He Made Me Abort, I Left With Our Daughter

Chapter 3

I did it on purpose.

Henry was an illegitimate son. Other than the years he spent with his mother in a small town down south when he was young, he had never experienced anything resembling genuine family affection in the Foster family.

Deep down, he had always wanted a child of his own, a child who shared his blood.

He just didn't want the mother to be me.

"Henry! You lied to me! I could tolerate you marrying her. I could tolerate you sleeping with her. But how could you have a child with her?!"

Claire's usually cool, composed features twisted with rage as she pointed furiously at Henry.

"If you were so happy with her, why did you beg me to come back?"

"Claire, don't get worked up."

Henry immediately moved to protect her, afraid that she might hurt herself in her emotional state.

"No one but you can be the mother of my child. Trust me. I'll take care of everything."

He spent a long time soothing her in a gentle voice before Claire finally managed to sit down on the sofa.

Even then, the resentment in her eyes as she looked at me hadn't faded.

Apparently, she knew just how much Henry loved children.

"Samantha."

Henry's voice had never been this cold.

"What will it take for you to get rid of the baby?"

I stared at him for a moment, hurt and curious at the same time.

Just how much did he love Claire to be willing to erase his own child's chance at life without a second thought?

When I didn't answer, impatience gradually crept into Henry's expression.

"Samantha, don't push your luck. You know what I'm capable of."

He actually intended to use the same tactics he used against his enemies on me.

I smiled, pulled out a chair, and sat down, one hand resting over my belly.

"I want ten percent of the Foster Group."

The moment I said it, Henry's gaze darkened.

It was as if he were seeing me for the first time.

His cold, unfamiliar eyes slowly swept over me.

"You're being greedy. Do you even know how much ten percent of the company is worth? Your child… isn't worth that much."

I didn't back down.

I raised my head and met Henry's eyes.

"My child isn't worth that much. But your child is. If I take him to the Foster family estate, I could get a lot more."

Henry's birth had never been legitimate.

Though he had firmly established himself within the Foster family by now, his ruthless methods had earned him more than enough enemies.

There were plenty of people at the family estate waiting for a chance to drag him down.

"I had no idea you had ambitions like this."

Henry's eyes burned as a mocking smile curled across his lips.

A dull, spreading pain tore through my chest.

But I forced myself to keep my voice provocative.

"Then you can always choose not to divorce me. After all, being Mrs. Foster is worth far more than ten percent of the company."

"In your dreams!"

Claire suddenly grabbed Henry and pulled him back to her side.

"Hal, give her the shares! Once you marry me, the Sullivan family's wedding settlement will be worth far more than that!"

She had every reason to be confident.

She was the Sullivan family's heiress, after all.

Henry didn't agree right away.

For the first time, when faced with a choice between Claire and me, he let his eyes settle on me first.

Not because he loved me.

I didn't know whether Claire's persuasion had worked or Henry was simply desperate to get rid of me.

In the end, he gave in.

"Fine. I'll have my lawyers draw up the paperwork tomorrow."

I nodded and stood, heading upstairs.

"Samantha, you'd better not try to deceive me."

Henry's voice followed me from behind, clinging to me like a shadow.

My steps faltered for a moment.

I didn't turn around.

Inside my room, I called my brother.

"I've already arranged everything with the hospital. You can come in tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Samantha, are you really going through with this?"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end.

"If they find out…"

"Lucas," I interrupted him. "There's no turning back now."