Sara moved out of her sitting position and lashed out at him. "What? Did I do something wrong to you?"
Jacob was quite determined to grab the pillow from her arms, but she quickly swept his hands away.
He was embarrassed with how that attempt ended up, and said, "Sara, I have something to tell you.
But promise me you won't be angry. I need you to promise me that first."
She felt it was something serious upon hearing him beg like that. 'What did he mean by that, some kind
of imparity clause? Now I have to be the one to promise something first?' she thought. Her expression
changed into a strangely aggrieved demeanor.
"Whatever you say. I can't promise you anything if I don't know what you're going to say in the first
place. You know what, I don't care. But, Jacob, what's the matter with you today? Tell me."
She clenched her fists, and some hints of anger crept up in her. But her curiosity overlapped above all
the faculties of her human emotion. It could be observed clearly that even Jacob was afraid and unsure
of what he was about to say.
However, he knew that it would take a very specific thing to make someone like Sara angry. Either way,
she could not figure out what he was referring to. The uncertainty clouded all her suspicions and left
her in the dark. She started to feel infuriated by that notion.
There was something out there that she should know about, but it was annoying for her to think that it
was now completely out of her control. Jacob stared at her for a good while with his usual empty eyes.
It almost looked as if he was lost in her eyes.
"Sara, something happened. It's about Alice," he finally uttered. He lost his confidence almost
immediately after observing her take a rather tough stance. He was really different now—so different
that his most beloved woman had become his weakness.
Back then, he could just simply ignore her feelings and do whatever he wanted to do. But he found
himself head over heels with this woman that he'd be willing to protect her from anything that might hurt
her.
Perhaps this was the difference between love and being an empty shell of a man. He didn't have time
to heave a sigh, and he just wanted to settle this matter as soon as he could. But it seemed too difficult
even for him.
"What's the matter?" Sara felt that it seemed to be something exploding in her mind all at once. The
ringing of metaphorical tinnitus was still lingering in her ears. She slowly looked up, and keenly studied
his face.
He felt an ache in his heart as he saw the wary look on Sara's face. He hadn't seen such an expression
from her for such a long time. At the same time, a hint of guilt rose into his heart. He was reluctant to
tell her what exactly happened because he loved her too much to share that much burden to her. He
couldn't bear risking breaking her heart again.
"Today, Alice gave me a call to tell me that she's pregnant." He looked straight at her with a pair of
determined eyes. He waited for her reaction.
She stood up and angrily threw the pillow she was tightly holding in her hand. She turned to leave
without a word. 'How could I miss something big of a news like that?' she thought. If anything, she was
angrier at herself. This meant that the photos that Alice had sent her before were true all along; which
meant that Jacob not only cheated on her, but lied on her face for a long time.
'This was all a lie!' she thought out loud. She felt that her head would explode in anger at any given
moment.
'How could he do something like this over and over again, just to get away with it every single time?!' At
this point, if anyone would tell her that her life had always been a joke, she would believe them. She
was about reaching her threshold in dealing with his mess.
He stood up as well and ran after her and hugged her from behind. She lashed out and tried to break
free from his grasp, but to no avail.
He didn't dare to let her go.
"Listen to me, Sara. Don't act on impulse. I was afraid that you would get angry, so I didn't bother telling
you about it. But please calm down."
He felt that his initial idea that he could manage to persuade her to calm down seemed to have been
proven impossible now.
"Let go of me! Are you trying to put the blame on me, now?! Jacob, you have to start learning how to
take responsibility for your own actions! I don't care, and I don't have to care! Either way, we still
haven't officiated our marriage yet, so you two can be together again."
Her statement was covered with a sly tone of her voice. She felt disgusted by the news. Hell, she felt
disgusted even picturing Alice in her head. To make matters worse, Alice was pregnant with his child
now. Of course, he didn't tell her that.
'You think I'm stupid or something?!' she thought. She had seen the photos that Alice sent her before.
No matter how Jacob kept insisting that he remembered nothing about that night, it didn't mean that
nothing actually happened, and that they could just forget about it and move on.
Her mind was in total mess. If she couldn't be with Jacob, then she'd be left with a meaningless life.
'Didn't God help people achieve happiness? How come I've only received pain and suffering?' Her
thoughts wandered off on and on.
The anger she felt compelled her to push him away as best as she could. She would never let herself
get dragged into this mess. No matter in what approach he chose to tell her about it, she was nothing
but an observer, and that meant she was more or less a powerless individual.
She was nothing but an angry bystander, and this fact was more than enough to crush her heart. Did
this mean she deserved to be deliberately hurt?
Such a notion completely changed Sara. Although her life seemed to be nothing of significant now, she
must try all she could to make it count, at the very least.
However, she knew the peace she would have could not last long. The past would always find its way
to resurface in the future, haunting her like a ghost creeping in the dark.
Jacob tried his best to say the news in a gentle way. "I really have no idea what happened that day,
Sara," he explained further. "I remember absolutely nothing after she drugged me. So, please calm
down. We can talk about it."
She looked at him with a rather cold and intimidating eyes. However, her face was now calm. "That's it.
I have nothing to say to you. Do whatever you want. If you can't handle it well on your own, don't go
bothering me about it."
He was emotionally smart enough to understand the deep despair she felt in her heart. However, he
could never fathom the exact depth of that despair.
After experiencing so much emotional baggage herself, Sara had thought that the bitterness would
come to an end, but she had no idea what was about to come to her life. Everything was only the
beginning.
"Sara… Can't you just please calm down? Didn't you know how much I care about you from the bottom
of my heart? Sara, I need you to tell me what you think about me. Can't you feel my love for you?"
He couldn't help but reciprocate her intimidating response when he heard her talk back to him in that
manner. Meanwhile, James was in his bedroom when he heard the commotion outside between the
two. Despite that, he didn't bother opening the door to see what was going on.
Jacob finally let go of Sara to question her himself. It was such a bold action, but he just wanted to
cover up his fear by increasing his voice. Almost like he did it out of reflex.
"Jacob, a louder voice won't solve your problem. Let me ask you, what are you going to do with this
matter? If it's proven that the child is yours, what are you going to do?"
She looked straight at him with her bright, spiteful eyes. For a moment there, he was frozen in place.
He just wanted to have a fruitful talk with her, but it seemed that there was no way back once she
started firing her flurry of words at him.
He thought initially that he could somehow convince her to have a discussion as soon as they both
calmed down. But now it seemed impossible, and he just couldn't find a room for negotiation.
"Sara, trust me. I would willingly accept the responsibility. And if it was proven to be indeed mine, we
can just ask Alice to have it aborted. If she insists on raising the child, I will only pay for child support."
He rested his hands on his pockets, and he was now back to his usual calm and composed self.
However, his reply only further infuriated her.
"Abortion? What are you talking about? Did you also come up with that idea before? Jacob, how
heartless can you be? The child didn't do something wrong to deserve such a fate! If you don't want a
kid, then you should've thought about being more careful before!"
She caressed her belly unconsciously as tears started streaming down her face. 'Did he think of the
same thing when he pushed me down the stairs?' she thought.
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