I walked over and he pulled me down onto the bed beside him. He murmured, “I thought we were going to sleep in separate beds?”
“Huh, you’re right.” I stood up and continued expressionlessly, “Well, you have a good night’s sleep then!”
With that said, I made to leave. His hand darted out to grab my arm as he complained, “Were your ancestors mules? Why do you have to be so stubborn?”
“You only realize that now?” I retorted while scowling at him.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, he reeled me back to the bed and pushed me down beside him. He pecked my forehead lightly, uttering, “Go to sleep now. You shouldn’t be staying up so late.”
His palm landed on my belly before he added lowly, “It’s not good for him if you don’t sleep.”
It was not like I did not know that. But the problem was that a lot of the time, I could not control my emotions. That was the reason for the sleepless nights.
He settled down beside me, gesturing for me to close my eyes and sleep.
I lay there for a good long while. Even after shifting my position several times, sleep eluded me. I was uncomfortable, tired, and annoyed. At last, I sat up and growled furiously, “Ashton, I don’t want this baby anymore! He’s the reason I can’t sleep!”
He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. “Where are you feeling uncomfortable? Shall I give you a massage?”
“My arms and legs are incredibly sore and swollen. Not to mention the weight of my belly is so heavy I can hardly breathe!” All these were true statements. The baby had been growing immensely in the past two months. Now, even walking was difficult sometimes. Quite often, I found myself out of breath because of the baby.
He snickered and had me turn on my side. Then, he began to massage my arms and legs for me.
Although his ministrations did not really help much, his presence was enough to soothe me into sleep not long later.
The next morning, I woke up feeling like I was suffocating. Usually, I liked to sleep on my back, which was why I would subconsciously move in my slumber to assume that position.
Hence, my massive belly would press down on me, causing me to run out of breath.
I rolled over onto my side until I could finally catch my breath. It was then I noticed that Ashton was no longer in the study.
When I went downstairs, Molly had already cooked breakfast.
Not really having much of an appetite, I did not eat much. She asked me anxiously, “Is the food not to your liking? What would you like to eat instead? You can tell me and I’ll make it for you right away!”
I shook my head, not wanting to eat anything.
Heading out to the yard, I wandered around for a bit. Exhausted from not sleeping well the night before, I climbed into the hammock and was asleep within moments.
Just when I was sleeping rather soundly, I could vaguely feel something crawling up my leg. It felt soft and smooth. I shook my leg slightly but it was no use. The feeling remained.
Forced to wake up, I looked down to see what the thing was. Since it was an incredibly hot summer day, I was wearing a short dress. I instantly caught sight of the black and white snake slithering up my leg. The snake reared back its head and hissed, flashing its fangs at me. Goosebumps formed all over my skin.
My entire body was shaking with fear. I instinctively swatted at the snake, but the violent motion caused me to fall out of the hammock. I shrieked, “Get away from me!”
My scream attracted the attention of everyone in the villa. The doctor, housekeeper, and bodyguards rushed toward me. When they saw me on the ground, all the color drained from their faces.
Dr. Linnard, who had come with us from J City, swiftly ordered, “Call an ambulance! We have to get her to the hospital right now!”
Blinking in surprise, I looked down when I felt something wet beneath me. To my confusion, there was a large and growing patch of liquid. What is that?
I did not even get a chance to recover from my snake scare when I was shocked by the liquid seeping out of me.
I clutched Dr. Linnard’s arm tightly, my voice high with panic, “Will the baby be fine? What’s going to happen?”
She held me and gestured for two bodyguards to help me stand up. “Both of you will be fine. Relax. We’re just going to the hospital for a checkup, okay? Does your abdomen hurt?”
I shook my head and replied truthfully, “No.”
Nodding, she reassured me, “Then everything should be just fine. Don’t worry and don’t get stressed out!”
In no time at all, I was whisked off to the hospital where the doctor examined me carefully. Fortunately, I was not feeling any pain in my abdomen at all. Other than some secretions, everything was fine.
However, due to my earlier fright, I had to be hospitalized for a few days for further observation.
It was already afternoon when Ashton arrived to visit me. Joseph came with him as well. After finding out what exactly happened, his brows knitted and he asked the bodyguard, “Why was there a snake in the villa?”
The bodyguard’s expression was solemn as he answered, “We do a sweep of the yard every day to check for snakes and other dangerous pests. We also make sure to renew the pest repellants. There shouldn’t have been snakes anywhere near the villa.”
Ashton glanced at Joseph and commanded, “Get to the bottom of this!”
Joseph nodded in understanding.
Everyone left the room, leaving Ashton and me alone. I gazed at him and stated, “Ashton, I want to head back to J City!”
I really did not feel comfortable staying here in K City. What happened earlier today only made me even more unsettled.
He took my hand in his and comforted me, “Okay. We’ll go back next week. I still have some matters to attend to at the company. Once everything is settled, we can return home.”
Ashton was kept busy with company matters and so was unable to spend much time with me. I was bored out of my mind as I stayed at the hospital alone. By that point, I was close to eight months pregnant. I would be giving birth soon.
After three days of observation, I was discharged from the hospital. Since I could not find my phone, I borrowed Molly’s to call Ashton. My original plan was for him to come and pick me up. Unfortunately, nobody picked up even after the phone rang for a very long time.
The second time I called him, he had turned off his phone.
