Apologizing? An excuse?

Sarah's heart sank. He actually thought this was her way of apologizing?

"Nelson, I've finished washing. Can you blow-dry my hair?" Lucy's flirtatious voice came through the phone.

Sarah felt as if she'd been struck by lightning. All the words she wanted to say deflated like a punctured balloon.

"Beep, beep..." The call disconnected. Sarah clutched her phone tightly as pain and despair washed over her.

In the end, it was a passerby who took Sarah to the hospital.

At the hospital.

The doctor cautioned her to be careful with the pregnancy, explaining that the first trimester was the most critical time.

After thanking the doctor, Sarah lay in the hospital bed, reflecting on everything that had happened the previous night.

She had thought Nelson taking her shopping, buying her gifts, and introducing her to his friends meant he truly cared for her and wanted a future together.

But now it all seemed laughable. No matter how sincere he pretended to be, when Lucy appeared, he could abandon her without a second thought.

She shouldn't have had expectations, and she certainly shouldn't have pitied him or wanted to give birth to what would be his only child.

After resting in the hospital for a few hours, her father called.

"My precious daughter, what are you up to? Why haven't you responded to my messages? By the way, what's your ring size? Your mother and I saw a beautiful ring we want to buy for you."

Sarah checked her messages and indeed, her father had sent her many texts, mostly about the arranged marriage. The last one asked for her ring finger size.

After reading the messages, she felt a headache coming on. With the pregnancy and her feelings for Nelson now dead, she had no interest in thinking about an arranged marriage.

Sighing, Sarah replied reluctantly, "Dad, forget about the arranged marriage. If I ever agree to it, I'll call you right away. Stop trying to show me wedding rings. I—"

"Wedding rings? What wedding rings?" Nelson suddenly appeared.

Almost instinctively, Sarah said into the phone, "Dad, something's come up. I'll talk to you tonight."

With that, she hung up.

Nelson frowned at her. "Sarah, you didn't tell your father about us, trying to force me to marry you, did you?"

As he continued, his expression grew increasingly annoyed. "Haven't I told you that what happened between Lucy and me is in the past? Why are you always so suspicious and unreasonable? About going public, I've told you we'll do it when the time is right. You—"

"I didn't tell my father anything," Sarah interrupted, looking at him coldly. "The ring is a golden anniversary gift he's buying for my mom. He asked for my opinion."

Nelson was taken aback, then visibly relieved. Seeing Sarah's unhappy expression, he softened his tone. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just don't want our original plans disrupted. Don't overthink it. About last night, Lucy isn't holding a grudge, but you did hit her..."

"Are you finished?" Sarah cut him off, her patience exhausted. She didn't want to exchange another word with him and just wanted him gone.

All she needed to do now was schedule the procedure, pack her things, and go home.

Seeing her cold demeanor, which even revealed hints of disgust, Nelson furrowed his brow, assuming she was still upset with him.

Knowing he couldn't comfort her right away, he decided to wait until her mood improved.

But before he could leave the room, a nurse called from outside, "Family of Miss Sarah Paterson, please come collect the patient's pregnancy test results."

By the time Sarah tried to stop the nurse, it was too late.

Nelson froze, his body stiff for several seconds before he turned to look at her.

Before he could ask, the impatient nurse placed a series of report forms in his hands and left.

Seven weeks pregnant, with a fetal heartbeat.

Looking at the pregnancy report, Nelson finally raised his eyes to Sarah, his voice somewhat hoarse. "Last night, when you said you were pregnant and bleeding... that was true?"

Sarah remained silent, not answering.

Nelson felt his heart drop. After looking at her for a while, he finally asked, "Is the baby... okay?"

"It's fine."

Silence hung in the air for several moments. Nelson stared at the report in his hands, not knowing what to say.

Sarah watched him, trying to read his confused and complicated expression, wondering what his feelings were about this child.

The hospital room remained quiet for a long time. Nelson held the pregnancy report, his emotions in turmoil. Eventually, he looked at Sarah and asked, "This baby—what do you plan to do with it?"

Sarah looked at him and countered, "What do you think I should do?"

As she asked this, her hand unconsciously gripped the blanket tightly. Her bright dark eyes remained fixed on him, waiting for his answer.

Nelson's gaze lowered slightly. After hesitating for a few seconds, he said, "Since it's already here, let's keep it."

Sarah's tense body froze for a moment.

"Okay," she replied.

Perhaps because he had learned about Sarah's pregnancy, Nelson didn't bring up the club fight again. Though he had been in a hurry to leave earlier, he now stayed at the hospital with Sarah.

He even began discussing marriage plans with her, asking what kind of proposal she wanted and what style of ring she preferred.

Sarah listened calmly to his fantasies. If she hadn't seen his messages ordering gifts for Lucy, she might have wavered in her resolve for a few seconds.

Unfortunately, she had seen his affectionate messages to Lucy and the special apology gift he had prepared for her.

He only managed to stay with her at the hospital for two hours before growing restless. He excused himself to use the bathroom, but really went to call Lucy.

"Mmm... as long as you like it... I'll bring her later... she is my girlfriend after all..."

Sarah couldn't hear everything clearly from the bathroom, but she gathered enough to know he was talking to Lucy.

Half an hour later, Nelson returned, though Sarah had no idea what he and Lucy had discussed.

Nelson asked Sarah to attend his good friend George's wedding with him that evening.

Sarah didn't want to go, but Nelson had endless reasons why she should, and she agreed just to stop his pestering.

At the venue, Sarah discovered that Lucy was a bridesmaid. Since they had already had their confrontation, when they saw each other, Sarah showed no expression.

Lucy glanced at Nelson and just smiled understandingly.

After the bride and groom had completed the ceremony, just as things seemed to be wrapping up, the emcee suddenly invited the groom's friends to come on stage for the bouquet toss.

Naturally, Nelson was called up to the stage as well.

As the bride threw her bouquet, amid the cheers of the crowd, Sarah watched as Nelson easily jumped up, first among everyone, and caught the bouquet.

The emcee spoke up, "The bouquet has been caught by the groom's handsome friend. Tell me, sir, seeing how desperately you fought for these flowers, are you planning to give them to a special lady?"

All eyes turned to Nelson. Sarah sat among the guests, watching him calmly.

After just a few seconds of hesitation, Nelson looked toward Lucy and smiled softly. "Yes, I want to give these flowers to her. I wish her happiness, fulfillment, and joy."

With that, he handed the bouquet to Lucy, who pretended to be surprised, covering her mouth. "Nelson, you..."

During this exchange, her triumphant gaze met Sarah's from across the room, full of mockery.

The emcee, assuming the two were a couple, encouraged Nelson to get down on one knee and propose. Immediately, the guests and Nelson's friends began wildly cheering them on.

"Propose! Propose!"

The chants echoed throughout the room. Watching this scene, Sarah couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

Her presence now seemed completely unnecessary. Without her there, Nelson would probably be gazing lovingly at Lucy and asking, "Will you marry me?"

Seeming to remember that Sarah was watching from below, Nelson turned to look into the crowd, accidentally meeting Sarah's scornful eyes.

Nelson panicked for a moment, then awkwardly handed the flowers to Lucy.

Leaving the banquet hall, Nelson looked at Sarah's calm, detached expression and tried to explain, "About what just happened, don't overthink it. Everyone was just having fun, so..."

"I understand," Sarah replied simply, without saying more, and walked toward the car.

"Nelson, Miss Paterson, wait!" Lucy came running from a distance, still clutching the bouquet.

Reaching them, Lucy looked at Nelson and said, "Nelson, it's hard to get a taxi here. Could I ride with you two?"

Then she glanced at Sarah, asking timidly, "Would that be okay, Miss Paterson?"

Sarah was too disgusted to respond and simply got into the car without a word.

Of course, Lucy got in with Nelson's unilateral permission.

On the way back, Lucy seemed very happy, holding the bouquet and chatting endlessly with Nelson.

Sarah sat in the back seat with her eyes closed, silent, trying to block out everything and rest for a moment.

Suddenly, the car dramatically accelerated. She opened her eyes, about to ask what was happening, when she heard a loud crash.

The car flipped onto its side and tumbled into a field by the roadside, landing upside down with its wheels pointing toward the sky.

Sarah was dazed from the impact, her vision darkening as she found herself curled up in an awkward position inside the car. When she tried to move, she realized she was pinned against the seat by the deployed airbag, completely stuck.

Lucy had fainted from fear beside her.

Nelson struggled out of the driver's seat, stumbling a few steps. Seeing that Lucy was unconscious, he pulled her out of the car.

He glanced at Sarah still trapped inside, and before she could speak, he picked up Lucy and said, "Sarah, Lucy's passed out. I need to get her to the hospital first. I'll call someone to rescue you right away."

With that, he hurriedly left with Lucy, so anxious that he stumbled as he went.

Sarah froze, the words for help caught in her throat. She heard a dripping sound—gasoline was leaking.

Before she could process the pain in her chest, Sarah desperately struggled to get out of the car as flames appeared on the hood.

A wave of despair washed over her. She didn't want to die here.

She frantically called for help while struggling with all her might.

Fortunately, some passersby spotted her. They punctured the airbag and helped her escape the burning car.

"BOOM!"

Just after she reached safety, a massive explosion rocked the area. Looking back, she saw the car engulfed in flames, shattered into pieces.

Her face turned deathly pale as her entire body trembled.

Finally unable to hold back her tears, Sarah crouched on the ground sobbing, her whole body shaking.

The bystanders assumed she was just in shock and patiently comforted her.

After nearly dying and crying uncontrollably, Sarah unexpectedly passed out.

When Sarah woke up, she was in the hospital, traumatized and emotionally unstable.

Her mind kept replaying the moment of the explosion after she'd escaped. She couldn't bear to think what might have happened if the passersby hadn't appeared.

And through it all, Nelson had never once cared whether she lived or died. Sarah's heart sank to rock bottom, instantly turning cold.

"That Miss Leedon is so lucky. She just fainted from fright, but that rich Mr. Jackson rented an entire VIP floor for her recovery and brought in hospital specialists to examine her from head to toe. He's been running around personally taking care of everything. I've never seen such a devoted man."

She overheard nurses gossiping admiringly nearby, obviously talking about Nelson and Lucy.

Sarah lowered her eyes and deleted all contact information related to Nelson from her phone.

After resting briefly, she went to the obstetrics department and scheduled her procedure for early the next morning.

The next day, Sarah woke up early. After washing up, she prepared to go to the surgical room for pre-operation preparations.

But just as she stepped out of her room, she ran straight into Nelson. Seeing him, Sarah was startled—how did he know she was hospitalized?

Before Sarah could speak, Nelson said, "Lucy was unconscious all day yesterday, so I couldn't come check on you earlier. The car exploded—are you and the baby okay?"

So he knew about the explosion, knew she was trapped in the car, and knew she was pregnant.

Yet he still left with Lucy, leaving her to fend for herself.

Looking at him calmly, all love gone from her eyes, Sarah replied, "We're fine."

Seeing that she really was unharmed, Nelson sighed with relief. "That's good. Once Lucy's feeling better, I'll make it up to you and the baby properly."

"No—" need.

Before Sarah could finish, Nelson's phone rang. It was Lucy calling.

Something must have happened, because after taking the call, Nelson hurried away.

Watching his retreating figure, Sarah's eyes were as still as dead water as she walked calmly toward the obstetrics department.

Meanwhile, just as Nelson rushed into Lucy's hospital room, he suddenly collapsed without warning.

The doctors frantically took him to the emergency room, and after a thorough examination, discovered his fainting was due to complications from the previous accident.

Learning this news while lying in the hospital bed, Nelson wasn't particularly concerned and tried to get up to see Lucy.

But the hospital staff stopped him, suddenly turning serious. "Also, we found something else in your test results. Mr. Jackson, due to your previous accident, your reproductive system has suffered irreversible damage. According to the report, you are now completely unable to father children."

"Unable to father children?" Nelson froze, as if he'd heard some ridiculous joke, and turned to look at the doctor in disbelief.

The doctor understood what a devastating blow this news was for a man. He silently and solemnly handed the report to Nelson.

As Nelson held the report, still unable to accept that he couldn't have children, two nurses chatting outside his room were suddenly overheard.

"That poor Miss Paterson in Room 601 downstairs is in such a sad situation. After being in that car accident and experiencing such trauma, she's all alone. I tried to contact her family yesterday, but couldn't reach anyone. This morning she scheduled an abortion, and she's going through that all by herself too."

"I know, hospitalized alone, surgery alone—her family must be really heartless. Though maybe she didn't notify them about the abortion because she doesn't want them to know."

Nelson's mind suddenly exploded with realization.

Room 601!

Paterson!

Abortion!