He felt conflicted as he stared at the calm-looking Shirley before him. After a while, he finally said, “ Are you really pregnant?”
Ada had initially hoped Shirley was lying, but Carter’s question proved that they indeed had a special relationship.
Ada could not accept this. She was boiling with rage, yet she could not express it.
“Do you think I’d lie about such a matter? Have you forgotten what we had done together that night a month ago, Mr. Gray?” Shirley bluntly questioned Carter in response.
“ ” Carter was caught off guard. He remembered everything that had happened between them, including that night a month ago.
“Carter, the baby in her womb is one month old, ” Camille prompted Carter.
Carter’s heart trembled when he heard that.
He kept a steady gaze and looked at Shirley, who still wore a cold expression in her eyes. “Why are you only telling me this now?”
Shirley laughed indifferently. “I’ve come here with a purpose, of course. I want to strike a deal with you. Otherwise, I might not have bothered to let you know.”
“ ” Carter pursed his lips when he heard her reply. He could not think of a retort.
Camille’s expression darkened. “ Shirley, are you saying that you’d use the baby as a bargaining tool in exchange for benefits?”
“You’re absolutely right, Mrs. Gray. I’m indeed here today for some benefits,” Shirley admitted openly without refrain.
Carter and Camille were stunned; Ada was burning with rage, but she felt less threatened now because of Shirley’s attitude.
“What do you want?” Carter asked directly.
Shirley threw a glance at Ada, then replied, “I’d like to talk with you in private. After all, some matters aren’t suitable to be discussed in the presence of outsiders.”
Ada knew that Shirley was referring to her as the “ outsider”.
Ada’s temper instantly exploded, and she pointed a t Shirley and cursed, “How could you be so shameless, Shirley?! You’re the one who came looking for my husband, and yet you speak such outrageous things. You’ve got such thick skin!”
Shirley looked at Ada uncaringly. “You should know best whether my skin is thick or thin, right?”
“ ” Ada understood the hidden meaning behind Shirley’s sarcastic words, but she could not care less at the moment. Ada just wanted to vent her anger. “ Shirley, you…”
“Shut your mouth, ” Carter brusquely cut her off. “ ” Ada, startled, immediately closed her mouth.
“You’d like to speak with me privately? Alright then. Come with me,” Carter said to Shirley, then turned around and headed directly toward the staircase.
Shirley raised her head and looked at Cathy. “ Stay here and wait for me, Cathy. Mrs. Gray is a hospitable person. She won’t make things difficult for you.”
Cathy nodded. “Don’t worry about me. Just shout for me if anything happens.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. ” Shirley calmly said and steered her wheelchair toward the elevator.
She knew the manor very well, even better than Ada.
As Ada watched Shirley and Carter head upstairs one after another, Ada felt even more annoyed.
“Mom, are you going to let Shirley get her way? Look at how she was acting. She’s clearly here to provoke me. She can’t be pregnant with Carter’s baby. Carter isn’t even fond of her! ”
Ada kept on denying because she was feeling unsettled.
Carter and Shirley had been together for over ten years. It would be difficult to explain their relationship clearly.
Camille ignored Ada. She had not liked Ada in the first place. She had only agreed to the marriage so that Carter could officially inherit the right of succession.
Cathy had sat down quietly in the same spot after Shirley went upstairs.
Camille took a measured look at Cathy for a while, then asked, “Miss, is your last name Jordan?”
Cathy kept quiet but nodded her head timidly.
Camille pondered for a few seconds and spoke again, “I think I’ve met you before somewhere. You look familiar to me.”
When she heard this, Cathy gave Camille a serious look. “I believe we’ve never met, Mrs. Gray.”
“I guess you’re right,” Camille said with a smile but kept her gaze on Cathy’s face.
At this point, Ada was feeling even more like an outsider.
She was clearly the hostess of this family, but she seemed to be nothing more than just that title.
The second floor.
Shirley entered Carter’s study room with a sense of familiarity.
Although it was daytime, Carter had drawn the curtains. He also closed the door behind Shirley after she entered.
He turned around and looked at Shirley who was seated in a wheelchair. He closed his eyes, hoping this was merely a figment of his imagination.
Unfortunately, when he reopened them, Shirley remained in the wheelchair.
Suddenly, it occurred to him that Shirley had always been seated when they met the last few times.
Evidently, it was due to the loss of ability in her legs.
Unable to comprehend the situation, Carter was upset, and the rage within him continued to grow.
“What exactly is going on? Your legs… how did it happen?”
Carter spoke from behind Shirley; the anger in his voice was suppressed.
“You seem concerned about my legs, Mr. Gray. There’s nothing much to say, except that I may have committed too many bad deeds. This is retribution.”
“….” Carter refused to accept such a reply. He strode up to her and grasped the back of her neck just like before, then placed his face directly in front of her sight.
“Tell me the truth, Shirley. What exactly happened to your legs?”
Carter repeated his question. He appeared to be in a foul mood.
Shirley restrained her trembling heart, and in her usual tone, she responded, “As I’ve said, I was hit by a car, and that’s the truth. Don’t you think that’s retribution?”
“Don’t lie to me! Did Kendrick do this to you?” Carter questioned her angrily. “When you left without returning that time, it was Kendrick who took you! ”
“You’re right. He was the one who took me that day, but he didn’t hit me with a car,” Shirley answered honestly, “he only injected me with the anti-toxoid test reagent. It was the same type as the one you’d placed in Niamh’s wine.”
After hearing what Shirley said, Carter’s expression became even more solemn; his eyebrows looked like they were tied together.
Shirley continued in her calm tone, “That’s why I’m here today. To make a deal.”
Carter resentfully glared at Shirley. “What deal?” “Do you want the baby?”
“What do you mean?”
“If you want the baby, I’ll let the baby remain, but you have to provide me with the anti -toxoid test reagent formula for AXT6g. I’d like to develop the anti-toxoid test reagent myself. Should you not want this baby, I’ll have an abortion immediately, and our deal will end here.”
Carter’s grasp tightened on the back of Shirley’s neck. “What did you just say, Shirley?! Are you aware of what you’re saying?! You’re using our child to bargain! ”
Looking at Carter’s angry expression, Shirley could not decide if she should feel happy.
Did he care?
Was he just upset by her attitude?
Shirley had no way of knowing what Carter was thinking, but she was certain he would want to keep the child.
Even if Carter was truly ruthless and did not want the baby, Camille would never agree to it.
Shirley quietly weighed all her options in her heart before responding indifferently to Carter.
“You’re wrong, Carter. This is your baby. Do you think I’ll care about such an insignificant little thing? To me, he’s just a bargaining chip to acquire the anti-toxoid test reagent.”
Carter narrowed his eyes and involuntarily loosened his grip on the back of Shirley’s neck.
He was stunned by her indifference. This was not right.
Shirley would never behave like this in the past.
Now, the way she looked at him, and the way she spoke, were that of enemies—cold and hostile.
“Hah.” Carter laughed softly and released Shirley’s neck.
“You want the anti-toxoid test reagent formula for AXT6g? I’ll never give it to you, ” Carter rejected with a cold laugh.
He had thought his answer could frighten and unsettle Shirley. He had not expected Shirley to be abnormally calm instead.
“Since you’re not interested in this deal, let’s pretend I didn’t come by today.” Shirley steered her wheelchair around the second she finished speaking.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.