Prosperous Marriage: Married to My Brother-in-law-Chapter 439 - 438_1

The knocking from outside the door stopped. Julia walked over, pulled up a chair, and sat down across from Adele Horne. She closed her work laptop and set it aside.

With the laptop put away, Adele had to stop what she was doing. She immediately stood up again, walked to the window, and pushed it open once more. The chilly wind blew in, seeming to freeze the tears on her face into beads of ice.

"Adele," Julia said tenderly as she came up beside her, closing the window again before turning to face her. "What are you doing? In such cold weather, you’ll really catch a cold if you keep letting the wind blow on you like this."

"I don’t want this child! I want to catch a cold, a severe cold. A severe cold might make me miscarry!" Adele’s voice was hoarse, filled with desperation and pain, tears streaming down her face like pearls from a broken string.

She knew she had been too willful, unreasonable, and difficult in the past. She knew people didn’t like being friends with her, and she knew Heaven was punishing her now! Betrayed and harmed by her best, her only, friend—she was doomed. For the past month, she had pretended in front of her family and outsiders that nothing was wrong. Her family thought time had dulled her pain. Outsiders had no idea that she, the esteemed Miss Horne, was no longer chaste. But whenever she was alone, she could never forget the reality. And now, she was even left with this bastard child! Heaven’s retribution was too cruel!

Julia felt as if her heart were being torn apart. She immediately took Adele into her arms, trying to comfort her wounded sister-in-law with her own warmth.

As a woman, she understood how Adele felt. Whether in television dramas or real life, losing one’s virginity unwillingly always left an indelible shadow on a woman’s heart, even driving some of the more fragile ones to suicide.

"Adele, why put yourself through this?" Julia sighed with heartache.

"Sister-in-law, take me to the hospital, right now. I want to get rid of this child. I don’t want it in my stomach for another minute!" Adele suddenly grabbed Julia’s hand, pleading through her sobs.

She had been on the verge of a breakdown since learning she was truly pregnant yesterday, and now she was teetering on the edge.

"Adele, have you thought this through? Have you really decided?" Julia gently pushed her away and, holding her shoulders, asked with concern.

As her sister-in-law, she couldn’t advise Adele to keep the baby. After all, Adele was only twenty-two and could still marry. Her life was still long. If she were pregnant out of wedlock, any future marriage prospects would be marred by gossip, and it would be difficult for her to marry into a good family. With Adele’s pride, how could she bear being gossiped about? How could she be willing to marry into a lesser family?

Tears in her eyes, Adele nodded firmly.

Julia took her back to the desk, pulled out several tissues from the pack on it, and wiped away Adele’s tears. "Alright then," she said, "your brother and I will take you to the hospital now. The city central hospital is always crowded, and they’ll keep medical records. Do you still want to go there?"

Adele calmed herself slightly and thought for a moment before shaking her head. "My brother has many friends, and one of them has a family that owns a hospital. Ask him to contact them." She didn’t want to leave a record at a public hospital. For young ladies of their standing, the slightest rumor could be blown out of proportion by the media; she had to be extremely careful with something like this.

Julia nodded and, taking Adele’s hand, led her out of the office.

Glades Horne stood outside, his back to the office door, hands thrust into his trouser pockets—a posture he adopted only when deeply frustrated and unable to vent.

Upon hearing the door open, he swiftly turned around.

"Glades."

Just as he was about to speak, Julia stepped forward, pulled him to the side, and relayed Adele’s actions and decision to him.

"I’ll kill that bastard Black!" Glades suddenly roared with fury, slamming his fist into the solid wall.

"Glades!" Julia quickly grabbed his hand, preventing him from injuring himself in his rage.

Glades turned, strode over to Adele, grabbed her arm, and pulled her toward the stairs.

"Glades..." Julia’s voice carried a hint of helplessness.

Couldn’t he be a little gentler? Adele’s heart was already bleeding, and his rough actions were like rubbing salt in her wounds.

「Half an hour later.」

In the Dean’s office of a large private hospital, Glades Horne sat with a thunderous expression.

A man about his age sat across from him, cautiously regarding Glades, who looked close to exploding.

"Glades..."

"Shut up! Don’t bother me!" Glades snapped, and the man’s tentative voice immediately fell silent.

Julia and Adele were not in the Dean’s office; they had quietly gone to the obstetrics and gynecology department.

In a large hospital, many women came for abortions every day.

Some were like Adele, pregnant before marriage, opting for abortion because they were young and lacked the means to raise a child. Others were married women who had an unexpected pregnancy they didn’t want. Surprisingly to Julia and Adele, most of the women were around Adele’s age.

The married women were accompanied by their husbands. Perhaps some husbands wanted children and were trying to talk things over with their wives. Others, who also didn’t want the child, were anxiously anticipating the pain their wives would soon endure.

As for the unmarried pregnant women, some were accompanied by boyfriends, others by female friends. Every woman there for an abortion had a look of fear on her face.

She’d heard that abortions were terrifying. Adele had come to see if others found the procedure painful.

"Are you okay?" At that moment, a woman who had just had an abortion was wheeled out of the surgery room by a nurse, her face ashen. Her boyfriend, waiting outside, hurried forward and asked with concern.