365 Days of Rejected Proposal: CEO's Rebellious Pet-Chapter 146: He Gently Coaxes Her and Explains

Chapter 146: Chapter 146: He Gently Coaxes Her and Explains

"Coco?"

Jenson was momentarily stunned, but the corners of his thin lips curved into a faint smile.

He had pressured her so much, yet she had stubbornly refused to tell him about the pregnancy herself. He knew it was because she had never given up on the idea of divorcing him and leaving. Now that she has finally said it, does this mean her thinking has changed?

Zinnia Lawrence nodded. She pulled Jenson’s hand, pressed it against her belly, and looked up at him with a mix of anxiety and trepidation.

"Jenson, Coco is the nickname I gave our baby. I’ve been pregnant for over three months now."

Zinnia held her breath. She had blurted out the news about the baby in a surge of emotion, realizing that no matter what, Jenson was Coco’s father. He had the right to know.

If something truly happened to him and he never even knew he had a child, it would be an unbearable regret—for him, for her, and for Coco.

But Jenson’s previous attitude toward her pregnancy, along with his cold dismissal—"If you get pregnant, just get rid of it"—was a dark cloud hanging over Zinnia’s heart.

She was terrified that Jenson wouldn’t react with joy, but with anger and cruelty.

The hand Zinnia used to hold Jenson’s large palm grew colder and began to tremble as she waited.

The joyful reaction she’d been hoping for never appeared on his face. He seemed so calm, so indifferent.

This was not the reaction of a father who was eagerly awaiting the arrival of his child.

He really doesn’t want Coco. He doesn’t love this child. Perhaps to him, the baby’s existence is dispensable, completely unimportant. All this talk of regret... it was all just me getting carried away, my own self-indulgent drama.

Zinnia’s heart sank. She abruptly let go of his hand and stood up, intending to run.

But before she could take a single step, an arm reached out from behind and wrapped around her waist.

His deep voice sounded from behind her. "You’re finally done hiding it from me? Zinnia, let me make this clear. Whether I live or die, you will not have my child call another man ’Daddy’!"

His handsome face pressed against her lower back as he slowly tightened his arms around her.

Zinnia froze, only processing his words a moment later. She whipped her head around in astonishment. "You knew? When did you find out?"

Jenson let go, guiding her to sit on the edge of the hospital bed. A mocking curve played on his thin lips, his eyes deep and dark.

"What do you think? Zinnia, you’re quite capable, aren’t you? Going to such lengths just to hide this from me."

Stared down by his reproachful gaze, Zinnia’s palms began to sweat with guilt.

She remembered how Jenson had chased her down at the airport, repeatedly asking if there was something she needed to tell him.

She stared at him, a mixture of shock and anger making her lips tremble. "So, in the car... when you were pressuring me like that... you already knew I was pregnant. But you still teased me, toyed with me, and watched me struggle in fear! How could you be so cruel!"

He knew she was pregnant, yet he still tormented her. Just as I thought, he doesn’t care about this child at all!

In an instant, all the color drained from Zinnia’s face. She shot up from the bed and forcefully pushed him away.

But he immediately clamped a hand on her waist and yanked her back. His other hand gripped the nape of her neck, forcing her to bend toward him as he looked at her with a cold, mocking gaze.

"Yes, I knew! And even when I pressured you like that, you refused to tell me! You never intended to keep this child, did you? Hmm?"

Jenson’s voice was bone-chilling, laced with suppressed rage and heavy resentment.

Zinnia was livid. Her eyes reddened as she glared at him. "Do you have any idea why I hid it from you? What woman who finds out she’s going to be a mother doesn’t want to share the news with her husband right away? How could I possibly not want Coco? It was you! This is all because of you!"

As she accused him, anger and grievance welled up in her chest again, and she couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

She thought about how when other women got pregnant, their husbands would share in the joy, cherish their wives like treasure, and eagerly await the baby’s arrival together. But ever since she’d gotten pregnant, she’d done nothing but hide, fear, and live in terror that the baby’s own father would dislike it or even force her to get an abortion. The thought made Zinnia’s heart ache with sorrow.

"Jenson Forrest, how can you turn this around and blame me! You don’t deserve to be Coco’s father!"

She choked out the words, balling her hands into fists and striking his chest. Her small fists thudded against his chest.

Zinnia realized with a pang of sorrow that even now, she was subconsciously avoiding the area around Jenson’s wound.

This realization made her nose sting, and fresh tears welled up and fell.

Jenson’s hand shot up, his large palm enveloping her small fists and squeezing them tight. His handsome face darkened.

However, when he saw that her face was stained with tears, his brows furrowed, and he froze for a moment.

"What are you crying for? My wife hid her pregnancy from me and tried to run away, and *I’m* not the one crying! Zinnia, what right do you have to cry?" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"I’ll cry if I want to! I’m so sick of you!"

Zinnia felt humiliated, but she couldn’t stop the tears. As her crying intensified, Jenson’s brow furrowed even tighter, and he was at a complete loss.

He gave up, simply grasping her chin and bending down to seal her lips with a forceful kiss.

Zinnia hadn’t expected such a sudden kiss. Her eyes flew wide open, and when she recovered, she began to struggle.

He simply gripped her by the waist and lifted her onto the bed. Zinnia found herself forced to sit astride his lap as he pressed a hand to the back of her head, deepening the kiss.

He kissed her until she went limp and breathless, slumping against him without the strength to cry, only able to gasp for air. Only then did Jenson finally release her.

His thumb stroked her trembling, pitiable lips. "Now that the baby is on its way, there’s no question of not wanting it," he said, his voice hoarse. "Zinnia, you are going to give birth to our Coco, and you are not to think of running away from me again."

He lowered his head, tilting her chin up, and enunciated each word with chilling precision, "Run again, and when I catch you, I’ll show you exactly how I’ll deal with you."

She stared at him, stunned. "Jenson, do you really... want this baby? Are you looking forward to it?"

She didn’t dare blink. Her nose was red, and her moist, pink lips were pressed into a thin line.

Jenson swiped a finger firmly over the tip of her nose. "Unless you cheated on me and this child isn’t mine?"

"Of course it’s yours!" Zinnia retorted, indignant.

Jenson raised an eyebrow. "Since the child is mine, how could I not look forward to its birth? They say pregnancy makes you foolish for three years. It seems to have turned you into an instant idiot."

Zinnia looked at him, filled with a disquieting sense of unreality. He had always been so careful about contraception; he clearly hadn’t wanted her to get pregnant at all. When she’d said she didn’t want to take birth control pills, he himself had told her that if she got pregnant by some chance, she should just abort the baby. Those memories hung over her like a shadow, which was why she had been so afraid to tell him.

Thinking of all this, a familiar sense of suffocation and pain began to creep back into her heart.

Yet now he was accepting the baby so easily, and even seemed to be looking forward to it. Zinnia stared at him, desperate to understand why he had been like that before.

"But you..."