Forced Marriage: My Wife, My Redemption by Lilyheart

Chapter 228: Top priority...

"Boom!" It was like a detonation in Davis’s head. The floor beneath him seemed to dip, his vision tilted. His hand trembled lightly, his eyes widening as the words continued to echo in his ears. Yet, one word resonated drowning out everything else.

"Pregnant."

It felt foreign and unfamiliar as it struck him like a thunderclap tearing through a calm sky, the sound of lightning slicing across his thoughts.

For a moment, he stood frozen, rooted to the spot,—paralyzed, staring, breath shallow, lips parted but unable to form words.

Jessica, watching his stunned silence, felt her heart race with growing trepidation. His reaction was far from what she had imagined. She didn’t know whether to fear it or brace for impact. She didn’t want to imagine his next action. She feared what he might say.

She stared at the man who had just moments ago been full of life, now turned to stone by a single sentence. Under any other circumstance, it might have been amusing. But not now. Not with something so life-altering. Perhaps she’d laugh about it later—but not now.

As Davis remained silent, unmoving, just staring at her, her nerves which had only just begun to settle after she worked hard to calm them frayed all over again.

Her pulse jumped violently. Her heart thudded in her chest, loud and fast, threatening to burst free. She couldn’t take it anymore.

She slid toward the edge of the bed and stood up slowly. His body remained still, but his eyes followed her, silently. Tentatively, she reached out and took his hand in hers, her fingers caressing the back of his palm.

"Dav, can you say something? You’re scaring me." Her voice was barely above a whisper, as if she were mumbling to herself.

Davis withdrew his gaze on her briefly as his eyes landed instead on the pregnancy test strips she’d left on the bed—their red lines glaring back at them as if daring anyone to question their truth.

lips parted, but no words came. Emotion

first discovered it, but compared to Davis, she realized

you hear what I said?" she asked again, her tone gentle

slowly. Then, without a word, he pulled her into a

where to place her hands, stunned by the

for breath. "Dav... I can’t breathe," she

and thick with emotion, "Baby, thank you. I’m proud

back, blinking rapidly. "Did you just say ’thank you’?" she asked, her

and sincere, before he pulled her

"I’m

stared at him, speechless. She had prepared herself for rejection, confusion, denial even for

slowly released her, gazing at her with awe, as though seeing her for the first time. Then he guided her gently to sit on the bed, crouching before her, his eyes searching her face as if trying to imprint

remained quiet. Her emotions were all tangled together,

said quietly. "To think that in such

hard and overwhelmed. "So...Do... does

me a reason to lift my head high again?

condition. People like you don’t always perform.

The sting of those words bit deep but he couldn’t entirely deny it because back then, a part of him had

hope. But in just a few short weeks of being with Jessica, things