Maeve Reese never expected such terrible luck. After finding a chance to escape, she was caught immediately.

She thought, Why did he have to return now?

Maeve braced herself and retorted, "So what if I wanted to escape? How many times must I tell you? We're divorced! Please, let me go!"

"Where do you plan to go? To find Alex?" Byron McDaniel asked, his cool fingers pinching her earlobe, his eyes dark and deep.

Maeve was about to deny it, but thought, Why should I explain anything to him?

She took a deep breath and replied, "Byron, do you really find this amusing? You're about to be engaged to Miss Anderson, and yet you're still entangled with me. Isn't that disgraceful?" Byron let out a cold laugh. "Entangled with you? Maeve, you think too highly of yourself."

He thought, If she hadn't been determined to abort my child, would I have had to lock her up?

"Then let me go!" Maeve shot back.

Byron straightened, looking down at her. "You can leave, but you'll leave the child behind."

Maeve's face turned pale, her eyes filled with resistance. She screamed, "No! Don't even think about it! This is my child. Whether I keep it is my choice! You can't force me!"

She thought, I'm not asking him to give birth to it or raise it. Why is he so fixated on making me abort my child? Does he really hate me that much?

However, Byron interpreted her words differently. His gaze grew increasingly disappointed. "Maeve, how could there be such a cruel woman?" he asked.

Even a tiger doesn't eat its cubs, yet this woman wants to kill her child. Is she really so unwilling to give birth to my child? he thought, his jaw tightening, his face as cold as ice.

Byron McDaniel's cheeks tightened, his face as cold as ice.

"Whether this child stays or goes is not up to you," Byron stated, striding out and slamming the door.

Maeve's shoulders slumped, her eyes hollow as she stared at the closed door. The bitterness threatening to engulf her seeped from her heart.

If Byron knew that after aborting those two children, I could never have another, would he let me live for the sake of our past? Am I truly evil just because I want to keep this child? He really overestimates me, she thought.

But recalling the cold, indifferent look in his eyes—as if she were a weed—Maeve felt all her strength drain away. She collapsed onto the pillow.

"Knock, knock." A faint noise sounded.

Maeve jerked her head up, looking towards the window.

Under the night sky, she saw a figure waving.

Maeve was startled, but after seeing who it was, she quickly opened the window.

"Dr. Chatterly? What are you doing here?" Maeve asked.

Jaylen, holding a rope, looked down at her. "When a patient refuses their medicine, what else can a doctor do but come in person?" Maeve was horrified, but considering his future apprentice was in her belly, it made sense.

"Dr. Chatterly, can you help me leave?" Maeve asked.

Jaylen nodded. With his free hand, he lifted her. The roar of helicopter blades filled the air. (The sentence "The noise of helicopter blades cutting through the air roared above the estate" was repeated and removed.)

The bedroom door swung open. Byron entered with men, his dark gaze falling on the open window.

His voice was cold and sharp, filled with fury. "Find her! Turn the place upside down—find her!"

"Yes, Mr. McDaniel!" his men replied.

Half an hour later, the helicopter landed on the rooftop of Alex's apartment building. Maeve and Jaylen had just left Zephyr Heights when she remembered to ask why they landed there.

"To divert trouble," Jaylen said with a sly smile, his tear-shaped mole accentuating his mischievous expression. "It's better than your ex-husband showing up at my place." He certainly wasn't planning on returning her.

Maeve understood, but seeing his calmness, she silently cursed. This guy is so shameless! He deceives people without blinking.

"But what about Alex?"

Maeve tried to negotiate. "Dr. Chatterly, could I borrow your phone? I need to tell Alex." Otherwise, it would be too cruel, she thought.

Jaylen closed his eyes. "I don't use phones. And don't contact him. Your ex-husband will stop looking for him if there's nothing to find, but if you contact Alex, even nothing will become something." His words made sense, and Maeve couldn't refute him.

Clutching her aching conscience, she silently apologized, Sorry, Alex.

As Jaylen predicted, Alex drew Byron's anger and attention. However, Byron soon sensed something was off. He sent men to investigate the helicopter's owner and pilot.

Fortunately, Jaylen had used a false identity. Unfortunately, Byron's network was more ruthless than anticipated. They quickly traced it back to the Chatterly family.

By then, Jaylen and Maeve had fled the country. (The advertisement was removed.)

Byron's dark eyes gleamed. "They're still in the country. Keep searching," he ordered.

"But Mr. McDaniel, the flight information..." Archer began.

Byron's expression grew colder. "It's a smokescreen. If they'd really fled, they would have done it on the first day, not now." Archer understood. "I see. I'll send more men."

"Have them pay close attention to all hospitals, especially obstetrics and gynecology departments. Report back immediately if you find anything," Byron instructed. "Yes, sir!"

After Archer left, silence returned. Byron stood by the window, his sharp features touched by the darkness, giving off a sense of isolation and coldness. "Maeve, you better not do something foolish," he murmured. If she truly aborted the child, then there would be nothing left between them.

Eight months later, in a remote ancient city by the coast of Belldol, in a private obstetrics and gynecology hospital, a few days before her due date, Maeve checked in.

Jaylen and the housekeeper cared for her, but no matter how brilliant a miracle doctor he was, he wasn't skilled in gynecology. He was often more flustered than the housekeeper. At first, he diagnosed her signs of miscarriage and prescribed medicine to stabilize the pregnancy; she thought he was a gynecological expert. But it turned out his abilities were quite limited. Every time this came up, Jaylen would get irritated and say, "What pregnant woman is so special that she gets my personal care? Don't push your luck."