Chapter 236: Mia, Abort It
Pregnant?
The instant he heard those words, James recoiled and stopped himself.
Even so, he still broke out in a cold sweat.
His large hand on Mia's waist trembled violently.
Mia sat on James's lap, clearly terrified by what he'd just done, her face deathly pale.
After realizing he'd stopped, she scrambled off his lap in a panic.
Her knees hit the floor.
Because he was holding on to her, she didn't hurt herself.
Tears flooded her eyes without warning, one after another, big drops fell.
James couldn't bear to see Mia's tears. Watching her cry so sadly made his heart feel as if it were being cut by knives.
It had been a long time since he'd seen her tears.
He was such a bastard for making her cry again.
James was hurting deeply inside.
He'd agreed to the divorce precisely because he didn't want to make her sad or make her cry anymore.
"Mia, I'm sorry," he apologized in a murmur while raising his hand to wipe her tears.
This simple gesture seemed to open a floodgate.
More tears poured from her eyes.
At first, she was shocked, but the moment he tried to comfort her, all the hurt and heartache surged up at once.
She felt hurt by how James was treating her.
Even though rationally she knew he was doing all this because he didn't want to be a burden to her—including the cruel act he put on with Lavinia to push her away—in the end, he couldn't get past his own conscience, couldn't keep up the pretense, and with no other options, he resorted to deliberately humiliating and bullying her..
Hoping she would be like the other women who couldn't take this kind of treatment and would just walk out the door and stop caring about him.
But more than that, there was heartache—heartache for James.
A proud man like him, who should have been standing tall, was now confined to a wheelchair because he saved her.
And to avoid being a burden to her, he had done things that hurt her—and hurt himself even more.
Mia stared at James, pressing together her lips that he'd kissed until they bled, her body trembling nonstop.
Meeting his eyes—so full of heartache for her—she choked out softly, "James—"
The sound of that nearly shattered his heart.
As her tears kept falling, he couldn't bring himself to tell her to stop.
He knew the sadness and hurt in her heart.
He could only reach out and pull her into his arms, heart aching.
Mia buried her face in his shoulder.
He'd taken off his shirt, and her hot tears fell onto his skin, sliding down and passing over his heart.
As if they were all flowing into his heart, each one scalding hot, burning him.
Mia cried for a while before her tears subsided.
Her tears slowly stopped, and she lifted her head from his shoulder, bracing herself on his wheelchair to stand up.
Seeing her tears subsiding, James looked deeply at Mia.
His gaze moved down from her face and finally settled on her lower abdomen.
His hand on the wheelchair loosened and tightened, then loosened and tightened again.
After a long moment, his lips trembling slightly, he asked, "Really?"
Actually, he already knew the answer in his heart.
It's just—ever since their first child died in the womb due to an accident, he'd wanted so badly to have another child with Mia.
Mia nodded gently with red-rimmed eyes. "Really." A definite answer, her voice catching.
The tears that had just stopped flooded her eyes again. "Already seven weeks."
When she learned about his car accident, she ran to the hospital to find him.
Seeing him so self-destructive, she went to find a doctor and fainted.
When she woke up, the doctor had told her she was pregnant.
In Valeria, when she'd thought about having a baby, she left everything up to fate.
So every time they made love, she gave herself wholeheartedly.
When he didn't use protection, she knew perfectly well what could happen, but pretended not to notice, seeing his little scheme but saying nothing.
She truly hadn't expected God to bless her—to give her another baby.
A baby that was hers and James's.
Even though the timing wasn't ideal, this was what she and James had always hoped for, God had heard their hearts' desire and granted it.
She had to protect this baby.
The first baby had died in the womb because she couldn't control her emotions, couldn't eat or sleep well.
She was terrified of repeating that mistake.
So even though her emotions were fluctuating, even though her heart ached terribly, she forced herself to calm down.
For the baby, and even more so for James.
Mia raised her hand to gently wipe the tears from her eyes, giving him a tender look, she said, "James, you're going to be a father."
James was overwhelmed by joy, his eyes reddening and his lips trembling even harder, "I'm going to be a father?" He looked at Mia's face one moment, then at her abdomen.
"Yes, James, you're going to be a father."
Mia reached out and took James's trembling hand, gently guiding it to rest on her abdomen as she looked at him with growing tenderness.
The moment his large hand touched her stomach James couldn't help but move his fingers, touching it gently.
Here was his and Mia's child.
Though her belly was still flat, he felt as if he could already sense the little life growing inside.
James was so moved he forgot himself.
His mind was filled with a single, overwhelming thought: Mia is pregnant!
She's pregnant!
He's so happy!
He couldn't be happier!
He wanted to tell the whole world he's going to be a father!
James excitedly tried to stand up, wanting to quickly carry Mia out of the bathroom, it was slippery here.
What if she fell?
He excitedly pushed on the wheelchair armrests to stand up, his feet touching the ground.
Because he had no feeling in his legs, they couldn't support him at all.
He'd also pushed too hard, losing his balance, his body falling toward Mia.
"James!" Mia cried out in alarm, instinctively reaching out to catch him, terrified he might fall.
But her hands never reached him.
Before she could catch him, James's body tilted sharply to one side.
He knocked over the shelf Lavinia had placed nearby for his convenience while bathing.
Everything on the shelf scattered across the floor, including the rinsing cup, which shattered along with the other items.
Immediately after—James fell heavily to the ground.
His leg landed right on those glass shards.
The glass pieces pierced through his dress pants, stabbing directly into his thigh.
But he felt nothing.
Mia's face went white with fear seeing James fall, and she immediately rushed to his side. "James!"
James ended up sprawled on the floor, looking utterly helpless.
It was a hard fall.
And the shock of it knocked him completely back to his senses, like a bucket of cold water was poured over his head.
However excited and happy he'd been before, this fall brought him crashing back to reality.
"James, are you okay?"
The tiles in the bathroom were dark, as were his pants, so Mia didn't notice his leg.
She reached out worriedly to help him up, her hands feeling around his body with concern. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
Her concerned hands were pushed away as James said coldly, "Mia, get rid of it."