Chapter 8

Tears streamed down my face. "Thomas!" I shoved him away, my voice trembling. "How could you say that? How could you say that about our... about my babies?" I covered my mouth, sobbing uncontrollably.

So that was how he really felt. He thought the babies I was carrying were bastards. All that protection and trust he showed before were all an act. Yeah, what man could put up with such humiliation?

My tears made the anger in his eyes disappear in a flash. Now, all that was left in his eyes was helplessness and regret.

"I'm sorry." He reached out, wanting to touch me, but pulled back at the last second. "Rebecca, I didn't mean it like that. I... I just lost my mind."

He raked his fingers through his hair in agony. "I can't control myself. Every time I think about you leaving me, every time I remember you're carrying someone else's babies, it drives me crazy!"

His handsome face was twisted with pain and inner turmoil. Seeing him like that, my heart melted a little.

I wiped away my tears and took his hand. "I'm not leaving you," I said, looking into his eyes, my voice steady and sincere, "unless you don't want me anymore."

He stared at me, his eyes swirling with emotion. Finally, he let out a long sigh and pulled me back into his arms.

"How could I ever not want you?" He buried his face in the crook of my neck, his voice muffled. "Rebecca, give me a little more time.

"There's one last place, a genetic research center overseas. I've already sent them my sample. They're the top experts in the world. When their results come back, if it's still the same..." He stopped, leaving the rest unsaid.

But I knew exactly what he was getting at. If the results were still the same, we'd have to face reality. My heart hit rock bottom.

*****

When we got home, Linda shot us a look full of open ridicule. "Well, didn't I tell you so? You can throw all the money you want at hospitals, but the result's always the same, isn't it? Thomas, isn't it time you gave up?"

Thomas ignored her, grabbed my hand, and led me straight upstairs.

"Thomas!" Linda shouted from downstairs, her voice full of irritation. "Don't be so stubborn. I'm only doing this for your own good. I've already talked to Mr. Lawson. The divorce papers can show up whenever you want."

Thomas stopped in his tracks for a moment, but didn't look back. "Stay out of my business," he said coldly, then shut the bedroom door behind him.

The days that followed were the hardest since Thomas and I got married. It was like there was an invisible wall between us.

Though we still slept in the same bed, he'd hold me close and make sure I was comfortable like he always did. But I could sense it. Something between us was different now. We barely talked anymore.

He grew quieter than before, often holed up alone in his study late into the night. I knew he was hurting inside. And all I could do was silently keep him company.

The atmosphere at home was getting stranger and stranger. Though Richard kept Linda in check, she stopped openly picking on me. But her looks got icier by the day.

She started casually mentioning all these promising young women and well-matched heiresses in front of me to rub it in that, without me, Thomas was still the most eligible bachelor around.

And I was only the cast-off wife about to be kicked out of the family.

I didn't bother responding to her snide remarks. I just endured it in silence. I pinned all my hopes on that overseas test report. It was my last lifeline.

Finally, a week later, Thomas got a call from overseas.