Chapter 4

Payton POV

Meanwhile, at the testing center.

I kicked over the coffee table in front of me.

The sound of shattering glass made Vivian scream and shrink into the corner, not daring to speak.

"Get out!"

I roared.

Vivian's face went deathly pale. She grabbed her bag and fled in panic.

In the huge room, only I remained, surrounded by wreckage.

I still clutched that report in my hand.

"Paternity excluded..."

Every word mocked my presumption.

I suddenly remembered that night three months ago.

Vivian had returned from abroad that day. To welcome her back, I kicked Senna out.

What was Senna doing then?

She'd been busy in the kitchen all afternoon, making a table full of my favorite dishes. Because it was her birthday.

But what did I say when I got home?

I said, "Take the money and get lost."

Senna didn't cry or make a scene. She didn't even ask "why." She just quietly went to her room, packed her things, and disappeared into that snowy, windy night.

I always thought Senna was pretending.

I thought that after a few days, she would come back crying like before, begging me to forgive her, begging me to let her return. After all, she loved me so much-loved me to the point of having no dignity.

But now, the report told me that not only had she left, but on that very night, she'd completely severed all possibilities between us.

She took pills.

Double dosage.

How much did she not want to be pregnant with my child?

"Mr. Barrett."

Jake pushed the door open timidly.

"I just... just checked. That night after Miss Senna left the villa, she did encounter Julian. Julian had just gotten off his night shift and his car had broken down on the roadside. They... should have met then."

"And then?"

I was going insane.

"Then... a month later, they went to city hall and got married."

I felt like someone had stabbed my heart and was twisting the knife violently.

Married?

That woman who was as docile as a cat by my side, who said she only wanted to stay with me for the rest of her life, had turned around and married someone else?

"Buy that hospital."

I said.

"That guy named Julian-I want to make it impossible for him to work."

Jake broke into a cold sweat.

"Mr. Barrett, Julian is an expert in the medical field, and... he seems to be the youngest son of the Reed family. He's just kept a low profile and never joined the family business..."

The Reed family.

Although not as powerful as the Barrett family, they definitely weren't people to be trifled with.

I suddenly closed my eyes and crumpled the report into a ball.

An unprecedented sense of panic swept over me.

I seemed to have... really lost Senna.