Chapter 208

Chapter 208

The call was disconnected.

Chase's heart was in turmoil.

He punched the tree, and the leaves rustled loudly.

He didn't dare tell Victoria about this. What Victoria hated most was betrayal.

Last time when he was drugged and spent the night with Eleanor, it had already made Victoria suspicious. If he told Victoria now that Eleanor was pregnant...

Then he and Victoria would really break up.

Chase decided to keep this hidden. He went to the bathroom and washed himself for a long time, scrubbing his skin until it almost came off before he stopped.

It wasn't until dawn the next day that he returned to Victoria's bed, gently holding her like some fragile treasure.

Victoria felt someone get into bed, smelled the familiar scent, turned around and nestled into his arms. "Chase, where did you go last night?"

Victoria's voice was drowsy. She had woken up in the middle of the night and found no one beside her.

Chase's voice was low. "I was organizing some things. Still haven't adjusted to the time difference."

"Oh... I see. Let's sleep a bit more."

She hugged Chase, found a comfortable position in his arms, and went back to sleep.

Chase wasn't sleepy at all. He just quietly watched Victoria, several times the words came to his lips but he couldn't say them.

He was afraid of losing Victoria.

By noon, when Victoria opened her eyes again, the bed beside her was empty.

She quickly freshened up and came downstairs, where she saw Chase busy in the kitchen.

"Chase, why didn't you rest more?"

"Come eat." Chase brought the dishes to the table. "I'm not that tired. I'll adjust to the time difference tonight."

Victoria looked at the roasted ribs and steamed fish in front of her - all her favorite dishes.

At the table, Chase seemed like he wanted to say something but held back.

Victoria keenly noticed his hesitation. "Chase, what's wrong? Did something happen while you were out?"

He let out a heavy breath. "Victoria, I want to discuss something with you. Could you... not press charges against Eleanor?"

Victoria's spoon clinked against the edge of the bowl with a crisp sound.

"Why, Chase?"

Chase gripped his utensils tighter and tighter, half-truthfully saying, "She came to me last night begging. I owe her a favor. Victoria, if it's too difficult, forget it. You shouldn't have been dragged into this in the first place, and besides, I know what happened yesterday was her fault."

Victoria looked at his hesitant face, feeling a bit soft-hearted.

"Chase, your business is my business. I agree. Actually, even if we took her to court, she probably wouldn't get a heavy sentence anyway. Might as well consider it repaying her favor and cutting ties with her completely from now on."

Chase's eyes reddened slightly. Victoria was just too good, so good that all he felt was guilt.

He shouldn't be using Victoria like this.

But the words were already out. He couldn't take them back.

"Thank you, Victoria."

"No need to thank me, Chase. Get some rest - you've got dark circles under your eyes."

After finishing her meal and cleaning up, Victoria prepared to go back to the company to handle follow-up matters.

Seeing Victoria leave, Chase went to find Eleanor.

They met at the hospital. Chase's eyes were full of disgust. "Ms. Hartley, this is the last time we meet. I hope from now on we don't interfere with each other. Stop bothering me."

Eleanor was still unwilling to give up.

"Chase, do you really have to be so heartless? We slept together after all. You're just abandoning me like this? Just because of Victoria? What's so great about her? What makes her worth protecting like this?"

Chase just frowned with disgust. "You're not worthy of mentioning her."

Eleanor's nerves were on edge. She had lost her reputation overnight. Those who used to flatter her were now just waiting to see her humiliated.

She vented her pain, tears streaming down uncontrollably.

"I'm not worthy? Chase, if it weren't for her, we would be together. I would be your wife."

Chase seemed about to break down from her pressure and shouted, "I told you long ago, even without her, we wouldn't end up together. From the beginning, I was only with you because of your family."

Tears finally fell from Eleanor's eyes, dropping onto the floor.

"Fine. I don't know how you convinced Victoria, but she's already dropped the charges."

Just then, the doctor called her number.

Eleanor stood up. "I'm going in now. Chase, are you really not going to keep this baby?"

She wanted to struggle one more time.

Chase's gaze was cold, even looking at her belly with disgust.

Chase turned his head away. If it weren't for wanting to see with his own eyes that she terminated the pregnancy today, he wouldn't have come here at all.

"I don't want anyone else to know about today."

Eleanor completely gave up. "Then I'm going in."

The hospital door closed.

Chase's body slumped against the chair as if drained.

Suddenly a familiar voice came from in front of him.

"Mr. Jones? What are you doing here? Is Victoria here?"

Chris had just finished his work and came out. He was a bit shocked to see Chase.

After all, this was the obstetrics and gynecology department.

Chase's eyes darted away, finally shaking his head with a bitter smile. "I'm not here with Victoria, but with Eleanor."

Chris was stunned. "Eleanor? Obstetrics? What are you two doing?"

"Last time when I was drugged... Eleanor took emergency contraception, but her medical report said she still got pregnant."

Chase covered his face with both hands, not wanting to face any of this. One wrong step led to more wrong steps.

Chris almost wished he'd never come here.

"Pregnant?! So Eleanor is having an abortion now. Does Victoria know?"

Chase shook his head dejectedly. "She doesn't know."

Now it was Chris's turn to be distressed. "You're planning to keep hiding it?"

"Yes. If I don't hide it and she finds out, she'll definitely be angry." Chase looked at him pleadingly. "Chris, can you help me keep this from Victoria? At this point, there's no other way."

Chris was torn. He didn't want to lie to Victoria anymore, but today's matter was truly disgraceful - Chase had actually let this happen.

He scratched his head and paced back and forth. "Fine, I'll pretend I don't know about today. But you'd better come clean to Victoria soon. And you're a doctor - you should know there's a lot of room for manipulation here. Aren't you afraid Eleanor will use this to threaten you once, then threaten you again?"

Chase's eyes turned vicious. "I'll make her do a physical exam with me. After this, no one else will ever know."

"Alright, I'm leaving first. Call me if you need anything." Chris quickly left this troublesome place. He didn't want to get more involved.

Chase watched the operating room light, feeling inexplicably anxious.

Suddenly Victoria's voice came from nearby. "Chase, what are you doing here?"