Chapter 7
431words
The sharp sting of antiseptic made me wince. I glared at the stubborn figure looming by my bed. "Why are you still here?"
"You're pregnant," he announced just as I finished speaking.
His words hit me like a bucket of ice water.
Julian's face was a thundercloud, his voice tight as a wire about to break: "You're single. Who got you pregnant?"
"Did some lowlife take advantage of you? Give me his name. I'll make him regret it!"
Well, well. Never thought I'd see the day Julian Vance would volunteer to be my white knight.
But his services weren't required.
I smiled coolly. "Nobody 'took advantage' of me. This baby belongs to me and my fiancé."
Julian's brows crashed together. "You have a… fiancé?"
What a bizarre reaction. "I'm thirty years old. Is having a fiancé really that shocking?"
He fell silent, his thoughts clearly racing behind those dark eyes, his lips pressed into a tight line.
After a long pause, he suddenly burst out:
"What worthless nobody did you dig up? He can't even buy you proper clothes, lets you wear that cheap garbage, and makes you work yourself to exhaustion while getting publicly humiliated at business dinners!"
"How is such a man worthy of spending his life with you? You need to end this relationship immediately!"
His words made my blood boil.
In our two years together, Ethan Cole has been nothing but devoted. He's given me plenty of expensive jewelry and designer pieces, but I choose to keep things low-key at work.
I shot Julian a venomous look. "Shut up. You won't drive a wedge between Ethan and me. He treats me a thousand times better than you ever did."
"And I love my job. If you hadn't gone out of your way to humiliate me, I wouldn't have been stressed in the first place."
"Julian, every ounce of misery I've ever experienced can be traced back to you."
Before Julian could respond, the hospital room door swung open.
The sight of the man striding toward me instantly lifted my spirits. "Ethan? What about your meeting?"
"What meeting could possibly be more important than you?" Ethan didn't spare Julian a single glance as he came straight to my bedside, took my hand, and pressed a gentle kiss to my knuckles.
Julian's eyes locked onto our joined hands, a dangerous flash of rage darkening his features.
He addressed Ethan coldly: "Mr. Cole, I presume? You don't deserve Clara. Name your price. What will it take for you to walk away from her?"
