The Billionaire CEO Betrays his Wife: He wants her back-Chapter 34: A Visit to the hospital

Mara sat at the head chair in the conference room, her laptop open, but her focus was elsewhere, she tossed the pen in her hand.

Six hours. It had been six hours since Ethan left for Paris, and still, no word from him. No text, no call, nothing. Her phone sat silently on the table, its screen dark, taunting her.

Her mind raced with questions. Had he reached safely? Was everything okay? The thoughts swirled like a storm. She reached for her phone, her fingers brushing over the screen, hovering over Ethan’s number. She wanted to call him, to hear his voice, to reassure herself that he was fine. But something held her back pride, maybe, or the fear of seeming too clingy.

She sighed and slipped the phone back into her pocket, forcing herself to focus on the meeting. But it was hard. The voices around her blurred into a dull hum, the words slipping past her like water through a sieve.

She tried to concentrate, to follow the discussion, but her mind kept drifting back to Ethan. What if something had happened? What if he was in trouble? The worry gnawed at her, relentless.

"Mara, what do you think?"

The question snapped her back to the present. She looked up, startled, to find everyone at the table staring at her. Louisa, one of the senior partners, was glaring, her arms crossed, her expression one of thinly veiled impatience.

Mara’s cheeks flushed as she realized she had no idea what had just been said. Lucy was also present at the meeting as her suspicious of Mara only grew bigger. In the absence of Ethan and Steph, she should be the one handling the case, not Mara.

"I’m sorry, I’m lost," Mara said, forcing a polite smile. "Can you go over that again?"

Louisa let out an exasperated sigh, her lips curling into a smirk. "I don’t understand why Ethan would leave such an important case to you," she said, her tone dripping with disdain.

"You seem... completely lost."

She is a friend of Lucy and like everyone else in the firm, they give her the utmost respect because they believe she would be the future Mrs. Anderson. Why? Because Lucy is the only one Ethan has ever been nice to in the firm.

The words stung, but Mara kept her composure. She could feel the weight of everyone’s eyes on her, their judgment, their doubt.

Louisa had never been her biggest fan, but this was different. This was outright hostility. Mara straightened in her chair, her smile never wavering.

"I apologize for the distraction," she said, her voice calm and steady. "Let’s go over the details again, and I’ll make sure to give you my full attention."

The meeting dragged on, but Mara forced herself to focus. She asked questions and made notes, and by the time it was over, she had managed to turn the tide. The team left the room with a newfound respect for her, their earlier skepticism replaced by cautious admiration.

Even Louisa seemed grudgingly impressed, though she didn’t say a word.

As the room emptied, Mara finally allowed herself a moment to breathe. She pulled out her phone again, her thumb hovering over Ethan’s number. This time, she didn’t hesitate. She pressed call and held the phone to her ear, her heart pounding as she waited for him to pick up.

The phone rang once, twice, three times. Just as she was about to give up, she heard his voice.

"Mara?" Ethan sounded tired but relieved. "I was just about to call you."

The sound of his voice was like a balm to her frayed nerves. "Ethan," she said, her voice soft but urgent. "Are you okay? You hadn’t called, and I was worried."

"I’m fine," he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "I just landed and got caught up in something. I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner."

Mara closed her eyes, letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. "I’m just glad you’re safe," she said. "Call me later, okay? Let me know how things are going."

"I will," Ethan promised. "And Mara?"

"Yes?"

"I miss you already and oh what did the doctor say?"

The words warmed her, and for the first time since he left, she felt a flicker of hope. "I miss you too, he said it’s nothing, I’m okay," she said softly, she was too busy and distracted to go to a doctor. "Be careful, Ethan."

Then he hung up, she felt a renewed sense of determination as she slipped her phone back into her pocket.

The days went by very fast just like that in the blink of an eye three days had passed, and Mara’s morning sickness persisted so she finally decided to see the doctor.

Mara sat in the doctor’s office, the sterile white walls closing in around her. The air felt heavy, thick with the weight of the words she had just heard.

The doctor’s smile was warm and congratulatory, but Mara couldn’t bring herself to return it. Her hands trembled as she stared at the report in her lap, the words blurring together as her mind raced.

"Congratulations, you’re pregnant," the doctor had said, her voice cheerful, as if she had just delivered the best news in the world. But to Mara, it felt like the ground had been ripped out from under her.

"I’m pregnant?" she mumbled, her voice barely audible. Her gaze was fixed on the report, but she wasn’t really seeing it. Her mind was a whirlwind of disbelief, confusion, and fear. This isn’t possible, she thought, her chest tightening. Ethan is sure he can’t father a child.

The doctor’s voice faded into the background as Mara’s thoughts spiraled. She hadn’t slept with anyone else. She hadn’t woken up in any strange place, hadn’t done anything that could explain this. And yet, the report in her hands said otherwise. It was there, in black and white. Pregnant.

Her heart pounded in her chest, each beat echoing the questions she couldn’t answer. How? How could this happen? Ethan had been so sure, so certain. They had both accepted it and had even started to make peace with the idea of a life without children. And now this. This impossible, inexplicable miracle.

Mara’s hands tightened around the report, her knuckles turning white. She felt a wave of nausea rises in her throat, but she swallowed it down, forcing herself to breathe.

She needed to think, to process this. But her mind was a jumble of emotions—shock, disbelief, and beneath it all, a tiny flicker of hope. A hope she didn’t dare acknowledge, not yet.

The doctor was saying something about the next steps, about prenatal care and scheduling follow-up appointments, but Mara barely heard her. She nodded mechanically, her mind still reeling. She needed to get out of here, needed to breathe, to think. "You don’t look happy,"

"Yes I’m not happy," Mara had said, her voice hollow, her gaze distant. "I don’t know who the father is."

The doctor had paused, his eyebrows knitting together in a mix of surprise and disapproval. But as Mara explained further her voice trembling but firm the doctor’s expression shifted.

He listened carefully, his professional demeanor returning as he processed Mara’s words.

"I have never cheated on my husband," Mara said, her voice steady now, though her hands still shook. "Never. It’s just that he’s sure he can’t have kids, so I wonder... how did this happen?"

The doctor let out a small sigh of relief, his earlier judgment fading. Mara didn’t strike her as the type to be unfaithful. There was something about her the way she carried herself, the honesty in her eyes that reminded the doctor of his own sister. A sister he had lost. The same quiet strength, the same determination.

"It happens, actually," the doctor said, his tone gentler now. "You’re naturally fertile, so it’s possible. Sometimes, these things defy expectations. It’s rare, but not impossible."

Mara blinked, her mind struggling to process the information. Naturally fertile? Was it really that simple? She wanted to believe it, to cling to the hope that this was some kind of miracle, but the doubt still gnawed at her.

How could she be sure?

"All the same," the doctor continued, his voice calm and reassuring, "can I get a blood sample? Just to be sure everything is fine. It’s standard procedure, and it might help put your mind at ease."

Mara nodded slowly, her thoughts still swirling. "Yes, that’s fine," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She needed answers, needed to know for sure. If this was real, if this was truly happening, she had to be certain.

The doctor stood, gesturing for Mara to follow him to the small lab adjacent to the office.

Mara rose on unsteady legs, her mind still reeling. She felt like she was walking through a dream, everything around her slightly out of focus, slightly unreal.

As the doctor prepared the needle, Mara sat down on the edge of the chair, her arm extended. She barely felt the prick of the needle, her mind too preoccupied with the storm of thoughts raging inside her. Pregnant. Naturally fertile. Ethan. The words circled in her head, each one carrying its own weight, its own implications.

When the blood sample was taken, the doctor placed a small bandage over the spot and gave Mara a reassuring smile. "We’ll have the results soon," he said. "Try not to worry too much. Sometimes, life surprises us in the best ways."

Mara nodded, though her mind was still a whirlwind. She stood, clutching the report tightly, and made her way out of the office.

The hallway seemed longer than before, the fluorescent lights buzzing overhead. She felt like she was moving in slow motion, her body heavy, her thoughts scattered.

As she stepped outside, the cool air hit her face, jolting her back to reality. She took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling as she tried to steady herself. The world around her seemed too bright, too loud, too much.

She needed to sit down, to process this, but her legs carried her forward, driven by some instinct she couldn’t name.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she fumbled to pull it out. It was Ethan. He was coming back tonight. The thought sent a fresh wave of emotions crashing over her.

How was she supposed to tell him? How could she explain something she didn’t even understand herself?

She stared at his name on the screen, her thumb hovering over the answer button. But she couldn’t bring herself to pick it up. Not yet.

Not until she had figured out what to say.

Mara slipped the phone back into her pocket, her mind still spinning. She was pregnant. Pregnant. The word echoed in her head, over and over, a mantra she couldn’t escape.

She didn’t know how, or why, or what it meant. But one thing was clear her life was about to change in ways she couldn’t even begin to imagine. And as she stood there, the report still clutched in her hand, she felt a strange mix of fear and hope, a sense that nothing would ever be the same again.