
Without a word, Emma walked straight to the table, grabbed the progesterone pills with shaking hands, poured out two capsules, picked up a glass of cold water, and swallowed them.
Then she lay down rigidly on Evelyn's bed, curling up into herself.
Watching this all play out, Evelyn understood immediately.
"You're pregnant?"
Emma's brow furrowed tightly, her body trembling slightly. "I'm bleeding!"
Evelyn panicked instantly, rushing to comfort her. "Don't worry, don't worry. Lie still,don't move. I'll call a doctor!"
Just then, Ruby and Daryl approached. Evelyn quickly jumped onto the bed beside Emma as Ruby asked curiously, "Why is Emma sleeping here too?"
Evelyn immediately clutched her stomach, groaning in pain.
"Mom, call a doctor quickly. My stomach hurts."
Hearing this, Ruby and Daryl were terrified, frantically calling for medical help.
Twenty minutes later, the family doctor arrived with a nurse, and rushed in urgently.
Everyone was kept outside the room.
Ruby paced anxiously. "How could she suddenly get stomach pains? Please don't let anything serious happen."
Daryl wrapped his arm around her shoulders, comforting her gravely, "It's fine, don't overthink it."
The doctor examined Emma thoroughly and carefully assessed her condition.
"There are signs of threatened miscarriage."
The doctor's expression was serious.
"I'll prescribe medication to prevent miscarriage. A combination of Western and traditional Chinese medicineand give you acupuncture. But you must stay in bed for at least three days."
"Even when you get up, be very careful. No sudden movements."
"As long as there's no bleeding, it should be fine."
Emma nodded, not daring to say a word, her heart still full of worry.
As soon as the doctor left, Ruby rushed in and sighed in relief when she saw Evelyn safe in bed.
She grasped Evelyn's hand. "Come on, lie down properly."
Then she turned to Emma. "Emma, come have breakfast."
Evelyn quickly pulled her mother back, continuing the charade.
"Mom, her stomach hurts too. Let her rest a while, she worked late last night and exhausted herself."
Ruby felt sorry for her. "Alright. I'll have Nina bring breakfast up later."
Soon, Nina came up with a bowl of medicine. Evelyn took it and immediately closed the door.
She carefully helped Emma sit up, as she gave her the bitter black medicine one spoonful at a time.
"How do you feel? Any better?"
The medicine was bitter, penetrating to her heart, but Emma felt more secure.
"Mm."
Evelyn asked again, "Does Nicholas know?"
She shook her head. "I don't want to tell him yet. My mind's a bit confused right now."
"Fine, then forget about him!" Evelyn decided firmly. "We'll have our babies together, let them be companions growing up together. Rest for three days peacefully—if the sky falls, I'll hold it up."
Soon, Charlie called.
"Mrs. Harrison, the car's downstairs ready to take you to the office."
Emma's voice was weak. "Please give me three days off. My stomach hurts."
Charlie didn't dare delay, told her to rest well, hung up, and immediately reported to Nicholas.
After hearing the report, Nicholas frowned.
He knew about her history of menstrual pain. This time in Luminous City, she'd lost so much blood, and with the heavy snow, she must have caught a chill.
It seemed he needed to properly regulate her health.
At noon, Emma still didn't come downstairs for lunch.
Nina brought two portions of food and that black bowl of Chinese medicine directly to the room.
Ruby watched from downstairs, feeling puzzled.
Emma was never one to oversleep. Why was she acting so strangely today?
The more she thought about it, the more wrong it seemed. She quietly crept upstairs, just in time to see Nina delivering that bowl of pregnancy-prevention medicine to Emma's room.
Alarm bells rang in Ruby's mind.
Ten minutes later.
In Emma's room, the atmosphere was so tense you could cut it with a knife.
She was half-lying against the headboard, her face still pale.
Around the bed, Daryl, Ruby, Evelyn, and Nina surrounded her completely.
Emma knew she couldn't hide this anymore.
She took a deep breath, her voice soft but clear. "Dad, Mom, I'm pregnant."
When he heard this, Daryl felt like the sky was falling, roaring internally.
Suddenly, he said to Ruby, "Quick, make the walls higher. From now on, Ethan can't set foot in the Jackson family territory." There was still Nina, the only girl not dating, he had to protect her.
Nina anxiously gestured with sign language, waving continuously.
Evelyn, sipping soup, suddenly translated, "Dad, don't worry. Nina says she won't marry."
Ruby interjected, "She can't not marry, just can't get pregnant before marriage."
Nina kept shaking her head, continuing to gesture "no."
Evelyn added, "Oh, Nina says she doesn't like Ethan. Don't worry."
Only then did Daryl relax slightly.
But Nina kept gesturing "no," looking somewhat anxious.
Evelyn's spoon suddenly slipped, soup spilling on her.
She cried out in shock, "What? Ethan is impotent?"
The whole family was stunned, all eyes turning to Nina in unison.
Nina's face turned red with embarrassment, not daring to gesture anymore.
Finally, Ruby was the first to calm down. She stared at Emma and asked, "What are your plans? Won't you tell Nicholas?"
Emma's hand gently moved to her lower abdomen, still completely flat. "Once the baby is stable, I'll tell him."
"Good." Ruby nodded. "Then rest properly. You're not allowed out of bed for the next few days."
After lying in bed for a day, Emma felt her back aching terribly, as if it might break.
That night, she tossed and turned for a long time before finally falling asleep from exhaustion.
The night was deep.
Outside the Jackson family estate, an extremely low-key Maybach sat silently.
Inside the car, Nicholas's elegant fingers flew across his laptop keyboard, streams of code flowing across the screen like water.
Soon, the Jackson family's impenetrable security system plunged into darkness.
He pushed open the car door, his long legs carrying him over the high wall in two steps, moving with the fluid grace of a hunting panther.
With another boost, he easily climbed to the second floor, slipping through the balcony's glass door into a room.
The room was lit only by a dim nightlight.
The girl on the bed curled up like a frightened kitten, one hand pressed protectively against her lower abdomen, as if using her body heat to protect something precious.
Nicholas removed his coat, cold from the night air, vigorously rubbing his hands together to warm them.
Then he gently lifted a corner of the blanket, carefully placing his warm palm on her lower abdomen to ease her pain.
His palm seemed to possess mysterious healing power.
Gradually, her tightly furrowed brow relaxed, and her sleeping breath became even and steady.
Only then did he climb onto the bed with extreme care, lying behind her and wrapping his long arms around her, holding her close.
One day without seeing her felt like torture.
So he'd used this method to sneak in.
In her sleep, Emma shifted, perhaps sensing his familiar presence. She turned over, nestling her small face against his warm, solid chest.
The gesture showed complete peace and security.
The next day, when Emma woke up, the bleeding had stopped, but she obediently stayed in bed for three full days before returning to Harrison Group.
As soon as she arrived at the building, Charlie led her into a conference room.
Inside, four men in sharp suits stood up in perfect unison.
Their movements were synchronized, as if they'd undergone strict rehearsal.
"Ms. Rodriguez, hello." Their voices were loud and respectful.
Charlie explained quietly beside her, "Mrs. Harrison, they're the HG Mall executives here to give you the monthly reports."
Four executives, four thick reports neatly arranged in folders on the conference table before her.
Emma sat down, somewhat nervously picking up the top folder.
She opened it.
It contained tables and columns of numbers, each number had so many zeros it made her dizzy.
The amounts were enormous, but the problem was, she couldn't understand any of it.
Just as her head began spinning, the conference room door opened again.
Nicholas walked in.
His tall frame was wrapped in a perfectly tailored dark suit that emphasized his broad shoulders. Backlit, his presence was overwhelmingly imposing.
The four executives who had been sitting properly suddenly acted as if someone had flipped a switch.
They all stood at attention, ramrod straight, not daring to breathe.
Nicholas's gaze swept over them coolly, waving his hand to indicate they should sit.
Then he walked directly to Emma, pulling the chair beside her close and sitting down right next to her.
He sat too close, his entire presence enveloping her.
His clean, crisp scent immediately surrounded her.
His left hand naturally rested on the back of her chair, creating a semi-protective embrace that was both possessive and intimate.
"Don't rush."
He leaned toward her, his deep voice murmuring in her ear.
"I'll teach you how to read these."
His voice was gentle, completely dispelling the cold aura he'd projected when entering.
"I'm not interested in this," she said flatly.
"You must learn. Later you'll need to teach Harrison Group's heir." He smiled tenderly.
Emma's eyes widened in shock.
He knew?