CHAPTER 110: CHAPTER 110: EIGHT MONTHS PREGNANT

Melanie Carpenter had unspeakable grievances. Of course, she was unwilling. Even if it wasn’t a real divorce, once the divorce statement was published, in the eyes of outsiders, she would no longer be Mrs. Desmond. How is that any different from a real divorce?

Moreover, Adrian Desmond had said their marriage was in name only. This meant he wouldn’t touch her in the future, and she could never have his child.

Adrian Desmond was leaving her no way out, pushing her to the very edge of a cliff.

Adrian Desmond didn’t give Melanie Carpenter a chance to refuse. The moment Melanie nodded, Adrian Desmond had Walter Klein handle the matter, specifically instructing him to do it immediately.

"I’m sorry..." Adrian Desmond’s gaze softened a little as he looked at Melanie Carpenter, but his words didn’t change his mind.

"WAAAH..." Melanie Carpenter burst into tears, looking utterly devastated. Her appearance would soften anyone’s heart. If Adrian Desmond weren’t so hard-hearted, if he were just an ordinary man, he probably would have taken back his words by now.

"Sixth Brother, how could you treat Cousin like this?" Bella Ford accused indignantly. "Cousin is so pitiful! Can you bear to let her suffer like this? Can you bear to have her be laughed at by others?"

Adrian Desmond didn’t even glance at Bella Ford. He turned and strode away.

"Ah... Cousin..."

Melanie Carpenter couldn’t bear the blow and fainted.

"Sixth Brother, Cousin fainted!" Bella Ford shouted.

Adrian Desmond’s steps faltered for a moment, but he didn’t turn back to check on Melanie Carpenter. When Bella Ford saw Adrian Desmond leave without looking back, she started crying too. "Sixth Brother, Cousin fainted! Aren’t you going to take care of her?!"

Although Adrian Desmond didn’t personally intervene, as he was leaving, he instructed Mr. Lucas to arrange for someone to take good care of Melanie Carpenter.

He had thought it through. He couldn’t give Melanie what she wanted, so he could only continue to be cruel to her. Melanie was still young. If she could understand and give up willingly, it would be better for everyone.

Mr. Lucas said worriedly, "Miss Carpenter, might she commit suicide?"

Adrian Desmond recalled Sienna Johnson’s words: "Everyone in this world struggles so hard to live. Who isn’t fighting desperately to survive? If... if she can’t see a way through and commits suicide again, then let her be..."

As soon as Adrian Desmond said these words, Mr. Lucas knew how to handle Melanie Carpenter. She had completely fallen from grace.

Melanie Carpenter had made a desperate gamble, attempting suicide to force Adrian Desmond to marry her. She had thought she’d outmaneuvered him, but it had come to this. Even the astute Mr. Lucas didn’t know what to say.

"Sixth Master, I understand how to proceed."

"Remind the servants not to bully her just because Melanie and I are divorced," Adrian Desmond instructed. "Also, as long as Melanie’s requests aren’t excessive, try to satisfy them."

"Yes."

Walter Klein knew Adrian Desmond had always been good to Melanie Carpenter. But just now, when Melanie fainted, Adrian hadn’t even gone to look. He asked, "Sixth Master, shouldn’t you go check on Miss Carpenter?"

"Since I can’t give her what she wants, don’t give her any hope," Adrian Desmond replied. "If she hates me, then let her. Right now, I only want to find Mai and my son. As for everyone else... I can only be cruel."

This was Adrian Desmond’s choice. In his heart, no one was more important than Sienna Johnson and his son. If he was destined to disappoint some people, those people could only be others.

"This way is better, perhaps," Walter Klein said after some thought.

...

「Hospital.」

When Melanie Carpenter woke up, it was already dark. Only Bella Ford was by her side, asleep from exhaustion. There was no sign of Adrian Desmond in the ward.

Thinking about what had happened during the day, Melanie Carpenter’s heart turned cold. How had she and Adrian Desmond come to this point?

"Cousin, you’re awake?" Bella Ford raised her head, rubbed her eyes, and saw that Melanie Carpenter was awake. Melanie was staring at the white ceiling, her dark eyes filled with a deathly stillness.

"Cousin, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Don’t scare me!"

Tears streamed from Melanie Carpenter’s dark eyes. "Where did Sixth Brother go?" she asked.

Bella Ford snorted coldly. "Sixth Master only has that runaway woman in his heart now; there’s no room for anyone else. I heard that Sixth Master has even neglected his business and is solely focused on searching the world for that bitch!"

Bella Ford despised Sienna Johnson to the extreme; even her terms of address for her had changed.

As she spoke, Bella Ford grew sad. "Cousin, you don’t know. After you fainted, I called out to Sixth Brother. He clearly heard me but didn’t stop... Cousin, Sixth Brother wasn’t like this before. How could he become like this?"

"Don’t say any more." Melanie Carpenter turned onto her side, unwilling to speak further. Bella Ford also knew that Adrian Desmond’s heart had hardened now. She and Melanie were just weak women. Even if Adrian disregarded their past affections and drove them out, they would be helpless.

"Cousin, what should we do?" Bella asked. They were both, in effect, homeless.

"Don’t worry," Melanie said. "Adrian Desmond won’t ignore me."

"But Sixth Brother said..."

"Let me have some quiet."

She had to think carefully about her next steps.

...

「Sienna Johnson was eight months pregnant and still unheard from.」

Adrian Desmond had the divorce announcement with Melanie Carpenter published in influential newspapers worldwide. He didn’t know if Sienna Johnson simply hadn’t seen it, or if there was some other reason, but he received no word from her.

A pile of business matters awaited Adrian Desmond’s attention, but he was focusing all his energy on finding Sienna Johnson and couldn’t attend to them. Fortunately, the company’s operational structure was sound, and he had a team of loyal subordinates. They could manage operations in his absence, but this arrangement wouldn’t hold for long.

"...Sixth Master, you haven’t been to the company in a long time. You should go and take a look," Walter Klein advised.

"I’m in no mood for that right now."

"But..." Walter Klein began.

Adrian Desmond waved his hand. "There are only two months left until my son is born. I must find them before he’s born. Have your men keep a close watch on the hospitals. She’ll definitely go to a hospital to give birth."

Walter Klein muttered, "What if Madam aborted the baby?"

Adrian Desmond was aghast. "What did you say?"

Walter Klein felt his scalp tingle under Adrian Desmond’s dark gaze. Steeling himself, he said, "We’ve been searching for so long and still haven’t found her. Madam must be determined to leave you. She’s so ruthless, she might not even want the child..."

Adrian Desmond was speechless.

"...After all, it’s not easy for a woman to remarry if she has a child," Walter Klein continued.

Adrian Desmond had never considered what Walter Klein was saying. "Impossible!" he retorted. "She hates me, but she loves that child. She wouldn’t abort the baby..."

His tone, however, lacked confidence; he himself wasn’t sure if she would keep the baby. "Walter," he asked, his voice wavering, "she wouldn’t abort the child, would she?"