CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 43: WHY NOT JUST GET A DIVORCE?

As soon as Nina said this, Mrs. Hawthorne’s eyes widened, her fingers clenched tightly around her purse strap, forgetting to breathe.

Meanwhile, Vera Sheridan slowly lifted her head, looking towards Ian Kane beside her.

The man remained calm, merely casting a disdainful glance at Nina before looking forward in silence.

Inside, Vera was filled with uncertainty, meeting Nina’s authentic gaze.

"Nina, you’re crazy! Afraid to go to the hospital and spreading rumors about President Kane? You’ve got some nerve!" assumed Mrs. Hawthorne, thinking Nina didn’t want an abortion and had concocted a bad scheme.

This Ian Kane was known for his fidelity and devotion, the model husband, so how could he possibly have another woman outside!

"Vera, just treat her as if she’s lost her mind!"

"Restrain her, this child is something the Hawthorne Family will never accept!" reassured Mrs. Hawthorne to Vera, then instructed two burly bodyguards.

The bodyguards immediately grabbed Nina.

Nina shook her head, "I’m not, I didn’t, Ms. Sheridan, this child is—"

As she spoke, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen, as if warm liquid was flowing out, and when she looked down, she faintly smelled blood.

Her face turned deathly pale.

Vera also looked over.

Nina was wearing a white lace skirt that reached her calves.

A trickle of bright red blood was slowly flowing down her pale leg, dripping onto the spotless tiles.

Drop by drop, the contrast of red against white was striking.

Nina stared blankly at the blood on the ground for a long moment before letting out a hysterical scream: "No!"

Instinctively, she turned to Ian Kane, "Save, save the child..."

From the beginning to the end, Ian Kane treated her like filthy air.

Without much hesitation, Vera took out her phone and dialed 120.

Mrs. Hawthorne looked at the pool of blood on the floor, her brow furrowed, "What a sin, quickly get her to the hospital!"

It was also fate!

She would never let the doctors preserve the pregnancy!

The elevator reached the ground floor, and outside, the sound of ambulance sirens could already be heard. Nina was dragged out of the elevator by bodyguards, and just as Vera was about to follow, Ian Kane grabbed her arm.

The elevator doors closed.

Leaving only the two of them, and the pool of blood on the floor.

"What, you want to go with them? So concerned about your husband’s rumored child? Or do you want to see if it’s really mine?" came the mocking voice of the man in the silent space.

The sarcastic tone carried a hint of bitterness.

His reaction left Vera confused.

She truly couldn’t tell if he was just a great actor or genuinely innocent.

Vera clenched her hands, looking directly at him, "If it truly wasn’t yours, why would Nina dare to slander you? Isn’t she afraid of your retaliation? Why would she target you?"

Ian Kane glanced at her with a cold, silent expression.

This look seemed to say: Think for yourself!

Vera understood his implication, "Nina said you forced her and Quentin Hawthorne to act, colluding to deceive me, and it wasn’t out of jealousy. Now, she’s pregnant and feels emboldened to tell me the truth!"

She believed Nina’s logic made sense.

The elevator door opened, Ian Kane let out a cold snort and walked out first.

Vera followed into the Phantom, "Ian Kane, there’s too much evidence; how do you expect me to believe you? We’re both adults, can we be honest?"

The man picked up a pack of cigarettes, shook one out, and lit it right in front of her, unlike before, when he refrained from smoking in her presence.

In the dim carriage, smoke surrounded Ian Kane, exerting an authoritative presence.

Beyond the bluish smoke, the man gazed at her with deep, dark eyes, "Vera, think carefully, if I truly had a change of heart or an affair, why not just get a divorce? Are you of any business value to me or a beacon of honor?"

"Surely, you don’t think playing the devoted husband would bring me any glory or boost the Kane Group’s stock price?"

His words were dripping with sarcasm, said one by one.

Vera was stunned.

Ian Kane lowered his eyes, a rebellious yet self-mocking smile tracing his profile, flicking the cigarette forcefully.

"If Nina’s child were mine, it would be a godsend; I’d divorce you, marry her, shut the old man up, earn ten percent of the shares, and live easy!"

"Why the hell would I call my sister back to fight that old man with her?"

Upon finishing, he chuckled bitterly, his eyes glimmering with concealed anguish, turning to her with a look full of mockery, "Vera, tell me, why should I go through the trouble of hiding it from you?"

Vera was left speechless by his question.

She understood his point.

She came from a humble background and was a washed-up, injured ballet dancer, bringing him no benefit at all.

The carriage fell into a lengthy silence.

Ian Kane smoked one cigarette after another.

Vera sensed his mood, filled with anger, disappointment, self-loathing, bitterness... a mix of emotions.

Upon returning home, they each went to their separate rooms.

Vera lay awake until dawn...

In the morning, she learned from Maeve Holloway about Nina’s condition, still trying hard to keep the pregnancy.

"Why try to preserve the pregnancy? Didn’t the Hawthorne Family refuse this child? Maeve, do you think it’s really Ian Kane’s child and he needs it?" Vera’s nerves tensed again.

Maeve, who had just returned to the country the previous afternoon, said, "Vera, calm down. I asked, and they said it’s because Nina is insisting on keeping the pregnancy; even the Hawthorne Family cannot go against her wishes."

Vera calmed down.

From downstairs came the sound of a car engine.

Ian Kane had gone to work.

Vera lay back down.

Maeve continued, "Vera, if you really feel this marriage drains you, the internal strife is too much, the pressure too great, maybe—"

Maybe it’s time for a divorce.

No need to live in doubt and fear constantly.

Onlookers easily suggest things without understanding the turmoil of those involved.

Maeve added teasingly to cheer her up, "Why not come live with me, ditch the man!"

Vera’s lips curled into a smile.

...

At the hospital, inside the VIP ward.

As soon as Nina opened her eyes, she grabbed the nurse’s wrist and asked, "Is my child still there?! Did you secretly abort it?!"

Her demeanor was like someone drowning and clinging tightly to a life-saving straw.

This child was her "straw".

A stepping stone to climb social classes!

The nurse calmed her, "Miss, please stay calm. Getting too emotional makes it harder to preserve the pregnancy."

Nina still held onto the nurse, "So you mean, the child is still there, right?"

Nurse, "Yes, but the placenta is unstable, and it’s very dangerous. The doctor said to be ready for a D&C procedure at any time. Here’s the surgical consent form, please sign it first."

Nina shook her head, "Get me the best doctor to save this pregnancy; if this child is lost, the father will have your hospital shut down!"

Ian Kane needs this child!

The nurse, hearing her statement, frowned, "Miss, please sign, and get some rest."

As Nina reached for her phone to call Ian Kane, the door of the hospital room was pushed open.

Accompanying it was a powerful aura, oppressive and full of presence.

Sure enough, Nina saw Ian Kane.

The man was impeccably dressed in a suit, dignified and refined, with his assistant behind him.

"Mr. Kane, you’re here..." Nina looked at him, her tears streaming down, "They say the child’s condition is really dangerous, you surely have a way to save it, right?"

"Ever since I found out I was pregnant, I’ve obediently stayed home to take care of myself in our home, I don’t know how it came to this, it must be because that old lady from the Hawthorne Family angered me... please don’t blame me, okay?"

Ian Kane sat down in the chair, his legs crossed, his tone indifferent, "In twenty minutes, you’ll be taken into the operating room for a D&C procedure."