The Officer's Runaway Wife & Secret Son novel Chapter 571

Clara felt a massive lump in her throat.

The tears she had forced down at The Gilded Leaf Tea Room all rushed back at once, blurring her vision.

"You really... want this?"

"I do."

Rhys spoke with absolute certainty, his gaze dropping to her belly with a lingering fondness he didn't even realize he was showing.

"So, is this why you were crying downstairs yesterday?"

Clara immediately turned her head away, remaining stubborn. "Who was crying? I just... didn't sleep well. The morning sickness is making me nauseous."

"You must have been terrified when you got the lab results, weren't you?"

Her eyelashes were still wet, the tip of her nose was flushed, and her voice carried a tremor she hadn't quite managed to suppress.

Yet she still wanted to act tough.

Rhys's heart ached beyond measure.

He didn't dare imagine what had gone through her mind when she held that test result yesterday, or what it took for her to decide to bury the secret all by herself.

Clara sniffled and nodded. "I was a little scared."

But the moment she decided to tell him, she no longer needed to hide those vulnerabilities.

"I was afraid you wouldn't be able to handle it. But Daniel was right. I was being presumptuous, making the decision for you."

Rhys laced his fingers through hers, their palms pressing together. "You didn't do anything wrong. I just didn't give you enough security in the past. It made your first instinct to build a wall against me when something like this happened."

He took a deep breath, suppressing the suffocating tightness welling up deep in his lungs, and spoke with solemn gravity.

"Clara, I will wait for that donor lung. I'll be there with you in the delivery room, I'll watch our baby be born, and I'll hold Felix's hand while we wait for you both to come out. I owe you guys, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

Just as she was about to sit up and shoot him a playful glare, the hospital room door was pushed open from the outside.

"Rhys, I figured you'd be awake by now, so I brought some..."

Mia Huntington walked in carrying a thermos, but her words abruptly cut off.

On the hospital bed, Rhys was lying on his side, one hand cupping the back of Clara's head, the two of them pressed together so intimately there wasn't an inch of space between them.

Clara's eyes were red, making her look exactly like a wronged girl pouting and seeking comfort in her husband's arms.

Mia froze in the doorway, unsure whether to step inside or back out.

The sheer awkwardness was comparable to an elderly mother walking in on newlyweds on their wedding night.

Clara was the first to react. She practically bounced out of Rhys's arms, frantically tucking the loose strands of hair behind her ears, and looked down as she greeted, "Aunt Mia... what brings you here at this hour?"