Chapter 507 She's Pregnant!
Francis's face was all hidden in smoke, like he either didn't hear Wesley or just didn't give a damn about having a kid.
Wesley let out a little sigh, feeling pretty stuck.
"Come on, man. You gotta have some kinda plan," Wesley thought for a sec and said, "I gotta head overseas tomorrow to check out this venom. Don't push yourself too hard. I promised I wouldn't let you die. No matter what, I gotta find the doc who made this stuff and get the formula. There's gotta be a way to fix this."
Francis's drop-dead gorgeous face stayed blank, like Wesley wasn't talking about him being in deep trouble. Wesley felt a wave of frustration.
He said it, but he wasn't sure how much he could actually do. That's why he told Harper to give up in the elevator. They'd been friends for so long, he didn't want both of them to get hurt. If even Wesley thought this way, let alone Francis.
He grabbed a cigarette from Francis's steel case, lit it, and said calmly, "Francis, I'm not in your shoes, so I can't say you're wrong. I know you're doing this for Harper's good, but have you ever thought that maybe it's just what you think is good for her? Are you sure it's really that case?"
Wesley bit his cigarette and, without waiting for Francis to respond, kept going, "When you were out cold, no matter how much I called you, you wouldn't wake up. I just said Harper ran off with another guy, and you woke up right away. Look at you, even when you're out, your subconscious is still loyal. I think Harper can handle the truth."
Francis raised his hand and shoved the cigarette into Wesley's mouth, saying coldly, "Can you shut up now?"
Wesley was caught off guard and started coughing like crazy. He said, "Are you trying to kill me with nicotine and take me with you to the grave..."
It was just a regular joke, but Wesley suddenly went quiet. He looked at Francis's indifferent face, patted his mouth, and said, "Sorry for talking crap."
Wesley really wasn't cut out to keep secrets. He knew himself well and swore, "My flight's at midnight. You won't see me soon."
Wesley thought Francis would say something snarky, like they always did. But out of nowhere, Francis just said, "Thanks," in a clear voice.
Wesley was stunned.
Francis's thank you carried a lot of weight. If it weren't for Wesley, even if Francis had escaped the explosion, he might not have survived.
At that time, Francis had prepared himself for the worse because he wasn't sure if he could make it the final moment. Luckily, in the last thirty seconds, he managed to do it. The car plunged into the sea, and under the immense negative pressure, a person could detach from the seat without triggering the explosives.
Francis took the chance to escape through the pre-damaged sunroof and swam like hell towards the deep sea. In the end, when the explosion happened, the massive waves knocked him out. Later, he was rescued by a fishing boat and then found by Wesley.
But by then, the venom in Francis's body had already started to merge, and because he had been soaking in the cold water for too long, his physical condition was really bad. Wesley didn't waste any time and got him to a foreign lab for treatment.
"Don't sweat it," Wesley said, gripping Francis's shoulder hard. "Remember, always have a backup plan. You know who I'm talking about."
After Wesley left, the hallway went back to being all empty and quiet. Francis stood there in the cold moonlight, his long legs straight, giving off a serious chill.
Victor walked over, "Mr. Getty, wanna take a break?"
"You go ahead," Francis's voice was low and rough.
No way Victor was leaving if Francis wasn't.
"Get a good child psychologist to check things out," Francis suddenly said.
Victor paused, thought for a sec, then nodded, "Alright, I'll set it up now."
Francis's voice got deeper, "You don't need to go there yourself. From now on, stay out of things over there."
Victor nodded again. He got it—Francis didn't want Harper to know the psychologist was connected to him.
Even though Francis seemed different since he came back, as his personal assistant, Victor could still tell he was the same old Francis, just more low-key and unpredictable. With all the crap going on, he had to be low-key.
When Harper woke up, Jasper was sitting by the bed. "Harper, you're awake."
Harper nodded and tried to get up, but Jasper carefully helped her. "Take it easy, be careful."
Harper looked up, confused by Jasper's actions. She wasn't that fragile. "Jasper, what's up?" she asked, rubbing her aching temples.
Jasper hesitated, looking at Harper. Seeing Jasper's weird expression, Harper's heart started to race, and she asked nervously, "Jasper, what's going on?"
"I gotta tell you something. Brace yourself," Jasper said, grabbing a medical report and handing it to Harper. He took a deep breath, "You're pregnant."
Harper was stunned. She took the report, which said she had twins.
She knew each word, but together they seemed foreign. She was pregnant! And with twins!
Harper had always had trouble conceiving because of her womb issue. According to the report, it must've happened before Francis went missing. Back then, Francis had admitted that because birth control pills were bad for her health, he swapped them with vitamins. If she got pregnant, they'd keep the baby.
But because of her condition, Harper thought it wouldn't happen. Unexpectedly, the kids had really come.
Harper kept looking at the report, finding it hard to believe, and couldn't describe her feelings. Seeing no joy on her face, Jasper couldn't help but ask, "Harper, what's on your mind?"
He'd noticed something was off between Francis and her. Yesterday's fainting was probably partly due to pregnancy and blood deficiency, and partly because of something Francis had said to her. If Abigail weren't still in the ICU, Jasper would have confronted Francis long ago.
Jasper could understand Francis's feelings, so he had to hold back his anger towards him.
Harper was stunned for a few seconds, her palms getting all sweaty. "Jasper, I need some time to think about it."
"Alright, whatever you decide, I'm with you."
Harper and Jasper had this unspoken understanding over the years as siblings. Some things didn't need words; Jasper just got it.
Harper couldn't quite pin down her feelings. Pain, mixed with a bit of hopeful anticipation. If Francis knew she was pregnant, what would he think?
But then, Harper remembered Francis's cold words. Her heart felt like it was being yanked, snapping her out of her thoughts.
Harper grabbed Jasper's sleeve and said softly, "Jasper, I don't want anyone to know about this until I've figured things out."
Jasper nodded, "Got it, I'll take care of it."
After making sure she was okay, Harper went home, mostly because she was worried about Agnes. When she got home, there was a short-haired woman with square glasses in Agnes's room, chatting with her. Harper didn't recognize her and asked Zoey, "Who's that?"
Zoey replied, "She's the new psychologist. The old one is on a business trip and recommended her. Mr. Murphy checked her out and said she's good."
Agnes seemed in good spirits and not scared. Harper watched the new psychologist, Alice Williams, for a bit and didn't see any red flags. Alice was more lively than the previous psychologist, which seemed to suit Agnes better.
After chatting with Agnes, Alice asked Zoey if she could meet Harper. Zoey asked Harper, then led Alice to the living room.
Alice extended her hand to Harper, "Hi, I'm Alice Williams."
Harper replied, "Ms. Williams, nice to meet you."
Alice handed over a handwritten report, saying, "This is my analysis report on Agnes. Please take a look."
Harper took it and read it carefully.
Alice said, "From our conversation, you can see that Agnes is much stronger than you think. The only issue is she's too lonely. If you're thinking about having more kids, you might want to start planning now. Agnes really wants a sibling."
After Alice left, Harper went to Agnes's bedroom and looked at the already washed and sleeping Agnes. In the corner of the bedside table was a drawing she had made. In the picture, there was Agnes, Francis, and Harper, and a child beside them, all building a snowman together.
Instantly, Harper's nose tingled with emotion. Agnes always seemed to be the first to sense any change in Harper. She tucked Agnes in with a small blanket, walked out of the room, and went to the balcony. Looking at the neon-lit Northfield at night, she always found a unique charm in the city.
Harper asked herself, after all this time, didn't she know Francis's character? Was he really as heartless as his words suggested?
Now that she had calmed down, Harper wondered what could have driven Francis, who didn't even care about his own life, to make such a decision.
From years of knowing him, Harper knew that once Francis made a decision, he wouldn't easily change it. But Harper didn't want to give up, nor would she do so easily. She gently touched her still-flat belly, feeling the added responsibility. For Agnes and the two unborn children, she couldn't give up easily.
Harper decided to talk to him again.
Harper went to the hospital twice more to see Abigail but got turned away each time. No one was allowed in Abigail's room except Francis himself.
Feeling uneasy, Harper asked Jasper to dig around and found out that Abigail was in a coma. It wasn't great, but it wasn't the worst either; there was still a chance she could wake up.
In the following days, Harper was swamped dealing with the business mess Ryan had caused at her studio. Maybe because everyone heard Francis was back, those who had been giving Harper a hard time suddenly became more agreeable. Some merchants even waived the triple compensation and were willing to wait. Some who had already received triple compensation returned the money.
Harper didn't get it and set up a meeting with a familiar merchant to ask. They met at a restaurant in the mall and decided to have lunch together.
She was nearby and got there early. On her way up, she passed a baby store and found the cute little clothes in the window adorable. Before she could look more closely, two figures came out of the store.
The man was in a sharp suit, handsome and tall, with a woman wearing sunglasses, heavily pregnant, carrying two shopping bags from the baby store. The bags weren't heavy, and the woman held them in one hand while linking arms with the man, her smile radiating a beautiful maternal glow.
Harper's eyelids twitched as she watched the two walk towards her, feeling like she was dreaming. Her feet felt nailed to the ground, unable to move.
Audrey saw Harper, paused, then took off her sunglasses and smiled, "Francis, it's Harper."
Audrey resumed her usual fake gracious demeanor and smiled warmly at Harper. But to Harper, it was a showy, arrogant smile, with a hidden meaning only the two of them understood.
Audrey said graciously, "What a coincidence, are you shopping too?"
Harper took a moment to find her voice, "What a coincidence."
As she spoke, her eyes were fixed on Francis's sharply defined handsome face. She wanted to find a trace of the familiar Francis in his face but was shocked to find him cold and unfamiliar.
Audrey, unhappy with Harper staring at Francis, parted her lips to say something but was interrupted by him. "Let's go," Francis said.
Audrey immediately composed herself and obediently linked arms with Francis, leaving.
As Francis started to walk away, Harper stood still, not even stepping aside to let them pass. She wanted to ask, why? Even if there were issues between them, it shouldn't involve Audrey. Audrey was the one who had tried to kill her but ended up hurting him.
The incident with Chloe, although there was no direct evidence, was undoubtedly orchestrated by Audrey. And the kidnapping of Agnes, Abigail's injury, all thanks to Audrey!
Even Harper knew these things; how could Francis, so smart, not know? Or did he know and did it on purpose?
When Francis saw that Harper wasn't moving, he simply walked around her, his distant actions making it seem like the air around her was contaminated, avoiding her like the plague.
As the two walked away, Harper could still hear Audrey's voice, "Francis, the steak here is good. I want to eat it."
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