Chapter 141 The Permission to Create Life
"Run!" Alexander's voice came out raw and hoarse. He seized her hand and pulled her forward, running at full tilt.
Gunshots cracked behind them. Bullets whizzed past their heads.
The dark street stretched endlessly. No exit in sight.
She heard Alexander's breathing grow ragged. His steps grew heavy, uneven.
Finally, at a corner, his legs gave out. He collapsed forward, dragging her down with him.
Pain and darkness engulfed her.
So they had been saved?
But why was Alexander here, watching over her?
He had been so badly hurt. He should be the one in a hospital bed.
Caroline's chest tightened. Ignoring her own weakness, she reached out and touched the back of his hand resting on the bed.
"Alexander... Alexander?"
The man jolted awake. He sat up straight, eyes snapping open.
"...Caroline?" His voice was tentative.
"You're awake! Thank God!" Seeing him conscious only made her more frantic. She tried to sit up. "Are you still in pain? Did they treat your wounds? What did the doctor say? You shouldn't be sitting here—you need to rest!"
Alexander stared at her, thrown by the rush of questions.
Wounds? What wounds?
Was she talking about last night's attack, or... something from her memory?
He tested carefully. "Caroline, do you... remember how old I am?"
Caroline froze. Her eyes brimmed with tears. Her voice cracked.
"Oh no... Alexander, did you hit your head? You can't even remember your own age?"
She grabbed his sleeve, desperate.
"You're twenty! We just celebrated your birthday! Don't you remember?"
Alexander's heart dropped, then kicked hard against his ribs.
Her memory had stopped at his twentieth birthday. The night Linus ambushed him.
Then Caroline seemed to notice something wrong.
Her gaze traveled slowly upward, fixing on his face.
The face was still handsome, sharply defined. But exhaustion had settled into the lines around his eyes. There was something dark in his expression she did not recognize.
Fine creases at the corners of his eyes. A harder, more mature jawline than the boy in her memory.
This was not twenty-year-old Alexander.
At twenty, he had been proud and cold, yes. But his eyes had been bright. Sharp with youth. Not this deep, frozen well of darkness.
Suddenly, fractured memories slammed into her mind.
Cold words. Disgust in his eyes. His hand gripping her jaw, calling her a "disgusting replacement."
He had ordered her to imitate Edith in everything—her dancing, her clothes, her smile. Any mistake brought humiliation. Punishment.
In dark rooms, he had torn her clothes off, entered her body. Not with love. With hate.
"Ah!"
Caroline snatched her hand back from his sleeve. Her body shook uncontrollably.
She dropped her gaze, unable to meet his eyes.
"I'm sorry... sir... I got confused... I didn't mean to... I probably... I didn't take my medication today..."
She stammered apologies, then threw back the blanket and tried to get out of bed.
"My pills... where are my pills... if I take them, I'll be fine... I won't say the wrong things anymore..."
She stumbled barefoot onto the cold floor, lurching toward the cabinet. Her hands shook as she yanked open a drawer, searching frantically.
Alexander moved to help her, but she flinched away from him. The fear in her eyes cut deep. He froze in place, watching her cower in the corner, searching for pills that were not there.
The drawer held no medication. Just a few scattered papers.
Caroline pushed them aside, still searching. Then her eyes stopped.
It was an ultrasound report.
Patient Name: Caroline Neville.
Diagnosis: Intrauterine pregnancy, approximately 4 weeks. Threatened miscarriage. Bed rest recommended. Close monitoring advised.
Caroline stared at the paper like the words were in a foreign language.
How could she be... pregnant? With Alexander's child?
She slowly lifted her head, looking at Alexander a few steps away.
"No... no, that's not right!"
Caroline shot to her feet.
"Edith... Edith only asked me to take care of Mom and Dad, to marry Alexander... she never said anything about having a baby..."
She grabbed fistfuls of her hair and yanked hard, pulling out strands with bits of scalp still attached.
"Edith loved children... she said she wanted two someday, a boy and a girl... but she's gone now, she'll never have children..."
She looked down at her flat stomach. Her fingers trembled as they touched it, then jerked back like she had been burned.
"Ah!"
Caroline screamed and backed herself into the corner.
"How could I... have a baby?"
Alexander felt dread crawl up his spine. He reached for her.
"Caroline..."
But Caroline was not looking at him.
She was lost in her own world, eyes vacant, muttering to herself.
"Birth control... I was taking it... later he made me take it every time, or get the shot after... how could it fail? No, he wouldn't allow it... he hates me, he'd never let me have his child. This is wrong... wrong..."
"I'm allowing it!"
Alexander raised his voice, trying to break through her spiral.
Caroline tilted her head, listening. Then she seemed to reach a conclusion that shattered her completely.
"No... I can't keep it..."
She murmured, then suddenly swung her fist down hard toward her stomach.
"Stop!"
Alexander lunged and caught her, locking his arms around her.
"Stop it! Caroline! I'm ordering you to stop!"
"Let me go! Let me get rid of it! You don't want it either! I know you don't!"
Caroline thrashed in his arms, sobbing hysterically.
"You can only have children with Edith! This is a mistake! It shouldn't exist!"
She clawed and bit at his arms as she fought him. Blood soaked through his sleeve, spreading fast.
"That's not true! Edith gave you permission to have my child!"
"You're lying!"
Caroline would not listen.