With the overwhelming evidence and the large sums of money involved, Elena was sentenced to ten years in prison.
After that, Daniel completely fell apart.
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Chapter 7
He abandoned his company, drowning himself in alcohol and searching for Abigail day and night.
Meanwhile, secrets never stayed hidden for long in social circles. News of the scandal spread like wildfire.
The Cooper family became a laughingstock, and even their stock prices started to plummet.
+15 BONUS
While the Cooper family was consumed by their melodrama, I was already far away, working as a volunteer at a charity home in
the south.
Unlike most orphanages, this one only took in girls who had been abandoned by their parents.
Every staff member–from the director to the kitchen workers–was a woman.
The director, Natalie Gibson’s dream was to teach these girls that they were the most precious beings in the world.
The warmth of the sun and the children’s bright, innocent smiles slowly healed me.
One afternoon, as the sun blazed overhead, one of the girls–one who had grown especially attached to me–came running over, holding out a sun hat.
In her sweet, childlike voice, she said, “Ms. King, Ms. Gibson said the sun is too strong. You should wear this, or else the little baby in your belly will get tanned!”
Her words made me chuckle.
I took the hat from her, bent down slightly, and said, “Thank you.”
She blushed under my gaze, then bounced away happily.
As I watched the children playing, kicking a shuttlecock around the yard, I gently rested a hand on my swollen belly.
For the first time, I felt completely certain–I had made the right choice.
Yes. In the end, I did not go through with the abortion.
As I was lying on the operating table, regret had washed over me at the very last moment. I wanted to keep this child.
I had always been alone.
After my grandmother–the only person who had ever raised me–passed away, I had no family left in this world. This child was different.
He was connected to me by blood. He would be the closest family I would ever have.
I had endured so much suffering just to conceive him. I knew I had to keep him.
Of course, the moment I decided to divorce Daniel, this child ceased to have anything to do with him.
