Walking Away While Pregnant: Dear Ex-Husband, I Don't Love You Anymore novel Chapter 176

Chapter 176: Chapter 176

When Aaron received Madeline’s call, it was 3:00 AM.

He was currently aboard a private cruise ship bound for the Western Islands. Seeing Madeline’s name flash on the screen, his eyelid twitched.

He bolted upright from the wooden bed in his cabin, took a deep breath to clear his throat, and swiped to answer. "Hello?"

"Aaron, I have a question for you," Madeline said, her tone icy.

A faint curve touched the corner of his lips. "Ask away."

To him, the fact that she was reaching out meant she had finally cooled off. That was how it had always been since they were kids—she was sharp-tongued but soft-hearted, quick to temper, but quick to forgive. Holding a cold war with him for this long had been a record in itself. It was about time her anger blew over.

Madeline couldn’t care less about what was going through his head; she was only calling to ask a few questions on Elise’s behalf.

"Have you been in touch with Fleur lately?"

Aaron froze, the slight smile vanishing from his face. "No. Why?"

"Why no?" Madeline mocked. "Didn’t you say before that Fleur was too fragile to take care of herself, running yourself ragged playing her knight in shining armor every day? Now that she’s all over the news back home, are you telling me you don’t know?"

Aaron’s grip on the phone tightened.

Of course he knew. But there were things he couldn’t explain to her.

"Madeline, did Elise ask you to call me?"

Madeline frowned. Damn it, was it really that obvious?!

"Madeline, listen to me," Aaron said, his tone growing grave. "Don’t get involved in this. And tell Elise for me: stay in Rainport, take good care of herself and the baby. As for the rest—don’t guess, don’t ask. Dylan is finding a way to resolve it."

"What kind of nonsense is that?!"

As the middleman, Madeline was completely baffled.

"What on earth are you and Dylan plotting?! Elise already told me that Fleur isn’t Robin’s biological mother, and that she abused him. Elise was ready to sue her, but now she’s vanished into thin air! Tell me the truth, Aaron—did you guys hide Fleur away?!"

Aaron dragged a hand down his face. "Stop asking. Knowing too much won’t do you any good."

"So you did hide her!" Madeline goaded.

"Believe whatever you want," Aaron sighed. "I’ll explain everything to you in person when I get back. I have to go now. Don’t call this number again—I’m switching off this phone for the next few days."

"You—"

Before she could finish, Aaron ended the call.

He powered down the phone, tucked it under his pillow, and stood up to open the cabin door, heading into the room next door.

***

In Rainport, it was 9:30 PM.

Robin and Lily had just fallen asleep.

Elise closed the storybook in her hands, set it on the nightstand, switched off the main overhead light, and stepped quietly out of the room.

Back in her own bedroom, she shut the door, opened the wardrobe, and pulled out her pajamas. Just then, her phone vibrated.

It was an international call.

After a moment’s hesitation, she pressed answer. "Hello?"

"Elise, it’s me."

The man’s deep, low voice drifted through the receiver.

Elise wasn’t surprised. Madeline had called her back earlier that evening—a half-hour phone call during which Madeline spent the entire thirty minutes cursing out both Aaron and Dylan.

Truthfully, when Elise asked Madeline to call Aaron, she hadn’t expected to extract any real answers from him. Her sole purpose was to force Dylan to contact her directly.

Though they had grown distant over five years of marriage, she felt she still understood him well enough. Once Madeline made that call, Aaron was bound to inform Dylan. And Dylan couldn’t stay indifferent for long—if not for her, then at least for Robin’s sake, he would stop playing dead.

"Dylan, where is Fleur?" Elise asked, cutting straight to the chase.

Silence fell over the line.

It was the one thing about him that irritated her the most.

"I already know this ’Fleur’ is an imposter," she goaded intentionally. "Are you hiding her because you’ve actually fallen for her?"

Yet she still underestimated him; he didn’t take the bait at all.

"Elise, do you really think I wouldn’t be aware of the connections Zoey was using?"

Elise frowned. "So the one actively blocking my investigation into Fleur was you all along."

"If you knew, why did you insist on digging?" Dylan’s voice dropped, tinged with helpless exhaustion. "Stay in Rainport with Robin for now. I’ve stationed people there to guard you both. Don’t concern yourself with what’s happening overseas."

Elise knew he had his own agenda. If he had no intention of letting her know, she wouldn’t be able to pry a word out of him no matter how hard she pressed.

"So, you called just to persuade me to take care of Robin for you?"

"Robin..." Dylan paused for a few seconds before speaking again. "Elise, a phone call can’t explain everything. Just remember: stay in Rainport with Robin and wait for me. Once I return, I’ll go to Rainport and explain every single detail to your face."

Wait for me, Elise. Trust me one last time.

The cries grew increasingly urgent, increasingly desperate, closing in on her from all directions.

Elise stood frozen, frantically looking around to locate the owner of the voice. But the mist obscured everything, leaving her blind.

Suddenly, she felt her feet sink into something sticky. Looking down slowly, her breath caught at the sight of vivid crimson. Terrified, she tried to stumble backward, only to realize that the entire floor was already submerged in a sea of blood.

Panic seized her. She tried to run from the bloody abyss, but her feet felt glued to the floor, impossible to move.

The blood ocean suddenly surged, gathering into a towering wave several meters high, crashing straight down on her—

Summoning every ounce of strength, her legs finally moved. Without a second thought, she turned and ran.

Suddenly, her foot stepped into empty space, and her body went into a freefall—

"No!"

With a sharp gasp, Elise snapped her eyes open.

The room was dim, illuminated only by the soft orange glow of the nightstand lamp. She was breathing heavily, her forehead and the corners of her eyes soaked with sweat and tears.

The lingering terror still gripped her heart, making her clammy body shiver from the chill.

Sensory shock seemed to reach the baby inside her, triggering an anxious burst of kicking. Elise gently rested her hand on her belly, caressing it until the baby gradually settled down again.

Staring up at the ceiling, the agonizing, desperate screams still seemed to echo in her ears. A strange tightness seized her chest, accompanied by a faint, dull ache.

Why did I have a dream like that?

She raised a hand to wipe the sweat from her brow. The voice in the dream had felt so familiar, yet she couldn’t place whose it was.

It had been a long time since she last had a nightmare, and the sheer exhaustion left her feeling drowsy. Turning onto her side, she drifted back into a fitful sleep amidst the faint palpitations and fatigue.

She slept straight through until late the next morning.

When she woke up, she knew she had dreamed, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember the details. She was left with an odd, hollow feeling, as if something important had gone missing.

She sat quietly on the bed for a few minutes. Once the strange sensation of loss passed, she pulled back the covers and went into the bathroom to wash up.

A few minutes later, Elise opened her bedroom door and headed downstairs.

The door to the adjacent room was slightly ajar. Standing just inside, Jessica listened to Elise’s footsteps fading down the stairs, her tightly knitted brows relaxing just a fraction.

After shutting her door, Jessica pulled out her phone and sent a text to Dylan:

She had another nightmare last night. After she fell asleep, I went in and performed another hypnosis session on her. Looking at her condition now, she seems alright and should remain stable for a while.