CHAPTER 22: CHAPTER 22: EXPOSING THE PREGNANCY, TEARING APART THE LIES (PART 1)

In the police station, a simple interrogation dragged on until past midnight because of Ulysses Grant’s presence.

Zion Pence finished giving his statement and got home at three in the morning.

The villa was pitch black. Zion stumbled to the sofa and lay down, habitually calling out: "Holly, my stomach hurts!"

No answer.

Zion called again: "Holly, medicine!"

The empty villa was eerily silent; he could only hear his own voice.

As his stomach churned violently, Zion had to clutch his stomach and stagger to the medicine drawer.

He pulled open the drawer and immediately saw the sticky note Holly had left: "The stomach medicine is in the third compartment of the medicine box, no more than two pills at a time."

Zion’s hand trembled, and the sticky note fell, swept away by the air conditioning.

He grabbed at empty air.

With cold sweat soaking his shirt, Zion had no choice but to look for medicine, finding only a familiar empty bottle.

In the quiet night, the stars dotted the sky.

Some reap what they sow, while others are silently protected.

The next morning, dawn pierced the clouds.

Zion sat slumped against the sofa on the floor all night.

Suddenly, the phone on the floor rang.

His body tensed, and he opened his eyes suddenly, the sunlight making them ache unbearably.

Zion grabbed the phone and clicked on WeChat.

The voice messages he sent to Holly last night seemed to have vanished without a trace.

The ringtone kept blaring, and Mia Chapelle’s name flashed on the screen.

He licked his dry, cracked lips and answered just before it disconnected.

"Zion Pence." Mia’s voice came through the receiver, "I’m pregnant."

...

Holly woke up in pain that morning.

A sharp cramp radiated from her lower abdomen and spread to her lower back.

A familiar pain.

Holly curled up, burying her face into the pillow.

It had come again.

Her menstrual cycles were always irregular, each approaching with tearing pain.

Holly gritted her teeth and endured for a few minutes, then forced herself up to check the date on her phone. Sure enough, she was eight days late.

She messaged Celia Stiles, registered at Beldon People’s Hospital, and drove there after freshening up.

In the hospital corridor, people bustled about, the air filled with the smell of disinfectant.

The doctor attending to Holly was about the same age as her mother.

The consultation lasted seven or eight minutes, after which she prescribed two or three types of medication for her condition.

"You really need to manage your emotions," the doctor advised, adjusting her glasses seriously. "Less staying up late, less cold drinks, less anger..."

By the eighth "less," Holly nodded repeatedly, unable to stay any longer.

"Remember to take this to heart; you can try traditional Chinese medicine if necessary," the doctor added.

Holly could endure life’s hardships but not the bitterness of traditional Chinese medicine.

That’s why she had been seeing Western doctors all these years.

At the pharmacy counter, she scanned to collect her medication.

"Miss Crowe," the pharmacy nurse greeted her upon seeing her.

Holly was startled.

As the nurse checked the medication and names, she said, "You’ve been coming here for medication every few months for the past five years, and all the nurses here recognize you."

"Huh?" The young nurse asked, puzzled, looking up.

"Miss Crowe, you got hormone-regulating meds this time. Is your stomach problem better?"

With Zion’s stomach issues, Holly had always picked up his medicine from the hospital personally.

Rain or shine, for five years, even the pharmacy nurses remembered her name, but Zion...

She recalled the voice messages sent to her phone last night and laughed softly.

The pharmacy nurse handed her the medicine, smiling, "The stomach is an emotional organ, Miss Crowe, and it looks like you’ve finally come through."

Holly accepted the medication with a slight smile, "Thank you."

"By the way, for this box of medicine, you’ll need to consult the doctor again to adjust the dose," the nurse pointed out a box.

Holly took the box, noted the name, and thanked her.

After clarifying from the doctor how to take the medication, Holly packed it in her bag and was about to use the elevator when she saw two people emerging from the opposite room.

It was Mia Chapelle.

And Zion Pence, his arm around Mia’s waist, holding an ultrasound sheet in the other hand.

Mia’s smile hadn’t faded yet when she saw Holly, and a flicker of surprise and nervousness passed in her eyes, soon masked by smugness.

Her belly was still flat, but her hand brushed over it, as though flaunting some trophy.

Holly felt like her life was best described as absurd.

The world blurred yet sharpened at that moment.

The instant Zion saw her, his hand jerked away from Mia’s waist as if electrocuted, and a look of panic crossed his face.

"Holly, what are you doing here?"

"I should be asking why you’re here?"

"I can explain..."

Holly stepped back, signaling him not to come closer.

But this time, Zion didn’t stop, stepping forward to grab her wrist: "Holly, it was just an accident, you have to believe me! I was drunk... I don’t know anything..."

His grip was firm, and Holly struggled for a long time without breaking free.

Drunk?

Just an accident?

She looked at the man she had loved for seven years, his face full of panic yet still trying to justify himself.

Ridiculous, even now, he was lying.

How could he continuously lower people’s expectations?

Was he even human anymore?

Holly bit her lip until it felt numb, her other hand tightly clutching her bag from her side.

She took a deep breath and spat out a few words from her throat: "Zion Pence, how long are you going to keep lying to me?"

Holly suddenly swung her bag at his face, causing all the medications to spill to the ground.

The commotion drew the attention of passing bystanders, a few waiting patients peering over.

Zion’s face turned ashen, struggling to save face, and he dragged Holly towards the stairs, "Let’s talk somewhere else."

"Let go of me! What do you want? Your lover and child are out there!" Holly struggled, but Zion’s strength overpowered hers, pulling her into the stairwell.

The heavy fire door closed, shutting out the sunlight.

In the dim stairwell, Zion’s face flickered under the emergency light, sinister and frightening.