Chapter 82 Thrown out
“She’s five weeks pregnant.”
The doctor’s words dropped like a bomb.
Eleanor’s eyes flew open so wide they nearly swallowed her pupils.
Eva’s mouth parted, no sound came out. She looked seconds away from fainting herself. No, this shouldn’t be happening.
“What?!” Eleanor snapped. “Five weeks? Are you sure you checked well? Run it again! She can’t be…she shouldn’t be…”
The doctor didn’t flinch.
“She is pregnant, ma. Very clearly. And she didn’t just pass out…she collapsed from severe stress, hunger, and dehydration.”
His tone hardened.
“She shouldn’t be starving in a condition like this.”
Eleanor’s face froze.
Eva’s breath hitched, a hand flying to her lips.
The doctor continued, his voice clinical but pointed:
“If she continues at this pace, both the mother and the baby will be at risk. Whatever pressure she’s under must be reduced immediately.”
Heaven lay unconscious on the hospital bed, drained and pale completely unaware of the storm her pregnancy had just unleashed.
Eva’s head spun.
Her stomach twisted so violently she thought she might throw up right there in the hospital corridor.
Five weeks.
Five weeks meant only one thing, Maverick.
She knew it.
She had known it the moment the doctor said “pregnant.”
Heaven had taken it from her the one thing she, as the wife, was supposed to give first.
A child.
A Richard heir.
Her chest tightened as cold panic stabbed through her.
If the Richards found out the child was Maverick’s, Heaven’s position in the family would explode overnight. They wouldn’t let go of a blood kin.Heaven would no longer be the pitiful widow of the dead son; she would be the mother of the next generation securing her place and Maverick would indulge her more.
Eva’s nails dug into her own palms.
I can’t let that happen. I can’t.
She forced her eyes up, pretending confusion, shock and innocence, anything to keep her mother-in-law from seeing the truth.
The doctor left the room.
Eleanor turned slowly, her voice barely a whisper .
“How could she be pregnant?Whose child is it?”
\~~~~~~~~~
The moment Heaven stepped through the front door, Eleanor’s restraint snapped. She had held it down until they got to the house. She couldn’t wash their dirty linen in public because her daughter in law was 5 weeks pregnant when her son had been gone for almost a year now. Now she exploded.
“Who is responsible for that thing in your womb?”
Heaven froze, her brows creased in confusion. Before she realized.
Something… is in my womb?
Her eyes widened in shock.
She was pregnant?
Her heart thudded in her chests. it couldn’t be.
“Answer me!” Eleanor roared.
Heaven flinched, breath shaking. She wasn’t done processing her mother in law words… She always took contraceptives after being with him. When had she last seen her period? A month? Two weeks? Everything blurred.
Her hazel eyes darted everywhere with no focus before landing on Eva. Who already had her eyes on her scheming and cold, warning her not to say a word.
Before Heave could speak.
Eva rushed forward, voice soft and trembling perfectly. “Mother… I don’t know how to say this. I wasn’t truthful from the beginning ... .if I was truthful, it wouldn’t have gotten to this..”
Eleanor squinted, confused at what her second daughter in law was saying. “What do you mean?”
Eva hesitated like someone trying not to expose her friends secret.
“The day Heaven pushed me off the cruise… we argued because…”
She swallowed. “Because I caught her sending texts to a male servant. I think… she was having an affair.”
Gasps echoed through the hall.
Eleanor staggered back. “An… affair?”
“Eva please!” Heaven shakily protested at the accusation. “Mother, don’t believe her…I am not having any affair with a servant.”
“Then who is responsible for that bastard?” Eleanor snapped. “It can’t be Boyles, he is dead. And even if he were alive, he wouldn’t be able to touch you because he was impotent!”
Heaven shut down completely.The truth was too heavy. Too tangled with shame and pain, how could she dare say it. Maverick’s name sat like a stone in her throat. Her nails dug into her laps. Her eyes wailed up.
Eva stepped closer, falsely gentle, trying to persuade her, indirectly pressuring her to not involve Maverick. “Heaven… just tell us the truth. It’s for your child’s future.”
“I know I offended you, Eva…I’m sorry…” Heaven whispered, “but please don’t lie to me. Mother…there is no servant.”
Eva sighed dramatically. “If you keep denying it.. then you leave me no choice….”
She pulled out a phone. Heaven’s old phone. The one Maverick had smashed. Heaven’s breath stopped, the world swayed. What was she trying to do? How had Eva gotten it? How was it repaired.Eva noticed the reaction on Heaven's face and gave a quick smirk..
“Mother… watch this.”
Eleanor took the phone.
When the video began playing, her blood turned to ice.
Heaven was naked with a man on top of her.
The room erupted.
Eleanor’s hand flew before Heaven could blink.
SLAP.
“You keep lying.. dirty filthy thing!” Eleanor screamed. “Now deny this!”
She shoved the phone in Heaven’s face. Heaven ignored the stinging pain on her cheeks and watched the same video maverick, had fallen out with her for. The same video but this time the face of whoever it was wasn’t closed anymore it was open.
“Mother, I don’t know him!” Heaven cried. “I’ve never…I’ve NEVER seen him in my life!”
“You’re still denying it?” Eleanor spat.
Heaven’s eyes darted helplessly to Eva…who only smiled sneakily.
“Rose!” Eleanor shouted. “Butler Rose!”
Butler Rose rushed forward. “Bring me this servant NOW!”
“He… resigned weeks ago, madam,” Rose whispered, horrified at the act going on in the video.
Heaven felt her world crumble.The walls seemed to tilt, strung nausea hit her. She wished Maverick would just walk in through that door. She didn’t want to have to say it with her mouth.
Eva wasn’t done, sensing Heaven was about to say Maverick’s name, she wanted to block all parts even if Maverick's name was mentioned no one would believe her.
“Mother, I stopped at a café after visiting the temple…3 weeks ago and I saw Heaven with a man.”
Another bomb dropped. Eva knew Heaven couldn’t deny this one and this was her final blow. Little bitch thinking she could come and sit pretty on her man. Never. She would destroy her before Maverick was back.
Eva produced pictures. Heaven and Adrian hugging, his hands touching her hand intimately, smoothening her hair. The perfect incriminating angle. That was all Eva hadn’t shown more. Not the ones Maverick had come. Not the events that followed after.
Eleanor’s voice shook with rage.
“That was the day I sent you for purification… and you went to meet a man?”
“Mother, no…it’s not what it looks like! He’s a childhood friend, we just…”
“Oh, so now you finally admit you were with him?”
“IT'S MAVERICK !”Heaven shouted, she couldn’t be accused anymore, the lies were choking her pressing on her chest she couldn’t take it. Only he had touched her, nobody else.
The room went still.
“The child is… Maverick’s.”
Silence slammed down like a hammer. Servants gasped. Eva froze entirely she hadn’t expected that.
Eleanor blinked, stunned.
Eva snapped first. She rushed forward and struck Heaven across the face.
SLAP.
“How DARE you say my husband’s name?! Maverick would NEVER touch you!.. now you have destroyed your marriage… Are you trying to ruin mine… I thought we were friends, Heaven … how can you be so wicked..” she paused and turned to Eleanor.
“Mother, don’t believe her,” Eva pleaded dramatically. “You know Maverick. He would NEVER…”
“Heaven,” Eleanor breathed, “what do you mean it’s Maverick?”
Heaven sobbed. “The pregnancy is his, he is the only one who has touched me…. I swear…. Call him, mother. Please…..ask him.”
Eleanor’s hands trembled as she reached for her phone.
Eva bit her nails violently and nervously..If Maverick accepted the child… she was done.
Heaven held her breath.
Eleanor dialed.
“Maverick,” she snapped as soon as the line connected, “Heaven is pregnant…and she named YOU.”
Silence.
No one heard his response.
Eleanor’s face slowly hardened. She turned back…
And SLAPPED Heaven again. She fell onto the floor.
“How dare you lie with my son’s name!”
Eva’s eyes widened in surprise then bloomed into a slow, satisfied smile.
Maverick had denied her?.
Heaven’s lips parted in horror. Her heart shattered completely.
“What? No…no, he can’t do that…he can’t say that…let me speak to him….”
“Get out,” Eleanor spat, venom dripping from every syllable.
“You are LEAVING this house today. Go back to your family. That bastard is NOT my son’s.”
Butler Rose finally stepped forward.
“Madam… please. She is with a child. She just returned from the hospital, it’s already late. We should wait for General Richard; he will be home soon..”
“Stay out of this, Rose!” Eleanor screamed. “I am the matriarch, and I will put this family back in order!”
She grabbed Heaven by the arm, angry, savage, dragging her across the hall.
“DISGRACE!” Eleanor spat. “Sleeping with multiple men and naming my son!”
Heaven was still shaking with betrayal. Her thoughts were numb. Maverick denied her. He denied everything.
The front door opened, Eleanor threw her out.
The door slammed behind her.
Heaven collapsed on the steps pregnant, rejected, abandoned.
The world blurred.
Her heart stopped beating correctly inside the house Eva smiled.
Everything was finally falling into place.