Chapter 4
515words
Robin's expression darkened, his refined, gentlemanly mask vanishing instantly. "Kathy, are you implying that I'm carrying some kind of disease?"
Cynthia quickly added, "Health screenings before marriage are such a common practice these days. A virtuous man like you wouldn't mind taking the test, right?
"Besides, you had such a violent reaction to the smell of seafood earlier. We're worried about your health."
"Enough!" Robin stood up abruptly, nearly knocking over a glass of water.
Kyle instinctively reached out to steady Robin by the waist, but Robin shot him a furious look, sending Kyle shrinking back into the corner.
Robin took a deep breath and straightened out his perfectly tailored suit. "Mr. Powell, it seems like your daughters harbor prejudices against me. Let's talk about the marriage proposal another day."
With that, he snatched up his briefcase and stormed out of the room.
"Kathy and Cynthia! You rebellious brats! Are you hell-bent on destroying the Powell family?" Dad bellowed.
I ignored his screaming and stared at Robin's retreating back.
Why would a normal man react with such hostility to a simple medical exam before marriage? It seemed like Robin was hiding something dark about his health.
Robin was in a hurry. As he was putting on his shoes at the entryway, his briefcase slammed into the vase stand.
With a deafening crash, the vase shattered on the ground. The latch on his briefcase snapped open, and the documents within slid across the floor.
"Are you okay, Robin?" Cynthia lunged forward and pretended to be helpful by gathering the papers.
"Don't touch my things!" Robin snarled, shoving her back as he frantically gathered the documents together.
Cynthia landed on the floor while holding a folded piece of paper. She had snatched it from the pile of contracts in the middle of the chaos.
Robin stuffed the rest of the documents back into his bag, not even bothering with a polite goodbye before storming out of the house.
Kyle stood in a corner and watched Robin disappear from sight. His eyes were filled with such worry and anxiousness that it didn't seem like someone seeing his guest off.
…
We locked the doors once we were back in the room. Cynthia pulled the crumpled slip of paper from her sleeve, her hands still visibly shaking.
"Kathy, you saw how guilty Robin looked just now. Something is definitely up!"
I took the paper from her and smoothed it out.
It was a lab report and an ultrasound scan from a prestigious private hospital in Jolenburg. Although the name had been torn off, I recognized the partial ID at the edge of the paper. It was Robin's private number.
Cynthia and I had memorized his every contact detail just to pander to him and secure the marriage proposal. There was no mistake.
I continued reading the diagnosis. "Intrauterine pregnancy, 6 weeks. Fetal heartbeat detected."
"What the hell?" Cynthia's eyes widened in surprise, her jaw dropping open.
"I wonder who got knocked up."
