Chapter 4
Nancy froze. After a long moment, she finally managed to speak. "Raise the child together? What does that mean?"
Edward replied, "Lily's still young, and having a baby out of wedlock would destroy her reputation. For her future, the best option is to transfer custody to you."
She cut him off, her voice sharp. "Bad for her reputation but fine for mine? Edward, this is the real reason you came here today, isn't it?"
Edward looked impatient, as if this were the most reasonable request in the world. "What's the big deal? I already told you I'd raise the child with you."
What?
So in his eyes, her reputation meant nothing compared to Lily's. It was something he could throw away without a second thought.
But why? Why should she accept this?
She met his gaze head-on. "It's not my child. Why should I raise it?"
Her eyes burned into Edward's. "All you care about is protecting Lily's reputation. What am I to her that I should pay for her mistakes?"
Edward's expression hardened. "Do you have to be so difficult?"
His voice went cold. "Nancy, don't think our engagement gives you the right to talk back to me. I'm not asking you—I'm telling you. If you don't agree, then we won't get married."
He was actually threatening her, using their wedding as leverage to force her compliance.
The hospital room fell into a crushing silence. It was so quiet she could hear both of them breathing.
The silence stretched on for several seconds, and Edward's lips parted as if he wanted to say something.
Nancy suddenly grabbed the water pitcher from the bedside table and hurled it at him. "Then we won't get married." Her voice broke as she screamed. "Get out!"
Edward couldn't dodge in time. The glass shards grazed his temple, and his expression turned cold. He spat out, "Fine. You've got guts. Don't come crying to me later."
The door slammed shut.
Nancy gasped for air, and tears streamed down her face.
She raised her hand to wipe them away, but they kept coming.
Pathetic.
Twenty years of feelings had worn away with each disappointment, each hurt, and all those girlish emotions had been exhausted bit by bit.
She didn't want this, and she refused to accept it.
But as long as she was alive, she and Edward were bound together with no way to break free.
Love could disappear, but interests couldn't.
The day she left the hospital, Amber couldn't make it. Nancy ran into Edward at the OB-GYN downstairs, where he was accompanying Lily for a prenatal checkup.
His expression was gentle, and he didn't have that usual impatience he showed her. He supported Lily carefully, and when she said something, he smiled.
It was a soft smile. He looked relaxed, and his brow was smooth. He bent down closer to her like he wanted to hear her better.
They looked like one of those happy couples you only see on TV. Sunlight streamed through the glass behind them, bathing them in warmth like a painting.
It was the same as when Jordan brought that strange woman home when Nancy was seven.
Nancy should have walked away, but her legs felt like lead, and she couldn't move. She hid in a dark corner like she did as a child, like some kind of voyeur watching other people's happiness from the shadows.
Back then, Edward had told her, "Nancy, don't cry. When we get married, we'll be the happiest couple in the world."
Lily spotted her first. She shrank behind Edward, with that familiar, fearful look, and called out timidly, "Nancy."
She always did that. She called her Nancy and called Edward "Uncle Edward."
Edward's smile vanished. He glanced at her and opened his mouth to speak, but his phone rang.
He stepped aside to take the call, and Lily followed him, one hand cradling her belly. She stayed close like a lost child clinging to a parent, helpless and wounded.
Whatever the call was about, Edward hung up and murmured something to Lily. She looked reluctant, but he brought her over to Nancy anyway.
"Since you've made up your mind, Lily's your responsibility now," Edward said. "I have something at the office. You'll go with her to the appointment."
He didn't wait for an answer and left.