Chapter 046 The Escape
Upon grasping the implications, Avery swiftly extracted her phone from her pocket and dialed Alice's number. "Alice, are you concealing something from me?" she inquired, her voice laced with suspicion.
"Mother, I assure you I'm not," Alice responded, her voice wavering slightly.
Avery's tone hardened, "Do you dare to deceive me? Natalie is pregnant, eight weeks along. What exactly is going on, Alice?"
Alice gasped in shock, "What?" She thought to herself, "Natalie got pregnant just like that? What kind of luck does she possess?"
Avery sensed a hint of unease in Alice's voice, softening her tone, "Alice, are you keeping secrets from me?"
Alice was cornered, unable to confess the truth about drugging someone and her non-virginal status. She quickly fabricated a story, "Natalie was with Adrian that night, and I happened to walk in on them. I made Natalie keep it a secret so I could impersonate her."
"Why didn't you disclose this to me earlier?" Avery questioned, her voice echoing disappointment.
"Mom, I was frightened too," Alice confessed. Avery calmed down, realizing that now was not the time to reprimand Alice. The immediate concern was to address the child growing inside Natalie.
Avery ended the call abruptly, pulling out a bank card from her pocket and handing it to the doctor. "This child needs to disappear!" he declared, his voice echoing in the sterile room.
"The procedure requires the patient or a guardian to sign consent," the doctor responded hesitantly.
As the doctor wavered, Natalie's eyes fluttered open. "My head aches terribly. Where am I?"
Her vision gradually adjusted to the unfamiliar surroundings. The sterile white of the room and the distinct scent of disinfectant were overwhelming. She could faintly hear Avery's conversation with the doctor.
'A child? Am I pregnant?' she thought in shock, instinctively touching her abdomen.
The realization dawned on her that if she were indeed pregnant, the baby would be Adrian's. She recalled the night at the hotel with Adrian; in her panic afterward, she had forgotten to take her contraceptive pill. When her period did not come last month, Natalie had assumed it was due to fatigue and stress.
Fear gripped Natalie as she stumbled out of the bed, determined to escape. However, Avery's bodyguards quickly restrained her. She struggled fiercely, crying out, "Let me go, let go of me! Avery, what you're doing is illegal!"
Avery approached her, seized her hair with one hand, and slapped her across the face with the other. "You wretch, had I not brought you here for a check-up, I would never have discovered your little secret. You thought you could have Adrian's child and use it to threaten us? Dream on!"
Natalie felt a numbness on the left side of her face, and she tasted blood at the corner of her mouth. With a dismissive motion, Avery ordered, "Tie her to the operating table!"
The bodyguards dragged a fiercely struggling Natalie toward the table. She fought back with all her might, managing to sink her teeth into one guard's arm deeply enough that he released her. Seizing the opportunity, Natalie sprinted out of the room.
Enraged, Avery yelled, "Wretch!" Turning to the remaining bodyguards, she chastised, "You can't even restrain a frail woman? You useless idiots, go catch her!"
Clutching her belly, Natalie ran. She had only just discovered her pregnancy, but already, eight weeks in, her maternal instincts had kicked in.
Uncertain of her destination, she thought, "Should I seek refuge with the Cullen family? Would Mr. Cullen help me? Where can I find sanctuary? Should I head to Riverside Villa?"
With gritted teeth and indecision gripping her, Natalie heard Avery closing in from behind. She hailed a cab and, after a moment of hesitation, she finally instructed the driver, "Riverside Villa, please."
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