Private Marriage, Secret Love-Chapter 157: Goodbye, Child

「The next day.」

The two lines on the test strip stared back at Raina Reddington. With a composed expression, she tossed it into the toilet and flushed.

She braced her hands on the sink and looked up at her reflection, only then noticing how pale her face was.

It had only happened once that month, and it was supposed to be during her safe period. As a doctor, she knew she shouldn’t have relied on luck.

She had seen countless similar cases herself. Now, she was kicking herself for it.

When she came downstairs, Ethan Lancaster was setting out the breakfast Seth Sinclair had delivered. Knowing she had a poor appetite, he had specifically gotten her some congee.

"Come have something to eat."

Raina Reddington just shook her head and hurried out. She didn’t know why she was so afraid to face Ethan Lancaster.

’Maybe...’

’It’s because I’ve already made up my mind not to keep this child.’

Raina’s mind was a blank as she drove. Without a moment’s hesitation, she had decided to have an abortion. She couldn’t find a single reason to keep the baby. She and Ethan Lancaster were doomed to fail, so why create another tie to bind them?

’He can keep another woman on the side while waiting for my child to be born, but I can’t live with that.’

Two days later, on her day off, Raina went to a hospital near The Verdant Garden.

Registration, consultation, blood tests, and check-ups—she knew the whole process better than anyone.

Raina waited for her blood test results, sitting alone in the hospital corridor and staring blankly at the people bustling by.

’Ethan Lancaster has been acting so strange lately. Maybe it’s some kind of psychic connection? He’ll be furious when he finds out the baby is gone, won’t he?’

’But so what?’

When it was time to collect the report, Raina went and scanned her slip at the machine. She took the results and glanced at them out of habit, but what she saw made her freeze.

The levels were clearly wrong. One marker, in particular, was severely elevated.

She was a doctor. She knew what this meant.

"Hey, are you done? Could you move, please?" the person behind her urged.

Her face deathly pale, Raina stepped aside, clutching the lab report in a tight grip. It was hard to accept. She walked into the consultation room and handed the report to the doctor.

The doctor was so surprised he read it twice. "You need to go to the hematology department immediately."

The entire day felt like a dream to Raina. After the bone marrow aspiration, she was told the results wouldn’t be ready today. But Raina already knew. She had just been handed a death sentence.

Two days later, the hospital called and told her to come pick up her report.

Raina sat all alone in the doctor’s office. It wasn’t until this very moment that she realized she was afraid of death.

Terrified. She didn’t want to die.

"You’re pregnant?"

Her lips trembled, but she couldn’t form a reply.

"You definitely can’t keep the baby. You need to terminate the pregnancy as soon as possible. For now, we can only use chemotherapy to put the disease into remission, but it’s not a cure. The best solution is a bone marrow transplant, but the wait for a suitable donor can be very long."

Raina gripped the purse on her lap, not saying a word.

"What about your family?"

Raina shook her head. She didn’t have any.

"I know this is hard for anyone to accept, but when you get sick, you have to face it..."

"I’ll wait," Raina finally managed to say. "I can wait. I’ll definitely live long enough to get that transplant."

The doctor glanced at her. Seeing that she seemed relatively composed, he asked, "Have you been exposed to any new environments recently? A newly renovated home, for example?"

"Is that what caused this?"

"There are many potential triggers, of course, but that’s one of the most likely."

Raina, still sitting on the stool, gave a bitter laugh. "I’ll have the abortion first. I’ll cooperate with the rest of the treatment plan."

"Alright."

On the way back from the hospital, Raina felt weak all over and was running a fever. After she parked the car, she didn’t get out right away, instead slumping over the steering wheel.

’She’d never thought she would get a disease like this. It always seemed like something out of a romantic drama, where the frail hero or heroine would inevitably be diagnosed with leukemia or some other incurable illness at the drop of a hat.’

’Only now was Raina forced to confront the reality: in corners she’d never seen, and even in the very place she went to work every day, there was a group of people fighting a daily battle with death.’

’She was afraid. Afraid she couldn’t win this fight.’

A sudden banging on the car window made Raina lift her head. She saw Ethan Lancaster standing outside.

She stared dazedly at the figure outside. Right now, the sight of Ethan Lancaster filled her with such hatred she wanted to tear him apart with her bare hands.

Raina pushed the car door open and got out. Ethan Lancaster had also just returned. "You’re home. Why didn’t you go inside?"

She ignored him, shutting the car door and starting toward the house. Seeing how awful she looked, Ethan said, "Let’s go have dinner."

Raina couldn’t stomach a single bite. All she wanted was to lie down in bed.

When she continued to ignore him, he grabbed her hand, only to find her palm was scorching hot. His expression grew grave. He pulled her in front of him and brushed the hair from her forehead. ’She’s burning up.’

"You have a fever!"

Raina pushed his hand away. Ethan’s anger flared. "What are you trying to do? Are you trying to destroy yourself over a dead man?"

Raina lifted her gaze to meet his. "What I become has nothing to do with you, does it?"

"You..." Ethan was at a loss for words. He didn’t let go of her hand. "You have a fever. You need to go to the hospital."

Raina couldn’t even stand to hear the word "hospital" right now. "There’s medicine at home. I’ll take some and be fine."

Hearing this, Ethan’s heart leaped into his throat. "You dare to just take random medicine?"

"Why wouldn’t I dare?"

Ethan stared at Raina’s face. ’She’s hiding it so well,’ he thought. ’It looks like she has no intention of mentioning it unless I bring it up first.’

A hint of disappointment colored his eyes. "Raina, I know you’re pregnant and didn’t want to tell me, but you can’t be reckless with our child."

Raina froze, her delicate brows furrowing in confusion. "How do you know?"

"I saw it."

Raina didn’t have the energy to press the issue. She tried to pull away from Ethan again, but he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into his embrace.

"Let’s stop fighting like this. The past is in the past. Can we try to have a good life together from now on, please?"

Afraid she would push him away, Ethan held her tight. "Raina, you have to look forward. We even have a child now. This is wonderful news..."

’Wonderful?’

Raina didn’t think so at all.

"And Gwen Sharp... I’ll get rid of her. I won’t do anything you don’t like anymore, okay?"

’The sweet nothings men whisper... a woman could get completely twisted around by their lies if she’s not careful, couldn’t she?’

’Raina used to think Ethan Lancaster had been merciful to her. He had been so ruthless toward Miles Hawthorne, yet he had never truly laid a hand on her.’

’Only now did Raina realize how naive she had been.’

’Having her transferred to the new hospital... wasn’t that the perfect punishment?’

’Miles Hawthorne was dead, his life forfeit.’

’And soon, she would be too. Ethan Lancaster hadn’t spared her. It was just that the consequences of some sins had to be settled slowly, one step at a time.’