Too Late, Mr. Cooper: Your Bride Ran with Your Baby novel Chapter 31

The family dinner never happened.

Liliana walked out of the Cooper estate alone, her slender figure casting a long, lonely shadow under the moonlight. She stood in the darkness, her expression serene. She had lost count of how many times she and Linton had parted on bad terms. It seemed their relationship could never argue its way to a resolution.

But if a relationship required constant fighting, then it wasn't a relationship worth having. If it wasn't a good fit, there was no point in forcing it.

In a world of billions, no one was so indispensable that you couldn't live without them. Liliana saw it all with perfect clarity.

If Linton could repeatedly let her be wronged for the sake of his 'sister' Isabella now, then in the future, if they had children, he would do the same—allow his sister's children to mistreat hers.

Because they were family, because Isabella’s parents had done the Coopers a great service, he couldn't sever that tie in his heart. He would always feel a sense of responsibility toward her.

Liliana’s face suddenly grew cold.

She instinctively reached down, her hand covering her lower abdomen. She refused to let her future child suffer as she had—unfavored, always forced to yield to others. She wouldn't let her child be trapped in that same cycle of crushing disparity, endlessly questioning and devaluing themselves until they were driven to madness, to a complete breakdown.

With a stony expression, Liliana took out her phone. She scheduled an abortion at a public hospital in a city far from Crownport.

Her mind was made up.

This child, she thought, was fated to be with her, but not to be hers.

...

The next morning, Liliana woke up in her bedroom.

She blinked her eyes open, a hazy fog still clinging to her mind. She must have cried herself raw the night before; her eyes were swollen like walnuts and stung with a fiery pain. She instinctively reached for her phone, squinting against the discomfort to read the messages in her chat window.

Gabriel had sent her a text.

Not wanting to meet someone with puffy, red-rimmed eyes, she deliberately scheduled the meeting for the evening, giving herself enough time for a cosmetic treatment to reduce the swelling.

8 p.m.

Laurel & Ember.

It was Crownport's most elegant five-star restaurant, the preferred spot for the city's elite to discuss business.

To show her sincerity, Liliana wore a new-season, custom-made, high-end white dress. The simple, backless design, adorned with tiny diamonds, made her look more delicate than a flower, lending her an air of gentle grace and approachability.

Liliana arrived at the restaurant first.

After being seated, she propped her chin on her hand, her long, thick lashes cast down as she studied the menu, a flutter of nerves inside. “Good evening.”