Chapter 3

Summer Linwood's POV

Ethan stared at the ultrasound report, and time seemed to stand still.

His slender fingers hovered in mid-air, wanting to touch the paper, but then he pulled them back abruptly as if burned.

"See! I told you the old man was acting! His heart is pounding like crazy!"

"Right now, his brain is going wild: I have a child? My child with Summer? I'm going to be a dad?"

"Those uncooperative tears are about to fall! Hold them back! Men don't cry!"

Sure enough, Ethan bit his lower lip hard, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty.

After a full minute, he squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth:

"...When did this happen?"

I crossed my arms and looked at him:

"Two months ago, on your birthday."

He had had a few drinks that day, holding me tightly and calling me 'wife' over and over again.

Now he's pretending to have amnesia.

Ethan's face instantly paled a few shades.

He closed his eyes abruptly, his hands clutching the wheelchair armrests tightly.

"Abort this child."

The words were cold, cutting through the air.

I froze for a moment.

Even though I knew he was acting, those words were too hurtful.

Before I could even get angry, the "bullet comments" in my belly exploded:

"What the hell! Old man, are you crazy?!"

"Mom! Don't believe him! His legs are shaking under the table! He's thinking he's useless, and the child would suffer if born, would be ridiculed for having a disabled dad..."

"Idiot Dad! Who dares to mock a billionaire? Who dares to mock a genius baby? He's truly insecure to the core!"

Hearing my son's thoughts, the anger that had just flared up instantly turned into a bitter ache.

He felt utterly rotten and didn't want to dump his mess on the next generation.

I took a deep breath. Instead of getting angry, I stood up and sat directly on his lap.

Ethan flinched, instinctively reaching out to push me, but fearing he might hurt my belly, his hands froze in mid-air, nowhere to rest.

"Summer Linwood! What are you doing! Get off!"

He bluffed a roar.

"I'm not getting off."

I put my arms around his neck, feeling his stiff, tense body, and whispered in his ear:

"Ethan, do you think you're useless, so you want to drive me and the baby away?"

Ethan's pupils constricted, his body instantly stiff as stone.

His raw nerve was hit, and he turned his head away in shame, his eyes terrifyingly red:

"So what if I do? I can't even take care of myself, how can I support you? Do you want the child to push a wheelchair to parent-teacher conferences in the future?!"

He finally spoke the truth.

I looked at his reddened eyes, my heart completely melted.

"Then let him push it."

I said, "Anyway, you'll be very rich someday. You can have ten bodyguards carry you if you want."

Ethan was stunned, looking at me as if I were an idiot:

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Mom, you spoiled it! But Dad's expression right now is so adorable in its silliness!"

"Quick! Now's the time! Declare your claim! Kick that woman out for good!"

I cleared my throat and pulled a card from my bag, placing it on his chest.

"If we can't agree on a breakup fee, I won't abort this child, and I'm not leaving you, even though we're not married yet."

"From today on, I'm staying here. If you dare to kick me out, I'll go to your company and tell everyone Mr. Stone abandoned his family and disowned his own child."

Ethan's chest heaved with anger, and he stared at me for a long time, unable to speak.

Finally, he looked like a deflated balloon, burying his head in the crook of my neck, his voice muffled, with an almost imperceptible sob:

"Summer Linwood... why are you so foolish?"

"Yay! Mission accomplished! The old man surrendered!"

"But Mom, you need to be careful. That Vanessa Hayes hasn't given up yet, she was eavesdropping outside just now! She's definitely going to cause more trouble!"

My gaze turned cold.

Eavesdropping?

It seemed this woman would be hard to deal with.