Chapter 199 Mom Is More Important Than Dad
Emily shot to her feet, tears welling in her eyes. "Just two months? No matter what, the child in my belly is still a life! You are so heartless! You can't force me to end this pregnancy. Even if you tried to force me, the law wouldn't allow it!"
She had actually brought up the law, making it obvious she wouldn’t give in.
Alexander's voice turned ice cold. "I'll ask you one more time—whose child is in your belly? Who is the baby's father?"
Emily said, "I can't tell you. Later, I'll find an opportunity to tell you! Right now all I want is a healthy pregnancy and a safe delivery. That's all I ask for."
Alexander said, "You won't tell me? Fine. I'll find out on my own."
Emily's face flushed. "Why are you forcing me like this? This baby isn't yours. You have no say here. If having this child out of wedlock means remaining single forever, then so be it. I don't have to get married."
Alexander's expression darkened.
He needed to know who the father was.
Emily had no boyfriend, let alone a fiancé. The origins of this child were highly suspicious.
The more she concealed it, the more certain he was that something was wrong and she had a hidden motive.
Emily said, "If that's all you came to say, I'm done listening."
She could never tell Alexander the truth, that she had gone abroad for IVF treatment, and that the child in her belly was his.
When Alexander had been in a coma, Mary had frozen samples of his sperm.
Alexander was the man she had loved for so many years. How could she just let him go to someone else?
So after going abroad, she had spent a fortune on IVF treatment.
Her thinking was: if Grace could rise in status through her child, why couldn't she?
Since she couldn't hold onto his heart, once she successfully gave birth to his child, she didn't believe he could be heartless enough to refuse to acknowledge his own flesh and blood!
But right now, no matter what, she couldn't tell him.
If she told him, he would force her to end the pregnancy, she had no doubt.
At this point, she could only insist that the child belonged to another man—he had no reason, and no standing, to abort her child with another man.
Once the baby was born, she would tell him the child's true parentage, and he would have no way out but to acknowledge the child.
She didn't need his name or his status. If she could get him to look at her even once more through this child, she would brave hell itself.
She had suffered greatly for this procedure—IVF was incredibly painful—and she couldn't let her plan fall apart halfway through.
With this in mind, Emily said, "Stop forcing me under the pretense of doing what's best for me. If you really cared about my wellbeing, you'd respect my wishes. My mind is made up."
Alexander narrowed his eyes. "Is this child really that important to you?"
He felt Emily's stubborn insistence on having this baby was irresponsible toward the child.
Emily paused, then asked, "Is Liam important to you?"
Alexander said, "That's different."
The words landed like a slap. She couldn't help asking, "They're both children—why should my child be treated differently from Liam? Liam is your child, my child is my child. Liam is everything to you. This baby is everything to me.”
Alexander said, "Liam has a father."
Emily said, "But Liam doesn't have a mother. My child will have a mother, just no father. In a child's life, the mother's role is more important than the father's. You know that, don't you? No matter how much you give him, Liam still aches for a mother. He doesn't even know who his mother is or what she looks like. The reason he likes Grace so much is because he's found that motherly feeling in her."
Alexander's expression grew cold.
He asked, "How will you support this child?"
Emily said, "I have some savings, and when the child is older, I'll go back to work. Grace raised her son alone and did it well. I'm highly educated, have stable employment, and earn a six-figure income annually. I can more than afford to raise a child. A father isn't a requirement—a woman can raise a child on her own. Like I said, plenty of children grow up just fine without one."
She seemed emotionally agitated, her chest rising and falling rapidly, like a cornered animal on high alert.
Alexander frowned slightly. Faced with her resolve, he rose slowly. "I understand."
Emily was stunned.
Alexander said, "If you want to have this baby, then have it."
He turned toward the door.
Emily realized her tone had been too harsh, and he was walking out angry.
"Alexander, I know you're just concerned about me..."
Alexander said, "I just didn't think you capable of something this reckless."
Emily said somewhat defensively, "Is having a child out of wedlock really that reckless? Is being a single mother really that shameful? Is it something to be embarrassed about?"
Alexander said, "This is your life. Do what you want with it."
He walked out and slammed the door behind him.
Emily swallowed the ache in her chest and gently pressed her palm to her stomach.
Everything she'd said had been true.
Until the baby in her belly was born, she would probably have to live in the shadows for a while.
But she believed that eventually, all the suffering would lead to happiness.
...
Alexander had just reached the ground floor when he felt inexplicably irritated.
He had extremely sharp instincts, and he could clearly sense that Emily's behavior was unusually suspicious.
Something indefinably off about it.
He had just reached his parking spot when he saw a cluster of influencers taking selfies around his car.
One woman in a crop top and high-waisted pants was sitting on the hood of his car while the other two held up their phones with maximum beauty filters, snapping photos of her from multiple angles.
Alexander walked over and gave them a cold look, and casually clicked his key fob to unlock it.
The car suddenly beeped and the lights flashed.
The influencers jumped, startled, and looked up to see Alexander standing a few feet away with an indifferent expression.
The woman immediately scrambled off the hood, asking somewhat awkwardly, "Hey there, is this your car?"
Alexander said coldly, "Move."
She hadn't expected this man, who looked so polished to be that blunt.
She was a beauty influencer with millions of followers on her streaming platform, ranked in the top ten female streamers, and this man hadn't even glanced at her twice.