NovelNext Chapter 24: Don't Make Me Hate You
Chapter 24: Don't Make Me Hate You
Ethan Foster stood frozen, his face ashen under the flickering glow of the television.
Sophia Williams looked at his nearly petrified expression and repeated, "I'm pregnant with Lucas Harrison's child."
Ethan collapsed to the floor, a mess of pain and disbelief.
"This can't be... This can't be!"
Sophia stared at him coldly, shattering any hope he had left for reconciliation.
"There's nothing impossible about it. Lucas and I have been together long enough to plan a marriage. Why wouldn't we want a child?"
Ethan trembled violently before storming out, teeth clenched.
As the door slammed shut, Sophia's heart sank to the depths.
When Ethan returned, he carried a pregnancy test.
He freed her restraints and ordered her to take it.
Sophia didn't resist, she knew it was futile.
When the two lines appeared, Ethan's eyes turned bloodshot, as if the sky had fallen.
Sophia was pregnant. With Lucas Harrison's child.
He had restrained himself for years, unwilling to hurt her again after their marriage. Yet, in just one year with Lucas, she had conceived.
What did that make him?
What did their fifteen years together even mean?
Ethan was on the verge of breaking.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally stood, his face deathly pale.
"Sophia, this child can't stay."
"If you want, we can have children, as many as you wish. But not this one. Not his."
Sophia's breath hitched. A chill crawled up her spine, making her shudder. Her pulse raced as she stared at Ethan, whose expression was hollow yet terrifyingly composed.
"What are you planning?" she forced out, voice steady. "Don't tell me you intend to get rid of it."
Ethan's gaze darkened. Before leaving, he uttered only two words.
"Don't blame me."
The moment he was gone, Sophia threw herself at the door, pounding wildly, desperate to escape. But even as the TV shattered behind her, the metal door remained unyielding.
Her fury gave way to cold dread.
Sliding down the wall, she hugged herself tightly.
In the end, she couldn't protect anything.
Not even her unborn child.
The night stretched endlessly.
Sophia didn't dare sleep.
At the sound of the lock turning the next morning, she jolted awake, curling into the corner.
Ethan strode in, his trench coat dusted with cold.
He tossed a bag onto the table, its contents clattering.
"It's early enough. Pills will suffice."
"Don't worry, it won't hurt. I'll take care of you."
His concern sounded like a cruel joke to Sophia.
"And if I refuse?"
Ethan's stare was unrelenting. "You don't have a choice."
The words drenched her in ice. Sophia paled, drawing into herself as despair seeped into her bones.
Seeing her helplessness, Ethan instinctively stepped forward, only for Sophia to snap her head up, eyes blazing with defiance.
"Ethan Foster, don't make me hate you."
His body wavered, his expression twisting between agony and madness.
"Hate me? Sophia, you're free to. But have you ever considered how I feel? Should I stand by and watch your belly grow with another man's child? Should I let it live, a constant reminder that you chose him over me?"
His voice cracked. "Do you have any idea how much this hurts?"
The past months had ravaged him. The mere thought of her carrying Lucas's child filled him with unbearable regret.
Losing the woman he loved to another man was a torment beyond words.
"Sophia, this is for us. For our future. That child can't exist between us."
"You're insane," she hissed. "You were the one who cheated. You destroyed us. And now you play the victim? How pathetic."
"Yes, I betrayed you. And I've regretted it every second since. Can't you, for the sake of fifteen years together, give me one more chance?"
Sophia shook her head. "There are no second chances, Ethan. I told you, my mother died because of my father's infidelity. The one thing I will never tolerate is a disloyal man."
"If you fell out of love, you should've said so. I wouldn't have clung to you. This marriage wasn't my only option. But betrayal? That's unforgivable."
Her words stabbed through Ethan like blades.
Face bloodless, he picked up the pills.
"Stay away!"
She shielded her abdomen, pressing into the corner.
As long as she breathed, she wouldn't let him harm her child.
Ethan's patience snapped. He seized her jaw, forcing it open.