Chapter 174 Give Him Another Chance
Chapter 174 Give Him Another Chance
Steven said after thinking for a while, "Irene, I've asked Maisy to arrange a children's room for Eden.
It's next to your room. You can move back in with Eden! It'll be easier for all of us to look after each
other that way."
Irene shook her head. It was only natural for Steven to be fond of Eden. However, Deborah and Lily
were a different story. The mother and daughter duo were bad news. If they tried anything, the
consequences would be unimaginable. "You know what, I believe that you have good intentions. If you
want to see Eden, you can come by any time. I'll pass on the offer to move back."
"Are you worried about Lily? I've decided to send her to study abroad. We're making arrangements now
and it'll be done soon..." Steven started filling her in with the details of Lily's move abroad. "After she
leaves, she won't trouble you and Edric anymore."
Irene hadn't expected Steven to do all this for her. She shook her head. "Lily and her mother are just
one reason why I don't want to move back. The other reason is that I won't be staying here for long
anyways. I'm planning to move abroad, and bring Eden with me."
"You're not going to remarry Edric?" Steven was surprised.
"So far, I have no plans to."
"Irene, Edric isn't a bad person. What happened was my fault back then. Please forgive him, just this
once." Steven pleaded on Edric's behalf.
"This has nothing to do with the past..." Irene did not know how to explain her relationship with Edric.
"Then is it because of Lily? Irene, Edric never intended to be together with Lily. He was set up by that
spiteful Rowane."
Steven told Irene what Marie had told him. "Irene, Edric is not irredeemably wicked. He is also a victim
here. You should give him a chance, at least for the sake of the child."
Irene looked at Steven in surprise. She didn't know that Lily and Edric had gotten drunk and slept
together. Steven's news came as a huge surprise to her.
Regardless of whether Edric had been tricked or not, it was a fact that he had relations with Lily. Irene
smiled bitterly. Previously, she might have thought of giving Edric a chance, but how could she do so
now when such a thing had happened?
Steven had no idea what was going through Irene's mind. He bowed his head and said, "Irene, I'm an
old-timer. I can understand Edric's helplessness."
Irene interrupted him, "You mean as the two of you have committed adultery before, therefore you can
relate to him?"
"No! I haven't cheated at all," Steven defended himself.
"Back then, I had gotten drunk and done something that I shouldn't have with Deborah. My feelings for
your mother ran extremely deep. I had always blamed myself for what happened. I didn't dare to face
your mother for a long time because I was afraid that she would find out. I carried that blame and
remorse with me wherever I went." NôvelDrama.Org holds © this.
"But you were the one who invited your mistress into the household, didn't you?" Irene pointed out
bitterly. If Steven had just married Deborah after her mother died, she would have supported Steven's
decision. However, she had stayed a mistress and he had brought her into his home as such. To Irene,
this was unacceptable.
"I wasn't thinking straight back then." Steven smiled bitterly. "Irene, I know what I've done is
unforgivable. I know that I am a b*stard, and I've regretted it for half of my living years. It's because I've
experienced it before, and that's why I'm here to persuade you. You and Edric still love each other, you
can't allow the two of you to be separated just because other people are trying to break the two of you
apart. Rowane deliberately wanted to keep you away from Edric to achieve her own selfish goals. If
you leave Edric for good, then she will have gotten her way. I really hope you wouldn't let the instigator
get away with this, especially since you're suffering."
Irene stayed quiet. Steven continued to persuade her earnestly, "There will always be many
unexpected events in a person's life. What you are facing now is just a sliver of time in your long life. I
hope that you won't step aside and instead face it head on together with Edric. Think about it. If you
hadn't ran away back then and had listened to Edric's explanation, both of you would not be in this
mess today. So Irene please, give Edric another chance."
Irene's mind was in a state of confusion, because Steven's words were actually making some sense.
However, she was too shocked to hear about Rowane setting Edric and Lily up. She could not make up
her mind in such a short amount of time. "Let me think about it!"
After Steven left and Eden had been put to sleep, Irene sat at the bedside in a daze. Did Rowane
entrap Edric to sleep with Lily? It even happened on the day she left?
On that fateful night, Edric had not returned to her. She had called Edric, but Margaret had picked up
and said that he was sleeping at home that night.
The next morning, she had gone to the hospital to check on her pregnancy. After leaving the hospital,
she had received a phone call from Rowane. Rowane arrogantly boasted that she and Edric had slept
together the previous night.
At that time, she had been full of joy and excitement from the news of her pregnancy, so she had not
been particularly bothered by Rowane's provocation. Now that she thought about it, it was rather
strange. If Rowane had set Lily and Edric up, why would she want to lie to her?
Hold on! She suddenly remembered something. At that time, she had overheard a conversation
between Lily and Deborah in the garden of the hospital, and they had been talking about a checkup. At
that time, Lily was having her period. Since she was on her period, how could she have been pregnant
with Edric's child?
This was a fishy affair. Which of the two was lying, Rowane or Lily?
Steven had just left Irene's place and was about to return to the City Hall when he received a call from
Deborah on the way there. "Steven, come back quickly. Something major has happened!"
"What's the big deal?" Steven was impatient.
"L-Lily, s-she's pregnant!" Deborah stammered.
Steven just sat up straight and looked at Tommy, who was driving. "Take me home right away!"
When Steven arrived home, Deborah was pacing back and forth in the living room. Lily was sitting on
the sofa with her face covered and crying. He barged in and Deborah rushed up to talk to him. "What
should we do now?"
"Go to the hospital right away!" Steven ordered briefly.
Without even allowing an opportunity for an explanation, he wanted to get rid of the unborn child.
Deborah and Lily felt a pang of chill in their hearts. Lily continued to cry with her face in her hands,
while Deborah had a pained expression. "I've already taken Lily to the hospital when I found out.."
"So is the unborn child gone?" Steven let out a sigh of relief.
"No."
"Why didn't you get rid of it?" Steven's face suddenly darkened.
"Lily's health won't allow it!" Deborah handed Steven a report. "The doctor said Lily's health is weak. If
this unborn child is to be rid of, she will never be able to have a child ever again, so..."
Steven did not look at the report that Deborah handed him. He glanced at Deborah and Lily coldly. He
knew very clearly what Lily's intentions were with Edric. Now since she was pregnant with Edric's child,
she would definitely try her best to keep the child. This so-called 'poor health' excuse was obviously
just to prevent him from going against their schemes.
Steven groaned inwardly. Although they were both his daughters, in comparison to Lily, Steven owed
Irene more. He was the reason why she was in her current situation. He would never allow such a thing
to happen again.
Steven tried his best to make his voice sound indifferent, "Lily, don't cry. I'll bring you to have another
checkup."
These words seemed to be from a place of concern, but Deborah was well aware of what he meant.
Steven was implying that he did not believe there was anything wrong with Lily's health. She reached
out to hold Lily up and said, "Don't cry. Dad has many connections. Let's go with him to have a check-
up. Maybe it's a misdiagnosis."
She emphasised the word 'misdiagnosis'. Steven's face bore a meaningful smile and took the lead to
leave the home. Deborah helped Lily up and got in the car. Steven told Tommy, "Take us to Caulford
City."
Deborah had not expected him to go that far. He did not want her to get checked in San Fetillo. Instead,
he would rather go all the way to Caulford City which was hundreds of miles away from San Fetillo. No
matter how many connections she had, Deborah could not pull any strings there. Clearly, Steven no
longer trusted her. A cold sweat broke out on Deborah's forehead. As luck would have it, Lily actually
was weak, or else their plan would be impossible to execute.
How could Steven, who had been a public official for so many years, not know what Deborah was
thinking? He said lightly, "There are too many people in San Fetillo. We don't want this matter to be
leaked out to the public. No one will know us in Caulford City."
That was a fake explanation as to why he wanted to go that far. Since Steven wanted to act coy,
Deborah played along. She deliberately showed a flustered look. "I didn't think that far. This morning
when I realized something was wrong, I just brought her to the hospital. What do we do now? We won't
be discovered, will we?"
"I don't think so!" Steven was reluctant to discuss the topic. He took out his phone to make a call. The
phone was soon connected, and a friendly voice could be heard, "Mr. Secretary, you must be very free
today to be calling a commoner like me!"
"I have something to ask of you." Steven had a smile on his face.
"Anything for you, ask away!"
"Then I will put it bluntly. I'm asking for help to get rid of a baby."
"Get rid of a baby?" The other party was surprised. "Who did you knock up this time?"
"It's a bit shameful to talk about this matter. However, I won't hide this from an old friend. My daughter
is pregnant, but there's a problem. We can't keep the child, so I'm here to ask for your help."
"No problem, I'll wait for you in the hospital." The other party was very frank and straightforward.
Several hours later, the car stopped at the gate of a large hospital in Caulford City. Steven, Deborah
and their daughter went into the hospital together. Upon entering, Steven brought Lily over to the
obstetrics and gynecology department. His old classmate, Chris was the director of the gynecology
department. When Chris saw Steven, he immediately led Lily into an examination room. After a check-
up, he solemnly told Steven, "She has done this procedure before. It seems that there was an issue
with her surgery and it had adverse effects on her body."
"What kind of effects?"
"Let me put it this way. In her situation, she shouldn't have been able to get pregnant. It's truly a miracle
that she managed to get pregnant this time. If she undergoes this procedure again, she may not be
able to get pregnant again for the rest of her life."
Steven was surprised to discover that what Deborah said was true. He was stunned for a moment.
"Furthermore, I have something important to tell you. From the ultrasound images, she's having twins."
Steven did not care whether there were twins or not. He was worried about what to do now. If Lily could
never get pregnant again, it would be too cruel of him to ask her to go through the procedure again.
However, if he didn't, then this would definitely affect Irene and Edric. What could be done now? He
racked his brain frantically.
Deborah lightly pinched Lily's wrist, but Lily didn't react. She just stared at her mother blankly. Deborah
pinched even harder, and cried out sorrowfully. "What should I do? Lily, my poor child!"