I Was Pregnant, But He Still Chose Her

Chapter 2

The anesthesia pulled her under quickly after that, and she soon drifted back into sleep.

When she woke again, the "Little Tails" group chat already showed 99 plus unread messages.

One of them texted: Why did Hilary suddenly stop talking?

Another tagged her and texted: What's going on? Did Colin do something to hurt you?

Yet another text: I just checked flights. I can be on a plane back tomorrow.

The last message was from Felix Olson, sent half an hour earlier.

He wrote: I can't get through to Hilary, and Colin isn't picking up either. I'm on my way to the airport.

Hilary's throat tightened.

Aside from Colin, the other four of her childhood friends who had trailed along behind her back in those days had all gone on to build successful lives of their own by now.

They had each chosen to make their way in other cities, wanting to avoid getting in Colin's way or competing with him for the same opportunities.

Felix had even carved out a solid place for himself overseas.

Back when they left, they had all told Hilary that if Colin ever treated her badly, they would come back and take her away.

After all these years, it truly caught her off guard to realize that the escape route they had set up for her was still there, still waiting.

Hilary took a deep breath before she spoke, "I'm not going to marry Colin after all. I'll go anywhere, really, as long as it's not Creston anymore. But don't rush over here just yet. There are still a few things I need to deal with first."

Given how many years she and Colin had spent building their business together, sorting out the division of their assets would take at least half a month.

"Come pick me up in half a month, then," she told them. "None of you need to worry about me now. Just go on with whatever you're doing."

The guys, who had been Hilary's little followers back then, had always listened to her, and though they were far from happy about it, they agreed in the end.

She let out a small breath of relief.

As determined as she was to leave Colin, she still did not want the other four of her childhood friends to end up hating him over what had happened, not after they had all grown up together like that. She just wanted them to be able to part on good terms.

Sleep was beginning to pull at her again, and Hilary was just about to close her eyes for a while when the door to her hospital room swung open.

Colin walked in carrying two bags in his hands.

"Hilary," he said, "how are you feeling?"

Hilary said nothing.

She watched him set the takeout bag on the nightstand, pull out a simply wrapped sandwich from inside, and bring it to her lips.

"I went all the way to the shop near campus to get this," he said. "You used to stand in line for it all the time, didn't you?"

She pressed her lips together and just looked at him, her eyes holding a quiet bitterness.

She did not tell Colin that she had never actually liked those sandwiches with more lettuce than meat.

It was just that back then they had been so poor, and she had saved every cent she could to put him through college.

For herself, a sandwich that cost a couple of dollars was enough to get by.

'After everything I've done for him, could he really be so oblivious?' she wondered.

Her heart aching, Hilary silently turned her face away.

The warmth in Colin's voice faded. "Hilary, don't be like that. You know I didn't have a choice back there. Tiffany's family doesn't have much, and both her parents are sick. How could I ever face them if something happened to her?"

Hilary let out a sneer and lifted her bandaged hands. "So I'm the one who deserves to go through all this, am I? And on top of that, you kicked me out of the company?"

Colin faltered for a moment, his eyes sweeping over her wrapped fingers before quickly looking away.

He said, "The company can't function without an executive assistant, and with you injured like this, I didn't have any choice but to let Tiffany step in for the time being."

"So when I've healed up and come back, you'll give me back my position, will you?" Hilary asked.

His gaze grew evasive, and a flicker of annoyance crossed his face. "Hilary, you've already got more than enough money saved. Do you really need to fight Tiffany over a salary like that? So many people are looking for a chance to kick back and do nothing, and here I am offering you the chance to take it easy early. What's so bad about that?"

Hilary nearly laughed at the sheer absurdity of it.

She closed her eyes, too drained to keep going. "Fine, I agree. If there's nothing else, you should leave."

After all, she would be gone in half a month. Whether Colin wanted Tiffany as his executive assistant or vice president no longer had anything to do with her.

Colin brightened immediately. "I knew you weren't that narrow-minded, Hilary."

Then, as if by magic, he pulled out a folder. "Actually, there's one more thing I came here for today."