How to Train Your Ex-Billionaire novel Chapter 53

Winifred ran home, tears streaming down her face.

She pulled out the black-and-white, slightly yellowed ultrasound printout once more. The sight of it broke her, and she collapsed into sobs. The memories she tried so hard to bury rushed back, tearing open old wounds until they were raw and bleeding…

Back then, not long after she'd broken up with Yvan, she grew suspicious when her period, which was always regular, didn't come.

With a heart full of dread, she bought a pregnancy test from the pharmacy. The result was two clear lines.

Winifred panicked.

She never knew it could be this easy to get pregnant. One time was all it took.

In disbelief, she went to the hospital for a urine test and an ultrasound. The printout showed a gestational sac in her uterus. She was just over a month along.

At the time, Winifred stared blankly at the blurry, black-and-white image, completely at a loss.

That was her child, hers and Yvan's. Should she get rid of it?

Even though the baby was just a tiny, formless speck without a heartbeat, she already felt a strange connection to it.

She'd looked it up online and found that the university allowed students to marry and have children, though it would require taking a leave of absence. But she and Yvan had already broken up. And even if they were still together, would he even acknowledge the child?

Of course, he wouldn't.

If he didn't, could she raise the child on her own? The baby would be born illegitimate, without a father. Would it grow up with psychological issues? Would it hate her for bringing it into the world?

Winifred's mind was a mess. She didn't know what to do and had no one to turn to. It wasn't something she could just tell anyone.

But the thought of getting rid of it sent waves of pain through her heart.

Before she could make a decision, Queena found the ultrasound printout.

She screamed at Winifred, calling her indecent and shameless, a disgrace to the family. She demanded that Winifred get an abortion immediately.

Winifred refused. Or rather, she hadn't decided yet.

Queena had called her a tramp, screaming that the man didn't even want her, so why on earth would she keep the baby? She even said Winifred was just like her father—stubborn and destined to be abandoned.

Listening to Queena's relentless verbal abuse, years of resentment boiled over.

"Yes, I'm indecent and shameless! If you think I'm such a disgrace, why did you even give birth to me? Why didn't you just strangle me at birth?" Winifred cried out, her emotions raw. "You gave me life but never cared for me, so what right do you have to control me now? I'm not getting rid of it. I'm keeping it!"

She had called Yvan once, only for a woman to answer. The woman said Yvan was in the shower and told her to call back later. Winifred hung up, the last sliver of hope in her heart extinguished.

Defeated, she blocked Yvan's number.

She asked to go back to her hometown to see her grandmother, seeking the comfort of the only person who had ever truly loved her. But Queena told her that her grandmother, upon hearing the news of her unmarried pregnancy, had suffered a sudden heart attack and passed away a few days ago.

They hadn't told her because she was still recovering from the miscarriage and they didn't want to upset her.

In that moment, Winifred shattered.

She had killed her grandmother. She had hurt the only person in the world who loved her. She was unforgivable.

She sank into a deep depression, refusing to eat or drink. She even tried to slit her wrists.

Queena finally panicked and tried to take her to a doctor, but Winifred was hostile, becoming agitated at the mere sight of her.

If it hadn't been for Queena insisting she move to Zion, she never would have met Yvan.

Of course, she hated herself even more. If she hadn't been so naive, so foolishly hopeful, she wouldn't have been deceived by Yvan, wouldn't have lost her virginity and gotten pregnant out of wedlock.