Chapter 4: He Asked Me To Get Rid Of It

QUINN

“Joe,” I whispered, “what do you mean?”

My grip tightened around the phone. People brushed past me outside the courthouse, voices carried by the cold wind, but suddenly I couldn’t hear any of it.

Joe hesitated. “Yes, Seraphina is pregnant.”

When the words dropped again, my body went completely still. The atmosphere suddenly thickened. Joe was still talking, but his voice now sounded far away.

“She’s carrying Jasper’s child,” he said again.

I laughed once in disbelief and grabbed the nearby wall for support before I collapsed.

My mind refused to accept the truth. But somewhere deeper, the truth had already settled.

So this was why Jasper suddenly wanted out, and Seraphina smiled as she had already won. Because she had given him one thing I couldn’t.

A child.

Three years of fertility treatments. Three years of silent prayers whispered into tear-soaked pillows.

But Seraphina got pregnant effortlessly while I remained the barren wife everyone whispered about.

The thought made my stomach turn violently, and nausea crashed through me so hard.

“Miss, are you okay?”

Someone nearby reached toward me, but I pulled away.

“I’m fine,” I lied.

But the twist in my stomach didn’t stop; another wave of nausea hit me harder, and my knee almost buckled.

I ended the call shakily before Joe could ask more questions.

Sweat gathered at the back of my neck as I stood there, still holding onto the wall for support. I called my doctor immediately.

“I don’t know what is wrong with me,” I spoke into the phone, “I feel like I might collapse soon.”

The doctor exhaled. “I am at the clinic. Do you need an ambulance?”

“No,” I said quickly, “I will make my way there.”

I ended the call before she could speak again.

At the hospital, I sat alone. The pains refused to stop, and my thoughts refused to settle.

“When was your last cycle?” the doctor asked. “Have you been under stress?”

Before I could even process my answers, another question dropped in.

“Any vomiting?”

I gave answers to the questions, and she left, while I waited.

Now I sat staring at the floor while my fingers trembled quietly in my lap.

My thoughts spiralled. Missed cycle. Nausea. Dizziness. They only pointed to one thing. No. Please no.

No.

God… maybe yes. I didn’t even know which one I wanted now. If the result was negative, then I could walk away cleanly with no ties, nothing connecting me with Jasper Finn.

But if it were positive… my chest tightened. Everything would change.

“Miss Quinn?”

A voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up, and almost immediately, I heard my name. The doctor stood in the hallway, holding a file.

“Can we talk privately?”

The room suddenly felt too small. I followed her into the office numbly and sat across from her. The doctor opened the chart calmly, then looked at me.

“You are approximately five weeks pregnant.”

I stared at her blankly. My hands moved toward my stomach without my permission.

“Pregnant?” I exclaimed.

“Yes,” the doctor responded with a smile.

My throat tightened painfully. This was supposed to be the moment everything changed for the better. The child we spent three years trying for.

The child I begged God for while lying beside a husband who had already stopped loving me. So why did it feel like it was breaking my heart?

The doctor kept speaking, but I barely processed any of it.

“...stress level…proper rest…avoid emotional stress.”

Her voice faded beneath the low hum of the Air conditioner.

By the time I stepped out of the hospital, evening had begun settling across the city.

The pregnancy result crumpled slightly in my trembling grip. Tears burned my eyes as I stared at it.

My hand pressed against my stomach. And then, it dawned on me this wasn’t about just me anymore.

But why now? Why after everything had already ended?

A shaky breath escaped my lips.

“I need to go back.”

One last time.

If not for anything, at least for the sake of this child.

That evening, I went back to the Finn estate. It looked the same. The guards stiffened immediately they saw me. One looked uncertain, the other lowered his gaze.

But neither stopped me. I walked through the massive door slowly. I paused at the voices drifting from the living room.

“...the doctor said the fetus is stable.”

Seraphina's voice drifted through the living room.

My entire body froze. Not because I was hearing that for the first time, but because that confirmation settled all doubts.

“You need to be careful,” Jasper said quietly. “As long as the baby is fine,” he continued, “nothing else matters.”

My fingers tightened painfully around the pregnancy result in my hand. Nothing else mattered. Not me. Not our marriage. Not the three years I gave him.

Something inside me snapped. I didn’t wait to hear from them again. I pushed the door open.

Both of them turned instantly. Seraphina shifted first with shock. Jasper stared at me calmly.

“So it’s true,” I said quietly.

“What are you doing here?” Jasper finally asked.

“I came for the truth,” I said.

Seraphina crossed her arms immediately. “You should’ve called before barging in to pick up your leftover belongings.”

I laughed softly.

“Why?” I asked softly. “So you could welcome me properly while stealing my life?”

I stepped closer slowly.

“You sent me photos of yourself sleeping with my husband,” I said. “And now you are pregnant for him?”

Seraphina rolled her eyes. “Yes. The child you couldn’t give him.”

I looked at her for a moment, then lunged toward her and landed my hand, cracking across her face.

Seraphina gasped in shock.

“You bitch—!”

She swung toward me instantly, but I caught her wrist before she touched me. Years of swallowing humiliation burned through my chest all at once.

“You’ve always wanted what belonged to me,” I yelled.

“Let me go!” she struggled.

Jasper stepped forward, “Enough.”

I released her wrist slowly.

“You shouldn’t have come back here,” he said quietly.

A soft laugh escaped my throat.

“And you shouldn’t have slept with my sister,” I replied.

My heartbeat slowed suddenly as my fingers curled tightly around my bag, which contained the pregnancy result.

Should I tell him? If he knew about the baby, would he stop this?

Would he choose me instead? Hope was a disgusting thing. But even after everything, some weak, broken part of me still wanted him to choose me.

My lips parted slowly.

“If I were pregnant…”

The room went silent. For one horrible second, I actually hoped. Even Seraphina looked toward Jasper now.

My heart pounded violently.

“What would you do?”

Jasper didn’t hesitate.

“Get rid of it.”

Something inside me went completely still. Without knowing, he had just condemned his own child.

I turned around slowly and walked away. And this time, I didn’t look back.