CEO Ex-Husband, Don't Bother Me-Chapter 42: Pregnancy and Marriage (2)

A fresh wave of bitterness washed over Naomi Shaw, and her eyes welled up again. Mrs. Sommers quickly cut her off.

"Naomi, you’re very weak yourself. You should go home and rest. I’ll take care of your father!"

Naomi agreed. Her emotions were a mess, and she needed to calm down. Both her father’s illness and the baby’s arrival had caught her completely off guard. She took Mrs. Sommers’ advice, stood up, and said her goodbyes to Ian Shaw.

Tyson was waiting at the door. When he saw her emerge, he stepped forward and pulled her into a hug.

"Naomi, be brave and have the baby. If he doesn’t want it, I’ll help you raise it!"

Neither Tyson nor Naomi knew that Julian Donovan had already promised Ian Shaw he would marry her. Ian Shaw felt it was best for Naomi and Julian to discuss the matter face-to-face. Tyson simply didn’t want to see Naomi suffer any more injustice, and his words deeply touched her. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Tyson, thank you..."

’Anyone treated her better than he did, yet she remained hopelessly devoted.’

Tyson took her back to Julian’s apartment. She had wanted to go back to the Shaw Residence alone, but she knew she eventually had to face him about the baby, so she went to his place in the end. On the way there, she had made up her mind. If he didn’t want the baby, she would terminate the pregnancy, even though she desperately wanted to keep it. If he did want it, she still wouldn’t force him to marry her for the child’s sake. She would raise the baby on her own and promise that neither of them would ever bother him or his future family.

When she got back, the living room was thick with the smell of smoke. The acrid air made her choke and cough. She hurried over to open all the windows. Julian was sitting on the sofa, his expression frigid. In front of him, the ashtray was overflowing with a mountain of cigarette butts. He glanced up at her, a scornful smile playing on his lips.

"So? It must feel great to have your little scheme succeed, right? Shouldn’t you be smiling happily? Why the long face?"

Naomi looked completely bewildered.

"Julian, what do you mean?"

Julian snarled, his voice low and furious.

"Don’t you know what I mean? Naomi Shaw, I always thought you were simple and innocent. Now I see how wrong I was. You’re more calculating than anyone. First, you get pregnant on purpose, then you use your father’s illness to force him to make me marry you!"

Just moments ago in the hospital room, Ian Shaw had gotten straight to the point and made his request. He’d even called it the one and only dying wish of a terminally ill man. How could Julian refuse? It was true he had given up his studies back home and come here because of Ian Shaw. But he also had to admit that if Ian Shaw hadn’t handed over the Shaw Dominion to him, he wouldn’t be the man he was today—a commanding presence in the Argent Triangle, his enterprise at its peak. If he had stayed behind, he’d just be a doctor who had studied in Meridia, not the powerful man he had become.

Devastated by his misunderstanding, tears streamed down Naomi’s face. She explained through her sobs,

"Julian, I’m not that kind of person! I’ve been taking my pills, but... my father’s been so sick lately, I just... I forgot!"

’But the real reason was that she’d been in a daze ever since he’d defended Juliet Jennings.’

Julian stubbed out his cigarette and rose to his feet, a cold laugh escaping his lips.

"You don’t need to make any more excuses. Fine. You want to marry me? Is that it? I’ll give you what you want! But I’ll make you regret this decision!"

He took a step forward and grabbed her pointed chin. A torrent of devastating words poured from his thin lips.

"You can keep the baby, and we’ll get married. But as soon as we do, I’m leaving for Meridia. I’ve been accepted to a university there. For four years!"

Naomi’s tears finally broke free, flooding down her cheeks as if a dam had burst. She looked at him through a watery haze and cried,

"Julian, if you don’t want this baby, and you don’t want to marry me, then I’ll... I’ll terminate the pregnancy. You don’t have to marry me. But how could you think that of me!"

Julian despised her pitiful expression more than anything. In a fit of uncontrollable rage, he shoved her down onto the sofa and roared,

"Naomi Shaw, who do you think you are? You think this baby and this marriage are just things you can have or discard whenever you please?"

With that, Julian stormed out, slamming the door behind him. He left Naomi collapsed on the sofa, her heart aching so intensely she could barely breathe.

After some time, she finally managed to pull herself together and call Mrs. Sommers to ask what had happened. She didn’t mention that the matter had only made things even more strained between her and Julian. Ian Shaw took the phone, his voice tinged with resignation.

"Naomi, this is the only thing your father can do for you. I don’t know if it’s the right thing or the wrong thing, but the rest of the journey is up to you."

He couldn’t bear to see his daughter suffer so much for love, so he had swallowed his pride to secure this marriage for her. Naomi finally understood her father’s desperate intentions and was so overcome with grief she nearly cried out. Biting her lip hard, she forced her voice to sound cheerful.

"Dad... thank you!"

She managed only those two words before quickly hanging up. Then she curled up on the sofa, tears streaming down her face.

’How many people had worried themselves sick over this one-sided love of hers?’

’She had once longed so desperately to marry him, to become his rightful wife and bear his children. So why, now that her wish was about to come true, did she feel that initial, fierce obsession had faded? Is it always this way with people? Just like that song lyric: the unattainable is always yearned for, while the cherished are always complacent?’

’Two years of quiet companionship, and all she got in return was his scorn and cruelty. A chill crept into her heart. Did he really see her as such a calculating person? No, that couldn’t be it. He’s just saying these things to provoke me, to make me back down, right? After all, he has Juliet Jennings now, and suddenly my father is demanding he marry me. Of course he’s resentful.’

’Fine. So be it,’ she told herself. When she lifted her gaze again, her mind was made up.

In the private room of a bar, Julian was downing drink after drink. Of course he knew she wasn’t that kind of person. She was clumsy, even a little foolish. Yet he still couldn’t stop himself from saying those cruel things. He was already frustrated about the growing distance between him and Juliet Jennings, and then Naomi’s pregnancy and the forced marriage were suddenly thrown at him. His self-control had simply shattered.

He was just angry. Angry at being forced to marry a woman he didn’t love. It had been painful enough when he was forced to leave the woman he loved all those years ago. He had sworn that once he became powerful, he would never let anyone control him again. Yet here he was, being forced to yield once more. When he’d arrived, he had summoned a bevy of glamorous women to the private room, but they could only watch as he downed drink after drink, an intimidating chill radiating from him. None of them dared to approach. Even when he finally staggered out of the bar, not a single one dared to step forward.

As Julian stumbled out of the bar, a very young man leaped from a car and hurried over to support him.

"Donovan, are you all right?"

The young man, Arnold, was an orphan Julian had rescued from drug dealers. When Julian found him, he had been at death’s door. Fortunately, Julian’s swift medical attention had saved his life. Julian had originally intended to send him to school, but Arnold was so grateful that he insisted on using his free time to run errands. Since the boy was also clever and sharp, Julian had grown fond of him and kept him by his side, treating him like a younger brother.

’Younger brother? Sometimes, looking at Arnold would make him think of that word, and a scornful laugh would escape him. He’d almost forgotten—he had another younger brother in faraway Wincastle. Except that brother and he were as incompatible as fire and water.’

Behind Arnold, a middle-aged man also stepped out of the car. Together, they helped Julian into the back seat. The man was Julian’s "consigliere," known to all as Ken. Ken was calm, meticulous, and profoundly knowledgeable. He understood all the rules of survival in the Argent Triangle. Julian had poached him from another organization, going to great lengths to recruit him. He had shown the same persistence as the legendary Arthur Lowe in his three visits to the strategist’s cottage, convinced that a man like Ken was exactly who he needed to help him as he was starting out. In the end, Ken was moved by Julian’s sincerity and audacity, and pledged his loyalty to him.