"What do you mean by that?" Jerry Sutton was the first to find his tongue.
The doctor didn't notice the abnormality on their faces and went ahead to respond, "Your daughter is pregnant."
"I'm not sure how many months, but it's more than two months. I assume the wedding will come faster than expected, Mr. Sutton."
The news was entirely unexpected and out of the blue, but it was a tangible reason for Bryan to break off this nightmare of an engagement.
He suppressed the joy he was feeling and didn't beat around the bush as he immediately began hurling hurtful words at Kelsie.
"What is this? You're pregnant? I can't even bare to look at this pig for more than a second, why would I get in bed with her talk more of getting her pregnant? I'd rather get an animal pregnant!"
"What am I still doing here? Mr. Sutton, since it has come to this, the wedding cannot go on any longer. Your daughter is pregnant and I'm positive I'm not the father."
"I cannot marry a fatso who sleeps around. I'm sure my grandfather will find my reason for breaking off our engagement tangible."
After dropping those words, he turned and quickly left the party.
Upon his leaving, the guests turned to whisper amongst themselves.
With each sentence, Jerry's expression became grimmer.
She's pregnant and Mr. Baker is not the father? Not only is she a fatso, but she also sleeps around? Mr. Sutton must be going through a lot."
"I can't believe a fellow man actually laid with her. Now I don't know what she offered him to make him agree, but I'd never touch her even if I were offered heaven and earth."
"He must have a strong heart. How did he manage to—forget it. It's disgusting even to think about."
"Stop talking, they can hear you!"
"Huh? If the Baker breaks off their engagement with the Suttons, the Sutton family is nothing now. Why should I be careful with what I say?"
"Right. My family is way above the Suttons. I only agreed to come because of the Sutton family. Why should I be fearful of what I say now? And it's not like I'm making it up."
Families who were the same rank as the Sutton family and beneath them, weren't so brazen to say such words.
So they all came up with ways to leave without directly offending Jerry.
"I got a call from my company just now, I have an important investment for me to sign off on in my office. I'll leave now too."
"Yes, my mother called and said she's about to have surgery. I better go to be by her side now. I ask that you don't mind me leaving."
One by one, every guest came up with one excuse or another to leave and before they knew it, the doctor was the only guest who was yet to leave.
"I have to leave now too. I have some patients waiting for me in the hospital. For clarity sake, you should have a formal test run on her to. I might be mistaken." He also said, feeling the gravity of what he had said and hurriedly excused himself.
Jerry glared at Kelsie who didn't seem the least affected by what was happening before he turned and whipped out his phone.
He called the family's doctor and waited for him to come.
Half an hour later, the doctor came and examined Kelsie again.
"Mr. Sutton, your 19-year-old daughter is indeed pregnant. She's already two months gone." The doctor said, handling over the test paper to Jerry.
Jerry crumbled the paper into a ball and tossed it aside then turned to Kelsie and lashed out at her.
"How dare you embarrass me this way, you unfilial daughter! I did everything for you even though you didn't deserve it. I even got you engaged to Bryan Baker, one of the highly sought after bachelors in Silicon Valley and this is how you repay me?"
"Both the Baker family and our family have been preparing for your marriage for more than a year, but your reckless act have put everything in jeopardy! Tell me, who is the person? Who is the bastard you got pregnant for?"
However, Kelsie said nothing. She was sitting with her eyes lowered to the ground and they couldn't tell if she was ignoring them as usual or if she had fallen asleep as usual.
"Hey, Kelsie Sutton, father is talking to you!" Laura yelled at her from the side.
Kelsie didn't react immediately, but when she did, it was to stare at Laura coldly.
Laura didn't know when she shuddered and shrank her neck in fright but when she realized what she did, she gritted her teeth in anger.
Seeing this, Jerry seethed and pointed a finger at Laura.
"You're insolent and a rude brat, you are not fit to be a mother! Right here and now, you will get rid of the baby and you will apologize to Bryan Baker and his family. Do whatever he wants to gain his forgiveness so your marriage to him can go on!"
"You saw how the other families treated us as soon as he was gone, if you do no want to be the one to end the Sutton family, then hurry up and do as I say!"
Kelsie's hand subconsciously circled her stomache as what happened three months ago came flooding back to her.
She had just wandered out that night and came across a tavern. It was her first time tasting alcohol and even though it burned the back of her throat when she swallowed, she could feel the creamy after taste of vanilla each time she drowned a glass.
So she just kept drowning more glasses until she lost track and opened her eyes the next morning to see she was unclad in bed with a stranger.
Her memory of the night was vague and she knew no man in his right sense would sleep with her besides gigolos. Not that she had tried before, but it was obvious.
She dropped three hundred dollar bills before leaving and never thought of the incident again.
Who knew that she'd have another being in her as a result of that night.
Jerry was right that she wasn't fit to be a mother just yet, but she didn't want to remove her baby because of that.
It was just some minutes ago that she found out there was a new person growing inside of her and she already felt a strong bond with her.
Three months and she didn't even know there was something like that going on in her body? She finally found someone who understood her. Why would she agree with Jerry to remove her unborn child.
"Get up, it'll only take a few minutes and you'd be back to normal. You won't even notice you did anything. Come on." While she was deep in thought, Jerry attributed her silence for agreement and tried to drag her up.
Her eyelids moved and she calmly looked up at him, her throat producing a hoarse but audible, "No."
Jerry was slightly taken aback. Despite being disobedient at times, Kelsie was obedient. Even though she had her opinions about things, she never voiced them out.
But even if she did, she'd agree with him as long as he shouted at her to do as he instructed.
She just did everything they told her to do without a word. It had been that way for 19 years and hearing her refuse him after everything he said was upsetting.
"No? Are you out of your mind?"
Kelsie sat up, looked him dead in the eyes and repeated blandly, "No, I won't remove the pregnancy neither will I apologize to Bryan Baker."
Laura Sutton had been waiting for the best time to chip in something and now was it.
"What is that? You've always liked Bryan. Isn't that the reason you bear how he treats you? You're submissive to him because you hope that one day he'll come to accept you for who you are."
"Do you think that being defiant and making him angry will make him come to you? Humph, he'll only despise you more!"
"Kelsie Sutton, what is this sudden stubbornness? We're your family, we'd never tell you to do something that isn't beneficial to you!" Deborah Thompson butted in and hissed.
Kelsie was silent again. Thinking that she had finally given in, Jerry got up and said with a note of finality, "The doctor hasn't left yet, I'll get him to make the necessary preparations for its removal and that is final!."
However, Kelsie still insisted in a calm voice, "I'm not removing my baby."
Jerry almost vomited blood in anger.
"You! Kelsie Sutton, are you out to anger me to death today?!"
"Fine. If you don't do as I ask and insist on keeping that thing, then get ready to live with your maternal aunt who stays in another city until I deem it fit for you to return!"
"Do you think you're irreplaceable? Your sister here is more than willing to marry into the Baker family."
"With you gone, she'll fulfil the duty you've failed to. Now get out of my sight. You leave in an hour!"
Kelsie remained seated for a few more seconds before she gently got up and dragged her feet against the floor until she climbed up the stairs to her room.
In an hour, the Sutton family's Volkswagon drove her out of the mansion house.
On the road, it suddenly began raining heavily and she opened the curtains covering the car window a little to peek outside.
They were at an intersection and the traffic light was red.
Beside the Volkswagen was a midnight black BMW with tinted windows. At that moment, the window was suddenly rolled down a little and a pair of icy blue eyes gazed at her from it.
She thought they seemed familiar, but the traffic light suddenly turned to green and their cars went in different direction.
She closed the curtain and gently massaged her still flat stomach, shaking the thought out of her mind. No matter how hard she tried to remember, she didn't know anyone who had such striking blue eyes.
For someone who had a retentive memory and didn't meet a lot of people, that was odd. So she just assumed it was her mind playing tricks on her.
Right. She had a human to take care of. She didn't have the luxury to worry about why the eyes of a stranger seemed familiar.
Meanwhile, inside the BMW, the man's brows slowly furrowed into a small frown. He rolled up the window and lowered his eyes again to the neat three hundred dollar bills in his hand.
"You still haven't found her?"
The man on the driver seat stared at the man from the rear view mirror as he slowly shook his head, "The CCTV footages from that night were all corrupted, sir."
"So you're telling me it's impossible to find her? You can't find the woman who slept with me and paid me for my services?" The man asked and raised his eyes to look at the man through the rear view mirror.
The driver hurriedly lowered his eyes to the steering, his grip it tightening in in fear as he shook his head.
"Forgive me, sir. I'll try harder. I promise to find her for you no matter how long it takes."