Chapter 265
Felix spilled the beans to Natalie about tagging along with Bella to the hospital for an abortion.
"Felix! Are you outta your mind?" Natalie snapped.
"Natalie, we owe Bella big time, and we gotta pay her back, no matter what!" Felix tried to explain.
Natalie let out a heavy sigh, feeling kinda stuck, and said, "Even if we owe her, it's a debt your mom and I gotta settle. You don't need to get mixed up in this anymore!"
Felix frowned, "Grandma."
"Enough, just listen to me. Don't let Bella mess up things with Gianna. Oh, and I heard she didn't go through with the abortion yesterday?"
Felix nodded, "Yeah, she decided to keep the baby."
Natalie went quiet for a bit, then asked, "Did she ask for money or anything? I mean, the baby is technically a Clinton, even if Thomas is a total jerk, but..."
Before she could finish, Felix cut her off, "Grandma, she said the kid is hers alone and has nothing to do with Thomas or the Clinton family."
Natalie didn't say anything for a moment, lost in thought, then finally nodded, "That's probably for the best."
The Redstone Mansion.
Lauren was livid when she found out that Bella planned to keep the baby. She yelled, "Bella, what are you thinking? Thomas is MIA, and even if he comes back, he can't take over the Clinton Group. If you keep this baby, what guy's gonna wanna marry you?"
"Mom, the doc said if I abort this baby, I might not be able to have kids ever again, and I could even bleed out!"
Lauren was stunned, collapsing onto the sofa, her eyes going blank.
"How could this be?" Lauren muttered.
Bella sat next to her and said softly, "Mom, even if I abort this baby, everyone in Dawnridge knows about my thing with Thomas. If I have this baby, I might be able to snag a piece of the Clinton family pie."
Lauren frowned, "But didn't you tell Felix the baby has nothing to do with the Clintons?"
"Yeah, it doesn't before it's born, but after it's born, if the Clintons wanna see the baby, can I stop them?"
"But Thomas has done so much crap. How could the Clintons like his kid?" Lauren worried.
"Don't sweat it. I got my ways," Bella replied.
She had some dirt on them and was waiting for the right moment to drop it.
Seeing Bella's resolve, Lauren had no choice but to agree. Besides, she had her own battles to fight with Daisy to make sure she and her kid didn't take over the Redstone Group!
Lauren and Bella had their own agendas. After dinner, Bella took off.
She didn't head back to her villa but grabbed some fruit and went to the hospital to see Ximena and Natalie.
Natalie saw her and said coolly, "Thanks, Bella."
Bella could tell Natalie still wasn't her biggest fan, and her smile faltered for a sec.
"Natalie, how's your health?" Bella asked.
"Much better," Natalie replied.
After a pause, Natalie glanced at Bella's slightly showing belly and said, "Felix told me you're keeping the baby?"
Bella nodded, "Yeah, the doc said this might be my only shot at having a kid."
"Have you thought about how keeping this baby might bring a ton of heat on you and the kid down the line?"
Bella paused for a few seconds, then said slowly, "Yeah, I've thought about it, but I don't care. The Redstone family can back this kid up."
Natalie was quiet for a bit, then said, "As long as you're sure about this."
Bella hung around for a while longer, then got up to say goodbye to Natalie and went to see Ximena.
Compared to Natalie, Ximena was way more chill with her, especially since Bella had kept her secret.
Bella stayed in Ximena's room until the afternoon, but Felix didn't show up, which bummed her out a bit.
Noticing her distraction, Ximena said, "Bella, if you got stuff to do, you can go. You don't have to stick around here with me."
Bella shook her head and smiled, "It's cool, Ximena. I don't have much going on lately."
Ximena lowered her head, her eyes lingering on Bella's belly for a second, a flash of resentment in her eyes.
If it weren't for Thomas, she wouldn't have been humiliated and almost unable to survive. Since she suffered, she wouldn't let his child be born into this world!
They chatted for a bit longer, and then Felix and Gianna showed up.
Gianna hadn't seen Bella in ages but didn't say hi, treating her like a stranger.
Bella stood up and looked at Felix, "Felix, I had some free time today, so I came to see Ximena. Since you're here, I'll bounce now."
Felix's expression was indifferent, "Okay."
After Bella left, Ximena looked at Felix unhappily, "Why do you bring Gianna here? Don't you know I feel uncomfortable seeing her?"
Gianna raised an eyebrow, wanting to snap back, but held it in, considering Ximena was still in the hospital.
"Felix, I'll wait for you outside," Gianna said.
"Hold up!" Felix shouted.
Ximena angrily said, "Bella knew to bring fruit when she came to see me. What did you bring? You are impolite and lowbrowed!"
Felix frowned and was about to speak when Gianna turned back to Ximena and said, "Didn't you say you feel uncomfortable seeing me? Then you would also feel uncomfortable seeing the things I bought, right?"
Ximena snorted coldly, "Whether I like it or not is my business, but you should have manners!"
Gianna smiled, "I did have my assistant buy some supplements, but you probably wouldn't like them."
Ximena was about to retort when the ward door was pushed open.
Otis came in carrying several boxes of supplements and looked at Gianna, "Ms. Redstone, these are the things you asked me to buy."
Gianna's expression was indifferent, "Take them away. Ximena might feel too uncomfortable to sleep if she sees these things!"
Otis was confused, but he didn't say much, turning to leave with the stuff.
Ximena gritted her teeth in anger. Gianna was deliberately using her words to provoke her!
"Take them away. I don't care for these things. Bella is more considerate, knowing to buy my favorite fruits!" Ximena mocked.
Gianna ignored her and walked out of the ward.
Arguing with Ximena wouldn't bring any sense of accomplishment, even if she won.
Watching her leave, Ximena was furious, "Felix, look at her attitude."
Felix's expression was cold, and he said word by word, "Mom, I hope you understand that Gianna is my girlfriend, not your servant. Since you don't like her, I'll try to let you see her less in the future. But I also hope you won't talk against her in front of me again!"
