All of a sudden, Alice lifted her head as another thought struck her.
Could Bethan be pregnant with Brettley’s child?
Brettley came out of the hotel, got into his car, and drove around the outskirts of Sea City in frustration.
After circling a few times, he finally stopped next to the beach and got out of the car.
The sea breeze blew against his face and somehow made him a little more balanced.
It was already nighttime, so there were not many people around. Brettley caught sight of a food truck a short distance away, along with two or three customers gathered around it, drinking and having their meal.
Although the customers seemed to be having a great time, the beach was so quiet apart from them that even the food truck owner started to doze off.
Brettley could see the silhouette of a slim woman in the distance, her long hair billowing about her in the sea breeze. She seemed to be talking on the phone.
Brettley thought this woman looked familiar. She reminded him a lot of Bethan Peterson.
When he first met Bethan Peterson, she, too, liked to talk on the phone with him at night. She would always layer a jacket over her dress and let her hair down, then call him as she stood on the beach, enjoying the cool breeze.
Brettley remembered that one time, Bethan Peterson had called him right on this beach, thinking that he was still in Sea City. At that time, she was as talkative as ever, and he only gave her a few mumbles and short sentences in reply.
However, she did not know that Brettley had already arrived in Sea City and was, at that moment, standing right behind her.
After that, seeing that he did not talk much, Bethan Peterson had hung up the phone somewhat dejectedly, only to turn around and realize that Brettley was right behind her.
Bethan Peterson had smiled as soon as she saw him, dimples revealed, and ran into his arms, demanding to know when he arrived and what he was doing, sneaking up on her like that.
Brettley still recalled everything about that day as if it were yesterday.
The moon shone bright that night, and the coastline seemed to have blurred with the night sky. The moon cast its rays over Bethan Peterson, giving her a faint, luminescent glow. That scene was so beautiful that Brettley would remember it for years to come, but He closed his eyes and recalled what had happened with Alice.
She was the same woman, with the same face and voice, but everything was somehow different.
The person he hated most in this world was Hailey Walter, yet somehow, Bethan Peterson, the woman he loved, had become as vengeful and bitter as her.
Just as he was lamenting this, the woman who had been talking on the phone in front of him hung up and turned around.
It was Bethan.
They gazed at each other, their faces etched with shock.
Bethan was on the phone with Theo, telling him her good news, and even told him her idea of escaping with the children…
When did Brettley arrive?
Although they were a distance away, Bethan wondered if he had overheard her conversation.
Bethan immediately backed away from him, confusion and fear swirling in her mind. Then, finally, she asked with a pale face, “Mr… Mr. Morrison, when did you arrive?”
She did not dare to call Theo in the hotel for fear of being overheard, so she hailed a taxi and came to the beach instead.
This particular beach was not a tourist attraction, so naturally, there were not many people around, even less so at night.
Therefore, Bethan had thought this was a safe place to tell Theo about her plan.
However… She had bumped into the one person she dreaded meeting the most.
“I just arrived.”
Brettley shifted his gaze from her to the food truck nearby. The people who had been drinking had already left, and the food truck owner was glancing at his watch as if thinking of packing up for the day.
“Hello, “
Brettley began as he made his way over to the food truck. “Do you have tacos?”
The food truck owner froze for a moment, then lifted his head to smile at Brettley. “Yes, of course! “
“I’ll have two, please, ” said Brettley. Then, he turned around to glance at Bethan. “I’m guessing you haven’t had dinner yet. Come on. It’s my treat.”
Bethan shot him a somewhat puzzled glance.
“What’s wrong?”
Brettley sat down on a chair in front of the truck. “You can’t even have tacos anymore, just because you’re pregnant?”
Bethan’s entire body stiffened when she heard what Brettley had said.
She gaped at Brettley, her face pale, but could not say a single word in response.
“Are you surprised that I know about your pregnancy?”
Brettley curled his lips into a smirk and poured himself a drink. “You’ve always been smart, but somehow, today, you’re a lot more dull-witted than usual. Is this what they call a pregnancy brain?”
Brettley smiled and continued, “You were so desperate for me to leave while we were at the hospital. If you were me, wouldn’t you want to find out what’s wrong?”
Bethan’s face turned pale, then blushed scarlet, then turned pale again.
She had to admit that she was, in fact, hastier than usual today. However, since she had finally gotten the outcome she was seeking, she was afraid that Brettley would find out about the baby.
Besides, everything had happened so suddenly this afternoon that she had no other way of stopping Brettley from finding out.
Perhaps, she could not hide anything from him at all.
Bethan closed her eyes and slumped onto an empty chair. “I never thought Mr. Morrison would care so much about me, but this child–“
“Were you talking to Theo just now?”
Brettley interrupted before she could finish her sentence.
Bethan paused, then nodded somewhat shamefully. “
Yes.”
When she was on the phone with Theo, she had told him the delightful news and even explained her plan of asking Theo to bring Neil and Nellie out of summer camp…
Bethan immediately gazed at Brettley and asked timidly, “Did…you hear everything?”
“No.”
Brettley stood so far away that he did not even notice that the woman on the beach was Bethan. Therefore, he had not tried to eavesdrop on her conversation at all.
“So you…”
“I made a guess. “
Brettley took a sip of his drink and gave her a bitter smile. “The first person you would want to tell the good news to is the baby’s father, right?”
With that, he picked up his glass and drained its contents.
Brettley could not help but feel uneasy when he thought of Bethan’s baby and the fact that it belonged to Theo.
Bethan froze for a few moments, then suddenly realized that Brettley thought her child belonged to Theo. She was so delighted by this realization that her entire body started to tremble. This was great!
She picked up her glass and said, “Yes. Theo is…the baby’s father.”
This was the best outcome! If Brettley knew the baby belonged to Theo, he would not force her to abort it or give birth against her will.
If he knew the baby belonged to Theo, even if Bethan vanished without a trace, he would not try to track her down again.
As soon as she thought of this, Bethan gulped down her drink in excitement and said, “The baby’s father is Theo.”
Brettley could not help but feel irritated when he saw how exhilarated Bethan was. He recalled what Lucas had told him this afternoon over the phone…
“I followed your orders and told her that you went back to find Ma’am. She seemed to be delighted and said you and Mrs. Morrison were a good match and that you should be together forever…”
Brettley’s expression darkened. “Yesterday, you told me you wanted to bear a child for me, but now that you’re pregnant with Theo’s baby, you keep on rubbing it in my face…”
He set his glass down and glanced at Bethan’s face coldly. “Do you want me to abort this baby and get you pregnant with mine instead?”
The color drained from Bethan’s face. She froze for a long time and finally asked in a shaking voice, “Mr. Morrison, you’re…joking, right?”
Brettley fixated his steely gaze on her. “If you continue rubbing this news in my face, then it won’t be just a joke anymore.”
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.