Serena Yardley watched as Grandfather handed her a check and quickly shook her head, refusing.
"Grandfather, there’s no need. I..."
"Oh, child. If I’m giving it to you, you take it. No refusing."
The old master pressed it into her hand.
Before Serena could react, everyone else at the table stood up and crowded around her with smiles.
"Congratulations, Serena! This is from your Third Aunt."
"Serena, this is from your Fifth Madam."
"This is from your Fourth Aunt."
"This one is from your Third Uncle."
"Serena, this is from Mom."
"And from Dad."
Before long, Serena’s arms were full of checks and property deeds.
Clutching them, she was at a loss for what to do.
She couldn’t even understand why the family was giving her money and property.
’It’s not like I got pregnant for all this stuff.’
’This all has to be worth at least a few hundred million, right?’
Sophia Quinn noticed Serena’s discomfort and quickly instructed the butler nearby, "Please take these for her for now. You can give them back to her when she and Ethan leave."
The butler ca forward and respectfully took the checks and deeds from Serena’s hands.
Sophia Quinn then gestured to her. "Sit down, Serena. Just enjoy a nice al with us."
"Okay."
Serena Yardley nodded and sat back down next to Ethan Yardley.
Ethan hadn’t said a word from beginning to end. He ate his food slowly and thodically. Though his expression had softened considerably, his heart was filled with a bitterness he couldn’t put into words.
He hadn’t expected everyone in the family to already know about Serena’s pregnancy.
’Now that everyone knows, will getting an abortion be bad for Serena?’
For a mont, Ethan hesitated.
Throughout the al, the whole family chatted and laughed rrily, periodically congratulating Ethan on becoming a father.
They treated Serena like the darling of the family, showering her with warmth and concern.
Ethan played along on the surface. After dealing with everyone, not long after dinner, he took Serena back to The Sovereign Villa.
In the car,
Serena looked at the pile of deeds and checks in her lap, then handed them to the man beside her. "Here, for you."
Ethan glanced at them, his voice gentle.
"That’s their reward for you. It was given to you, so it’s your personal property. You don’t have to give it to ."
Serena said, "But we’re getting rid of the baby, so I can’t accept these."
She insisted, placing the assets in his lap.
Ethan didn’t give them back.
He was thinking about the baby.
If they got rid of the baby, the people at the family estate would surely bla him and Serena. They might even end up forcing them to divorce.
’Rather than be forced by them in the end, it’s better to...’
Ethan took the assets and told her,
"I’ll hold onto them for you for now. I’ll have the finance departnt transfer them directly to your na later."
After a mont of thought, he turned to look at her. "Serena, is there anything you want to say to ?"
Serena Yardley lowered her head, silent.
’He’s already arranged everything. There’s nothing for to say.’
But she knew full well that once the baby was gone, she would have no place in the Yardley Family.
’Rather than stay here and be blad, it would be better to...’
Forcing back the reluctance in her heart, Serena Yardley said,
"If we’re getting rid of the baby, then we might as well get a divorce while we’re at it."
Her tone carried an undeniable elent of pique.
Perhaps it was even a threat, an attempt to make him reconsider.
Who would have known that Ethan, without a second thought, would agree without the slightest hesitation. "Okay."
’That’s what he was thinking, too.’
A divorce would be better for both of them.
However!
His single "Okay" was like the sharp point of a knife, stabbing viciously into Serena Yardley’s heart.
She stared at him, stunned.
She didn’t understand why he had agreed.
She had caused such a scene before, and he hadn’t been willing to compromise. Why now, when she wasn’t making a fuss and had only ntioned it in passing, did he agree?
’Does he really not want to save this at all?’
Her chest ached terribly. Serena Yardley turned her head to look out the window, fighting to keep from crying.
She reminded herself, ’Isn’t this what you wanted from the beginning?’
’He’s agreed now. You should be happy.’
’But why do I feel so sad, so reluctant to let go?’
Even now, Serena Yardley didn’t know what she really wanted.
Back ho, she hurried upstairs, shut herself in her room, and forced herself to calm down.
Ethan Yardley didn’t follow her into the room.
In fact, he didn’t seek her out at all that night. He just turned around and left the house again.
As for Serena Yardley, she couldn’t sleep a wink all night.
She took out her phone and called Nina Thorne.
When the call connected, she couldn’t hold back a sob. "Nina..."
Over the phone, Nina Thorne’s voice was gentle. "What’s wrong, Serena? Did sothing happen?"
"Nina, I don’t know if this is my fault. When he ca back, he told that if I didn’t want to have the baby, we could just get rid of it. I was so angry at the ti that I agreed."
"Then I said if we’re getting rid of the baby, we might as well get a divorce, and I didn’t expect him to agree to that, too."
"WAAH... Nina, do you think he feels I’m too much drama and doesn’t want to deal with anymore? Is that why he’s so determined for to get rid of the baby and divorce ?"
"What do I do now?"
Serena Yardley knew very well that she had been incredibly difficult before.
She had taken advantage of Ethan’s tolerance and indulgence, constantly pushing his limits.
And now, she had finally pushed him away for good.
Nina Thorne asked, "And what about you? Do you really not want the baby, or were you just throwing a tantrum?"
Sobbing, Serena Yardley explained through choked breaths,
"I was genuinely angry at first, but after you talked to , I thought it through. I want to build a good life with him. I think I really do like him a lot."
"But he’s already made the arrangents. He’s taking to get rid of the baby tomorrow, and after that, we’re going to get divorced."
"Nina, I don’t think I can go through with it."
Now that she had cald down and thought it over, she finally knew what she wanted.
Just a family of three, sharing als all year round.
Nina Thorne spoke to her patiently. "Serena, since you’ve figured things out, you need to tell him how you feel."
"He’s probably agreeing to everything because he doesn’t want to go against your wishes or force you to do sothing you don’t want to do."
"But once you open up and tell him what’s really in your heart, he definitely won’t want to separate or get rid of the baby anymore."
"Listen to . For your own happiness, you have to fight for it when you need to. Don’t just throw tantrums, understand?"
Serena Yardley nodded through her tears. "Okay. Should I go talk to him now?"
"Yes. Ethan is thirty years old; it’s not that he doesn’t want a child. He just doesn’t want to force you, which is why he’s going along with everything you say."
"Thank you, Nina. I’ll go find him right now."
After hanging up, Serena Yardley quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks.
She got up, straightened her clothes, and left the room to find Ethan.
But she searched upstairs, downstairs, and in the study, and couldn’t find a trace of the man.
Mrs. Miller said he had gone out. Serena didn’t know where he’d gone, and though she held her phone in her hand, she couldn’t summon the courage to call him again.
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