Chapter 4

Elena propped her chin on her hand, a mocking smile in her eyes, as if she'd just heard something hilarious.

She said, "Dorian lied to you. I was right there with him when he signed off on the abortion.

"With a family like yours, getting pregnant before marriage is just a way to dodge the inheritance, isn't it? You've always looked down on him. He'd never let himself become a joke in high society."

The day after the abortion, Dorian held me close and cried his eyes out.

Back then, I thought he was hurting just as much as I was over our child's death. Now I realized he was just feeling guilty.

I turned to head for the door, ready to confront Dorian, but out of nowhere, Elena dropped herself onto the floor, putting on a show.

"Patricia, why did you push me?" Elena cried out.

I caught the tiny mirk on Elena's lips, and before I could even process what was happening, Dorian barreled into me, knocking me down.

Dorian scrambled to help Elena up, shooting me a frosty glare. "This is a hospital, not a stage for your drama. Have you lost your mind? She's pregnant."

When Dorian said "pregnant," he visibly faltered for a moment.

I pointed at Elena's chart. "Yeah, she's the one having my fiancé's baby. How am I supposed to compete with that?"

Dorian was about to lose his cool with me when Elena's attending doctor walked in. He was a top specialist Dorian had called in, thanks to the Reed family's connections.

Dorian tried to get close to the doctor with a grin, but the doctor just walked right past him and came straight over to me, offering his congratulations.

The doctor said, "I couldn't make it to your engagement party, Ms. Reed. My wife said it was quite the event. Looks like I was away at the wrong time and missed such a grand occasion.

"I heard the wedding date's set. I'll definitely clear my schedule. No way I'm missing it. I'd love to witness the happy occasion."

Dorian bit back his curses. Once the doctor finished the routine check and left, Dorian grabbed my wrist, his expression cold and hard.

He said, "So you managed to pull in the attending doctor to put pressure on me. You really think that'll force me into marrying you?

"If anything goes wrong with Elena's baby during this time, there's no way I'm marrying you.

"Now, take your ID and get lost."

To him, it looked like the doctor was just there to help me put on a show.

I shot Dorian a look of utter contempt and picked up the ID he'd tossed at me. "Don't worry, I don't need you at my wedding."

He didn't even let me finish. He just scooped Elena up and strode off toward the ultrasound, never once looking back.

Fine. I'd just consider it a wasted invitation, then. I pulled a fresh wedding invitation from my bag and carefully placed it next to Dorian's briefcase.

"You never made it to any of my engagement parties, so why not just show up at my wedding when I'm marrying someone else?" I said.

Neil arrived at that time, brushed past Dorian, and quietly led me out of the hospital.

While Elena was getting her ultrasound, Dorian wanted to storm back and chew me out, only to find the room completely empty.

It was odd to him that I wasn't acting all clingy and begging for mercy this time. He thought maybe I was actually scared for once, since this involved the baby's life.

Dorian tried to think up some excuse to win me over, all while fishing around for his phone.

Suddenly, he caught sight of the wedding invitation.

He paused in disbelief. When he spotted someone else's name as the groom, rage bubbled up inside him.

He was sure I'd gone crazy.

First I'd dragged in the doctor to force the marriage, and now I'd whipped up a wedding invitation to further the pretense. Dorian swore he'd teach me a lesson this time.

After blocking me on social media, Dorian stormed off to the ultrasound room to pick up Elena.

All day long, Dorian kept absentmindedly checking his phone, wondering if I'd try to reach out through some other app.

But his phone stayed quiet the entire day.

On his way home, Dorian got a call with no caller ID.

"Mr. Wright, is anyone home? Miss Reed is selling the house for half its value, and there's a queue of buyers eager to view it," the caller said.

Dorian was stunned. The house was the dream home he and I had spent ages picking out. There was no way I'd sell it before the engagement.

Dorian brushed it off as a scam call and hung up without a second thought.

But when he got home, the real estate agent was already there with several potential buyers.

Seeing those eager buyers standing around, Dorian lost his cool. He shooed them all off, then dialed Elena.

"Has Patricia come to bother you? Bet she's making a fuss since she can't find me," Dorian said.