Chapter 3
Rowena thought, 'What would happen if I went back now with the pregnancy test results?
'The Hopkins family would force me to have the baby.
'They'd pull me right back into that gilded cage.
'They'd tell everyone I was just using the baby to secure my place.
'Mona would keep playing the victim, acting all gracious and wronged.
Leopold would probably just frown and say, 'Just tell me what you want.''
Just thinking about it made her sick.
Audrey squeezed Rowena's hand. "Don't be scared, Rowena. The baby is yours, and so is the decision. If you want to keep it, I'll be right here with you. If you don't, I'll still be by your side, no matter what."
The hospital's cold white lights shone down.
Rowena was silent for a long time, then suddenly smiled.
"I'll keep it," she said.
Audrey froze.
"But not for the Hopkins family," Rowena added.
Rowena stared at the test results, her eyes hardening. "I'm doing this for myself."
'This is my baby.
'This has nothing to do with anyone else,' she thought.
Just as Audrey let out a sigh of relief, her phone suddenly buzzed.
She glanced down, and her face went pale.
"What's wrong?" Rowena asked.
Audrey handed her the phone.
It was a hidden camera video.
The footage showed the entrance to the hotel suite from earlier tonight.
The angle was sneaky, perfectly capturing Rowena walking out with a frosty look, while in the background, Mona stood next to Leopold, her eyes swollen and red from crying.
The caption was even nastier.
"HopkinsGroupCEO'sFirstLoveReturns."
"OGWifeMakesASceneOverDivorce,FailedToTakeTheThrone."
The trending topic was already blowing up with a big red "Hot" tag.
The comments were blowing up.
[So this is the famous Mrs. Hopkins? Why does she have that evil side character vibe?]
[Poor Mona, crying her eyes out. She totally looks like she got bullied.]
[No wonder Leopold doesn't want her. She's so aggressive.]
[Heard she's been funneling Hopkins money to her own family for years. What a leech.]
[She just looks so mean. You can tell she's petty just from her face.]
Audrey was furious. "That's total bullshit! Who leaked that hidden camera video? It has to be Mona. Who else would stoop so low?"
Rowena stared at the phone screen, her eyes turning icy.
She hadn't even done a thing.
But her name was already being dragged through the mud.
She'd just gotten divorced.
And the Hopkins family couldn't wait to shame her in front of everyone.
Rowena suddenly realized that tonight's divorce dinner was never just about getting her to sign the papers.
They wanted her to leave in disgrace.
And if possible, they wanted her reputation trashed right along with her.
Audrey was pacing anxiously. "What should we do? Should we call PR right now? I'll get in touch with a lawyer! No way they can just control everything and get away with it!"
But Rowena was unusually calm.
She reached out, took the pregnancy test results from Audrey, folded them up, and tucked them into her bag.
Her movements were deliberate, unhurried.
It was like she was just putting away some random piece of paper, nothing important at all.
"Let's wait for now," Rowena said calmly.
"What?!" Audrey exclaimed.
She was nearly in tears. "It's a total mess online, and you still want to just wait?"
Rowena looked up, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Let the bullets fly for a bit," she said.
Audrey froze.
Rowena stood up, still pale, but holding her head high.
"They want to turn me into a joke," she said.
"Fine, I'll give them something even bigger to laugh at," she added.
At the end of the hospital corridor, the digital screen flashed ominous red letters.
Rowena clenched the strap of her bag, the last bit of warmth in her eyes gone for good.
She had no idea what was happening behind the scenes.
Meanwhile, up in the Hopkins Group's top-floor office, Leopold was watching the trending topic blow up on his screen.
His assistant, Egbert Wood, stood nearby, sweat beading on his forehead.
"Mr. Hopkins, we've already tried to suppress the trending topic once, but someone keeps paying to push it back up," Egbert said.
Leopold stared at the screen, his brows furrowing deeper as Rowena's profile flashed by, walking away.
"Who put this out?" he said coldly.
Egbert replied, his voice strained. "We're still looking into it."
Leopold set his phone down on the desk with a cold finality, his face unreadable.
"Get out if you can't find out," he said, his voice icy.
Egbert flinched, just about to leave when his phone buzzed again.
He glanced down, and his expression grew even more strange.
"Mr. Hopkins..."
"Spit it out," Leopold said coldly.
"The hospital just sent over some news."
Leopold looked up.
Egbert swallowed nervously. "Mrs. Hopkins went to the OB-GYN emergency department at the hospital tonight."
The room fell silent.
Leopold's expression changed instantly, his eyes turning sharp. "What did you just say?"
"OB-GYN emergency."
Egbert forced himself to go on, "But we still haven't gotten the test results from our people yet."
Leopold stood up, the chair screeching against the floor.
He stared out into the heavy darkness, and a sudden wave of panic hit him.
It was like something had totally spun out of his control.
And this time, he couldn't do a damn thing to stop it.
At 1 a.m., the trending topic was still sitting at number one.
Rowena was still awake.