Captivation: Want Nothing But You

Chapter 119 The Child's Heartbeat

"Odin is my only child."

Those were the first words his biological father said to him.

Carolyn didn't expect that her son would react that way, and she didn't imagine he would say that. "I'm being serious. I'm not messing around. Do you think I'm casually bringing a child here, and say that he's yours? This really is your son! You brought him to this world, don't you remember?"

The man she was talking to was stunned. It appeared as though he remembered something. Victor lowered his head in an attempt to hide his emotions.

Carolyn took a deep breath, and said to Victor, "Victor, there's no need to be scared. Grandma's here to protect you. He won't hurt you! He's your father."

Victor fell silent. The look on the man's face was too obscure to figure out what he was thinking.

"Call him 'dad', Victor," Carolyn said softly.

Upon hearing her say that, Victor clenched his hands. During the past seven years of his life, he had never addressed anyone as "dad". But now, his mother was gone and he himself was suddenly told to call someone that. To Victor, that word was too heavy to say out loud.

"No!" Before Victor could utter the word, the man interrupted him. "You don't have to call me that right now. Who knows if this boy is actually my child? Perhaps he just happens to look like me."

Upon hearing him say that, Carolyn was livid. She really wanted to slap her son in the face. "What the hell are you saying?"

Suddenly, Victor grabbed her hand in an attempt to stop her.

Carolyn fell silent. "Victor, what is it?"

When Victor looked into her eyes, he said, "Grandma, did what you said earlier still count?"

Carolyn was fazed. "What... What did you just call me? Can you... Can you say that again?" Her voice was trembling with emotions.

Victor lowered his head and said nothing.

Seeing that he wasn't answering, Carolyn gathered that he hadn't gotten used to saying it. Gently, she said to the boy, "It's okay. If you don't want to call me that, you don't have to. But my words hold true."

"I..." Victor looked at her once more.

"What do you want to say?" asked Carolyn.

"Can I really live with you?" To make it clearer, he added, "Just you and me. Is that okay?" From that moment on, Victor realized that his own father didn't acknowledge him as his son, and he never tried to call him "dad". Even when the man was dying in bed, he just stood at the door, staring at him in silence.

There weren't many people in this world who would truly scorn their children. But sadly, Victor was one of the few unlucky enough to be hated and abandoned by his own father.

"Miss Bennet, according to the results, the wine you drank before didn't harm the baby in any way. In fact, your child is extremely healthy."

The doctor's voice interrupted Victor's thoughts. He saw the silhouette of a woman on the curtain, slightly tilting her head to look at the screen of the instrument. Slowly, the doctor moved the handle, and the picture moved along with his motion. Within seconds, the screen turned to the side of the baby.

Rachel stared at it, too stunned to react.

The sonogram was grayish white. In the middle, a small figure was curling into a ball. Its two small hands were clenched into fists before its eyes, and its legs were bent. It was very quiet.

"This is the child that's been in my womb for three months?" Rachel thought.

The doctor smiled at her and pointed at the monitor. "Ma'am, that's your baby."

In order to allow Rachel to see it more clearly, the doctor drew the monitor closer to Rachel's side, and put the handle on the side of her abdomen. "I must say, Miss Bennet, you're a gorgeous woman. I'm sure your baby will be just as beautiful as you are! Look at its tall nose. It must've inherited its nose from you."

Rachel stared at the little one on the monitor and saw how it moved slightly. It appeared unsatisfied by its posture, and it was now holding its arms down.

The doctor was right. Even though the picture wasn't that clear, Rachel could see that her child indeed had a tall nose.

This put a smile on her face. Suddenly, she felt that every suffering and grievance she experienced in the past were all worth it. She wondered whether her child was a boy or a girl.

"Ma'am, would you like to hear your baby's heartbeat?" the doctor asked.

"The baby's heartbeat?"

"Well, it hasn't been twelve weeks yet, so the baby's heartbeat is relatively weak. It would be hard to tell using an ordinary stethoscope, but you'll be able to hear the baby's heartbeat through the Doppler ultrasound," the doctor said as he pressed the speaker button.

Thump! Thump!

The sound of the baby's heartbeat resonated from the speaker. It was steady and powerful, and Rachel felt like it touched her heart.

Subconsciously, she clenched her hands. An indescribable feeling arose in her heart. It wasn't until the doctor handed her a piece of tissue that she realized that tears had fallen from her eyes.

Meanwhile, Victor was about to leave the room. The moment he heard the baby's heartbeat, his hand froze on the doorknob. He felt like his heartstrings were plucked. Somehow, it made him feel like an empty void in his heart was filled with something he had been longing to feel.

This child was a life that he and Rachel created.

In less than seven months, that baby would be born into this world.

Victor didn't resist the urge to imagine what his child would look like in the future. It was then that he realized that hope was formed in his heart.

'How could I look forward to the baby that I made with that woman? It's probably just because she's been causing me so much trouble that she flashed through my head every now and then,' Victor said in his head. 'A woman like Rachel doesn't deserve to bear my child.'

All of a sudden, his eyes turned cold as he pressed his lips.

Afterwards, he turned the doorknob, opened the door, and left without hesitation.

After having stayed in the hospital for a week, Rachel finally went home to the Sue Garden. The moment Lukas saw her, he sighed with relief. "My, my! You've just slowly been putting on some weight, but you've already lost it all after staying in that hospital for a week."

Upon hearing this, Rachel stared at Lukas, lost in thought. Somehow, he reminded her of Abby.

Abby would always follow her around, checking on her well-being. And while walking around, from time to time, Abby would sigh and mumble, "Miss Bennet, you've gotten thinner again. That's not healthy at all!"

Lukas turned to the servant next to him and said, "Tell the nutritionist to adjust the menu, and cook Miss Bennet's favorite dishes." Then, he noticed that Rachel was absentminded. Concerned for her mental well-being, he asked, "Miss Bennet?"

At this time, Rachel came to her senses.

"Miss Bennet, you've only just gotten back from the hospital. Would you like to head upstairs and get some rest?" Lukas asked.

Rachel nodded firmly before heading to the stairs. Suddenly, something dawned on her that made her call out to Lukas to stop him from leaving. "Lukas?" she asked.

"Yes, Ma'am? What can I do for you?"

"I don't need anything," Rachel narrowed her eyes and asked, "But, um... do you know if Victor will come home today?"

"Two days ago, Ivan called to say that Mr. Sullivan has went on a business trip, but he didn't mention if Mr. Sullivan would come back anytime soon. Is there something important you'd like to tell him?" Lukas replied.

"Two days ago? Isn't that the day of my prenatal checkup?"

All of a sudden, Rachel remembered what the nurse said to her.

The nurse asked Rachel, "Miss Bennet, where's your husband? I saw him go into the ultrasonic room after you. Didn't you leave the room together?"

"He was there?" Rachel asked.

Upon hearing this, the nurse realized that Victor must've left in advance. Afraid that Rachel would get sad if she found out, the nurse said, "I'm sorry, I must've been mistaken. It was probably some other pregnant woman's husband."

When Rachel heard Lukas' words now, she thought that the nurse really was mistaken.

"Yeah, right. How could that bastard be there? Five minutes before I entered the room, he was still ridiculing me. To him, I'm nothing but a woman who happens to carry his child!"This content is © NôvelDrama.Org.