"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Chloe quickly apologized as she covered her forehead and winced in pain.
"What are you so engrossed in?" a familiar voice of a young man asked.
Looking up, Chloe saw Noah, clad in a checkered shirt and carrying a black backpack, smiling brightly with charming dimples on his cheeks.
Feeling downcast, Chloe hung her head and forced a laugh that seemed sadder than tears. "It's nothing."
Noah was slightly taller than Chloe. He gently lowered his head to meet her gaze as they talked. "You're clearly bothered by something," he said, his face filled with concern.
Feeling the need to share her frustrations, Chloe could not hold back and confided, "Joseph will soon discover that I'm pregnant."
Noah's expression changed imperceptibly, and he straightened his back. "What happened?"
Chloe explained the whole situation, her voice filled with helplessness. She was truly at a loss and did not know what to do next. On one hand, Joseph might be happy to know he was going to be a father, but on the other, he might be angry that she had kept it from him for so long. Everything she had planned was slipping out of her control, and she felt increasingly anxious.
Noah stared at Chloe for a while, then said, "Those herbs that you got from the hospital, what did they look like?”
"It was in transparent packaging with each dose individually wrapped."
"And what does the herbalist that Mr. Joseph hired look like?"
"Kind of thin, not very tall, he sports a beard, and is around forty years old."
"Is it Dr. Frederick Hartman?"
"I think so?"
"I know who it is," Noah said, nodding firmly. Glancing at the time, he reassured Chloe, "That old herbalist is quite famous. My grandfather has visited him before. I'll go check it out. Maybe they haven't started analyzing the herb packets yet."
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