Chapter 535
Chapter 534:
The doctor quietly prescribed a gentle prenatal vitamin, offered his congratulations once more, and slipped out of the room to give them privacy.
Jocelyn wiped her wet face. Her heart was soaring. She reached blindly for her phone on the bedside table. She needed to call Gaston. She needed to hear his voice break when she told him he was going to be a father.
Her thumb hovered over his name on the screen.
Then, suddenly, the image of Chloe’s haunted, desperate face flashed through her mind. He is a man who went mad for love.
Jocelyn’s thumb froze in mid-air. Her muscles locked.
The blinding joy collided violently with the terrifying, heartbreaking reality of her husband’s dark and traumatic past. How could she share this pure, innocent life with a man without first acknowledging the profound wounds he carried?
ѕto𝗋𝘪e𝘴 𝘆о𝘶 𝗐o𝗇’𝘁 р𝘶𝗍 𝘥о𝗐𝘯 𝗈𝗇
Jocelyn slowly lowered the phone to her lap. Her eyes darkened with conflict. Before she could tell the father of her child this news, she had to look him in the eye — and let him know she saw all of him. The monster and the broken man. And that she loved them both.
Jocelyn sat frozen against the crisp hospital pillows, her knuckles white around the edges of her phone. She stared blankly at the wall, her mind a violent battlefield between the miracle growing in her womb and the terrifying ghost of Gaston’s past.
Bella noticed the sudden shift. She poured a cup of lukewarm water from the plastic pitcher and pressed it into Jocelyn’s rigid hands.
“Jo?” Bella asked softly, her brow furrowing. “Are you worried about how Gaston will react? Because that man worships the ground you walk on. He’s going to lose his mind with happiness p>
Jocelyn offered a weak, fractured smile. “I know he will. But my head is spinning right now. I just… I need a minute to breathe p>
She took a deep, steadying breath. The joy was real, but so was the new weight of understanding. Chloe’s words had been a key, unlocking a part of Gaston he kept hidden even from himself. This news — this baby — wasn’t just an announcement. It was a new beginning for both of them, and it had to start with absolute truth.
She looked at Bella, her eyes clearing with sudden, fierce resolve.
“Bella, I need you to do something for me,” Jocelyn said, her voice dropping, gathering strength with each word. “I need you to find out where Gaston is. Not his public schedule — his real-time location. Now p>
Bella blinked, taken aback by the abrupt shift from fragile patient to commanding general. “Jo, are you sure? He’ll kill me if he finds out I’m tracking him for you p>
“He’ll be too happy to care,” Jocelyn countered, a small, genuine smile finally reaching her eyes. “Call Carter’s second-in-command. Tell him it’s a ‘Nightingale Priority’ matter. Use those exact words. He’ll give you the information p>