Chapter 194
It was Leopold!
My breathing stopped.
My heart hammered against my ribcage, as if it would leap out of my throat any second.
I forced down my nervousness and asked coldly, "What are you doing here?"
Leopold's eyes were frozen over. "I want to know why you lied to me."
His voice was extremely hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time.
I quietly clenched my fists. So he'd come to interrogate me after all.
I looked at him and asked honestly, "If I'd told you the truth, would you have let me come here?"
Leopold's pupils contracted. "No."
I took a light breath and released my clenched hands. "Then there you have it. I had no choice but to lie."
Leopold suddenly took two steps toward me.
His ashen face frightened me, and I instinctively shrank back.
He immediately stopped, his hands slowly curling into fists, blue veins bulging on the backs of his hands.
"Lucinda, you're more ruthless than I am."
His voice carried pain suppressed to the extreme.
"I went to every length to protect the baby, to protect you. But you said nothing, took advantage of my trust, and conspired with outsiders to deceive me!"
"Now, to get revenge on me, you won't even keep our child! Do you despise me that much?"
My entire body went cold.
He actually thought I'd chosen not to keep the baby!
How could he think that of me!
"All of this—you forced me to it."
"If you'd been willing to respect me, if you hadn't used the baby to imprison me, I wouldn't have taken this step."
"The baby..." wouldn't have developed abnormally.
During this time, I'd talked with doctors. Apart from inherent genetic defects, fetal abnormalities could also result from the mother's emotional state.
Congenital heart disease, for instance.
And my baby had indeed developed an abnormality in its heart.
"You think I deliberately imprisoned you?"
Leopold lifted his eyes coolly, his gaze settling on my face.
That look felt like a cold blade sliding across my skin.
"Wasn't it?"
I tried to appear composed, but my voice lacked conviction.
Leopold's expression darkened. A broken laugh rolled from his throat.
"I didn't let you go out because I hadn't confirmed Jason had left the country. I was worried he was still in Silverlight City and might harm you."
My face changed. I stared at him in disbelief.
Hadn't Jason left the country?
I'd had no idea.
When he'd said Jason's whereabouts were unknown, I'd assumed Ethan had secretly sent him away, that he'd already gone abroad.
"You're... not lying to me?"
The curve of Leopold's mouth didn't change, but his eyes held no trace of humor.
"Why would I lie to you about something like this?"
His mocking tone stung. I fell silent.
But Leopold wasn't satisfied with my silence. He strode to my bedside in one go, facing me.
His hands gripped the bed rail so tightly that veins bulged across his knuckles.
"Didn't you pretend for so long? Why stop now?"
"Or now that the baby's gone, do you want me to forgive you?"
His relentless aggression made me turn my face away.
"You're overthinking it. That's not on my mind."
"Lucinda, look at me!"
Leopold forcefully grabbed my chin and turned me back.
His eyes were threaded with red, like a lake surface about to shatter.
"Now you won't even bother to lie to me?"
I opened my mouth, then closed it again.
After hesitating for a moment, I finally spoke.
"Leopold, let's part on good terms."
Something shattered in Leopold's eyes. His expression showed shock and hurt.
After a long pause, he finally released his grip and nodded repeatedly.
"Fine... fine..."
He gave a self-mocking twist of his lips, his voice seemingly squeezed from his chest.
"Lucinda, what exactly am I to you?"
"You kept saying we had ten years together. What do those ten years mean to you?"
A chill spread through my heart.
From the beginning, he'd been the one who misunderstood me, who'd remained ambiguously entangled with Sophia for three years. Even if there were reasons for all of it, what right did he have to question my sincerity?
Was it because I wouldn't let him explain what happened three years ago?
No.
This wasn't about explanations at all.
It was that from beginning to end, he'd never trusted me.
"Leopold, even now, you believe my relationship with Ethan isn't innocent."
Leopold slowly raised his eyes, the veins at his temples bulging.
"How am I supposed to trust you?"
"You left me and couldn't wait to run to him. To be with him, you even aborted our child!"
I couldn't take it anymore. "I didn't! The baby was because..."
Leopold's tall frame suddenly swayed, his face instantly turning deathly pale.
"Leopold?"
Seeing his condition, I reached out instinctively to steady him.
The moment my fingertips brushed his sleeve, he collapsed backward without warning!
"Leopold!"
I cried out in alarm, instinctively moving to get up and check on him, but accidentally pulled at my abdomen.
I was forced to stop.
Just then, Leopold let out a muffled groan, as if he'd been injured in the fall.
I quickly called out to him again.
He gave no response. He seemed to have lost consciousness.
"Doctor! Nurse! Someone, quickly!"
Unable to reach the call button, I could only shout at the top of my lungs.
My voice carried a panic I hadn't even noticed in myself.
"Mr. Percy!"
The Percy family's bodyguard stationed at the door rushed in. Seeing Leopold unconscious on the floor, his face changed dramatically.
He first helped Leopold onto the sofa, then rushed out to find a doctor.
Soon, medical staff came rushing in.
After a flurry of examinations, the doctor said gravely, "The patient is extremely fatigued and has been under prolonged mental stress. Combined with his emotional agitation just now, this caused sudden fainting and mild arrhythmia."
"He must rest immediately. Under no circumstances can he be subjected to any more stress."
The doctor's words left me stunned.
Extreme fatigue?
Prolonged mental stress?
Leopold had been groomed by Donovan as his heir since childhood. He had exceptional resilience under pressure and extraordinary self-discipline.
How could he possibly have let himself fall into such a negative state?
Was this the Leopold I knew?
"Understood. I've got it."
The Percy family bodyguard nodded quickly and asked the doctor to settle Leopold in the room next to mine.
The doctor hesitated. "This floor is rather special. If..."
Before he could finish, the bodyguard handed him his phone.
"Please look at this."
I don't know what the doctor saw, but he nodded hurriedly. "So it's him. I'll make the arrangements right away."
Seeing the doctor rush off, I couldn't help asking the bodyguard.
"Wasn't Leopold here in Gravenford Kingdom on vacation? How did he become extremely fatigued?"
The bodyguard replied matter-of-factly, "Since you left, Mr. Percy has been searching for you every day. The first couple of days, he could barely manage three hours of sleep. These past few days, he's gone nearly sleepless. Plus..."
He seemed about to say something, but changed his mind.
"Never mind. When Mr. Percy wakes up, you can ask him yourself."
Before I could say anything more, he left with Leopold.
I couldn't help frowning. Could Leopold have other business in the Gravenford Kingdom?
"Cindy!"
The Percy family bodyguard had barely left with Leopold when Ethan came rushing back.