Chapter 42: Unwanted

{WARNING: This Chapter contains sensitive content. If topics like abortion or pregnancy termination are a potential trigger for you, please skip to the next Chapter.}

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Celine leaned her back against the door, slowly sliding to the floor as she broke down in tears.

Her mind began to churn back to what she had just done.

First, she had gotten pregnant by a man she was almost certain wouldn’t acknowledge the child due to how notorious his reputation of being a cold and detached person was, plus he clearly told her he didn’t like commitments, so how could she weigh him down with the commitment of having a child?

Secondly, she should have done the one reasonable thing anyone with a dream in the acting field would do by aborting the baby so as to save her career, but at the very last minute she had suddenly backed out.

She hadn’t been able to go through with the abortion.

Celine had felt it for the very first time, a minute fluttering in her belly, very faint it was almost as if she’d dreamed having that movement.

It was weird that she had that feeling just before the abortion procedure could be started. At that crucial moment when she was on the verge of killing the little life growing inside her, she had felt it move.

“Is something wrong miss Roberts?” The doctor had asked noticing how her hand immediately flew to her stomach. “Are you feeling any pain or discomfort?”

“No, it’s just…I think I felt it move.” Tears were already gleaming in Celine’s eyes as she spoke. That tiny movement had made a horrible feeling rise up her chest.

“Movement? That’s weird, usually such fetal movement isn’t felt yet until a few months into the pregnancy. What you felt, can you describe it to me?”

Celine went on to tell the doctor about how she felt. The slightest tremor in her lower abdomen which she was sure to have been the life inside her moving.

“It does sound like fetal movement.” The doctor said contemplatively, “But it shouldn’t matter right now, the procedure is about to begin. Please lie back and relax.”

The tears pouring down Celine’s face had felt like burning acid.

It moved…the fetus inside her had moved even though it wasn’t time yet.

That little movement that felt like it was barely there was like a cry for help from an innocent little life growing inside her…how could she go through with it?

Celine was abruptly struck by the thought that the life inside her was more than just a developing fetus—it was a living being, sharing her very blood.

“Miss Roberts, Miss Roberts.” The doctor’s voice became a far away echo.

Celine couldn’t stop her tears from falling, she hugged her stomach and chanted a quiet apology repeatedly.

She would have gone through with it…

She had almost gotten rid of it, she had almost killed her own child.

Her gaze landed on the picture of a lovely, healthy looking baby on the wall and her heart further clenched.

She had been scared, scared and disappointed when she had followed Tristan and realized that she couldn’t tell him about this child. She had felt all alone and hence taken the decision to terminate her pregnancy, but right now the feeling she had in her lower belly…it felt like a stark reminder that this child she was carrying would become a person of it’s own, and if she gone through with it…she would have taken an innocent child’s future.

The more she thought about it, the sinking realization rushed into her along with guilt and self reproach.

How could she have thought about doing something like this?

“I… can’t.” She uttered quietly.

“What was that miss Roberts?” The doctor seemed to have not heard her properly.

Celine wiped her tears and composed herself by releasing a long breath, a decision firmly lodged itself in her heart.

“I’m sorry doctor Sharif, I won’t be going through with the abortion.”

Doctor Sharif showed an understanding smile on her face as she nodded.

Had it just been a minute later, she could have gotten rid of her own child. But when she had felt that flutter of movement, a wave of guilt, shame and anger for herself had overcome her.

What had she been about to do?

The child in her womb was her flesh and blood, how could she have harbored the thought of aborting it?

Though Celine wasn’t certain what would happen to her or her career after this, one thing was very clear to her, no matter what happened she wouldn’t abort this child.

She wiped her tears and a bitter smile showed on her face. This decision she just made would change the course of her life from this very moment on. She glanced around listlessly at her empty penthouse where there was nothing but a mixture of luxury and deafening silence.

She felt her flat stomach knowing that in a few months, she would feel and even see the presence of her child in a visible bulge.

“I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have tried to hurt you. You see…I have no one in this world, my family doesn’t want me, they never did, and your father…he can’t know about you. I felt alone and scared, I thought I wouldn’t be able to raise you on my own.

Now I’ve realized that, it doesn’t matter if I’m on my own. I’ll take care of you, raise you, I’ll be fine… we’ll both be fine. I’ll never think of hurting you ever again.”

Whatever hardships she would have to face, she would willingly and bravely face it all, but she would never be able to take the life of the child inside her even if it’s father would not acknowledge it.

This baby was hers and she was willing to take sole responsibility for her own actions, she had promised Tristan that she wouldn’t show herself to him after that one night, and she wouldn’t, but she would give birth to this child and raise it on her own if she had to…

This was a price she was willing to pay.

…..

Several days later, Celine stood outside the Roberts family villa. The guard by the gate looked astonished at seeing her at first, but he quickly recovered and allowed her in.

Once she was parked, she walked through the entrance where she immediately encountered a familiar face.

Lydia Roberts was sitting in the living room having her afternoon tea when she noticed the new arrival in their home.

She paused the cup of tea she was about to take a sip from, her eyes flashing with surprise.

As expected, the girl would definitely find her way to run back home to her father. The girl valued blood relations too heavily to be able to abandon her family, it was the sole reason she still remained all these years even if her father took his benefits from her career as much as he could.

“Well, well, well, so you know your way back home. It’s about time.” Lydia remarked sarcastically.

“Hello, Lydia.” Celine uttered the word of greeting dryly. In the past she had been the silent lamb, never saying a word of protest to neither her father nor her stepmother, but it was precisely the reason Lydia had always taken that as even more motivation to spite her whenever she could.

The woman’s brows shot upwards, Celine had never blatantly addressed her like that before. From the moment she had married Timothy Roberts, he had imposed a strict rule of Celine addressing Lydia as her mother.

“Lydia? Your tongue has gone foul since you ran away from that wedding. I didn’t expect any less from you though, your mother’s blood is a disgraceful one, of course her offspring would be a big disgrace.” Lydia’s voice rang crisply in the spacious room, there was a flash of anticipation in her eyes as she watched Celine after saying these words. It always felt satisfying for her to see the hints of pain in Celine’s eyes whenever her mother was mentioned.

Celine recalled that in the past, whenever Lydia spoke badly of her mother she would quietly let it pass because she didn’t want to cause any trouble. During the time she grew famous however, Lydia no longer spoke badly about her or her mother because of all the benefits Celine brought home until that very night Celine declared she wouldn’t be marrying Ian.

Celine didn’t show any pain because somewhere along the line, she realized that her pain was exactly what Lydia wanted to see.

She smiled softly, her blue eyes shining with a quiet mirth, with graceful steps she walked further into the room, settling herself to take a seat in the sofa right across from Lydia. Such calm and graceful behavior somewhat astonished Lydia at first.

Instead of having tears in her eyes, the girl was actually smiling?

“I find it quite funny that you mention my mother a lot, and everytime you do you say something negative. Tell me Lydia, do your insecurities run that deep? My Mom has been gone for a long time, but it seems till this very moment she still makes you insecure. I would have assumed that you carry yourself with so much superiority because you’re a very confident person internally, but…seems I was wrong.” Celine’s words held hints of mockery, she quirked her lips to the side ever so slightly in a derisive smirk.

Lydia’s whole face went drastically pale in an instant. A mixture of disbelief and twisted anger surfaced on her face.

“What did you just say?”

Celine leaned forward in her seat,

“I believe your hearing isn’t faulty, but let me repeat myself. Keep your insecurities to yourself Lydia, don’t mention my mother again.”

For a few seconds, Lydia looked utterly stunned, staring at Celine with vivid shock but the anger on her face began to slowly dissipate as she dragged in two sharp breaths before a smooth laughter suddenly erupted elegantly from her lips. Though her expression now looked controlled, her hand was gripping the teacup tightly.

“Now, now Celine Roberts, don’t get cocky on me, at least not when your name has crashed and burned. Have you forgotten that your name means nothing now? Even when you were still a top actress, you never dared to speak back to me. Don’t forget that even after all these years, your father still doesn’t want you, I’m the only reason he still kept you in this family. Besides, you’re no longer a top actress, you’ve been abandoned by your company right?”

Celine stiffened. She couldn’t deny that Lydia had said the truth, her father never wanted her. When her mother died, he brought another woman home, but still Celine never hated him because he was her father…her blood. Her mother had always taught her to value blood and never turn her back on family, and she had taken those lessons too deeply, because right now she realized that loving and having faith in someone because they were related to you by blood was absolutely useless if they genuinely didn’t want you.

A satisfied smile showed on Lydia’s lips seeing that her words had penetrated Celine. As if wanting to rub salt into an open wound, she continued.

“You should congratulate your sister, she has just been signed into a bigger entertainment company. What’s the name of the company again…ah, Lightstar Entertainment. Only big and notable stars are signed there, you should know right, they dropped you.”

The revelation hit Celine like a knife to the gut.

Lightstar had signed Lilian?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep