Let Me Go, Mr. Howard Chapter 199

As Scarlett regained consciousness, most of the medical equipment had been removed from her hospital room. The busy medical staff couldn't understand Chinese, so they had no idea what kind of question their patient had just asked.

Sebastian's arms tightened around Scarlett's hand. His jaw clenched as he lowered his head to meet her eyes. "You don't want me here?"

Scarlett avoided his gaze. As she remained conscious longer, her thoughts became increasingly clear. She looked outside the room, catching a glimpse of Shane's silhouette through the window. She pressed her lips together. "He works for you."

Sebastian knew exactly who Scarlett was referring to without looking. His expression remained unchanged as he adjusted her in his arms to relieve his slightly numb left leg. "No. I made a deal with him."

The word "deal" stabbed at Scarlett's heart again. She pressed her lips together, but this time she couldn't suppress the sadness welling up inside. She turned her head away, trying and failing to hold back her tears. Afraid of being noticed, she kept her head down, not daring to wipe her tears or sniffle, letting them fall freely down her face.

At first, this method worked. But as time passed, the tears flowed more heavily, and her strategy became completely ineffective. Scarlett raised her hand to wipe her eyes, but Sebastian immediately noticed.

He cupped her face to look at her, his light amber eyes filled with amusement. "Crybaby."

That comment made Scarlett press her lips together in embarrassment. She tried to turn her face away, but Sebastian's grip was too strong. She couldn't break free and had no choice but to endure his teasing. Fortunately, Sebastian only laughed briefly before grabbing a tissue to help dry her tears.

But when Scarlett thought about why Sebastian had come, her heart shattered piece by piece, and her tears flowed like a broken dam, impossible to stop.

Sebastian's brow furrowed slightly. "Are you this upset? You don't want me here?"

"Why did you come?" Scarlett asked, a mocking smile tugging at her lips. She sniffled, looking at him with red-rimmed eyes. "Isn't it just for the baby I'm carrying?"

His expression turned confused. "What do you mean?"

Seeing his innocent act made Scarlett feel even more bitter. She pressed her lips together. "Nothing."

Her obvious reluctance to elaborate gave Sebastian a headache. However, seeing that she had just regained consciousness, Sebastian didn't want to argue with her. He could only hold her and comfort her softly. "Is it so hard to believe I came for you?"

Sebastian couldn't deny his concern for the baby. As he spoke, he gently embraced Scarlett, his large palm resting on her still-flat stomach.

Feeling Sebastian's touch, Scarlett's body went rigid. She clenched her teeth and pushed him away. "I won't have your baby!"

Suddenly pushed back, Sebastian hadn't even processed her look of disgust when her words hit him. He froze. "What?" Shock filled his eyes, his body still positioned as it had been when she pushed him.

Such a reaction was rare for Sebastian, but Scarlett was in no mood to appreciate it. She turned her face away evasively, her voice flat and dry. "You heard me. I don't want to have this baby."

"Why?" Sebastian moved closer again. He gripped Scarlett's wrist, his fingertips trembling slightly as he asked once more, "Why?"

"There is no why." Scarlett didn't want to mention Adeline, much less their disgusting, sordid plan. Her face twisted with revulsion. "This baby shouldn't even be born!"

Her words clearly shocked Sebastian to his core. For the first time, his face showed obvious confusion. His handsome brows furrowed, and his amber eyes clearly reflected his distress. "Do you hate me that much?"

As any man would, Sebastian could guess that Scarlett's aversion to the baby stemmed from her feelings about him. Back in China, Sebastian had known about Scarlett's intention to terminate the pregnancy, but he hadn't been concerned. Given her unique situation at the time and her personality, wanting to end the pregnancy made sense.

They had discussed this matter before. Back then, Scarlett hadn't shown obvious aversion to the baby—she simply didn't want the child to be born with the stigma of illegitimacy. But now everything had changed. Sebastian realized something must have gone wrong.

He gripped Scarlett's wrist, the trembling spreading from his fingertips to his entire arm. "Tell me why. What happened?"

As he asked this question, Sebastian also searched his memories. But thinking it through, nothing unusual seemed to have occurred. If that was the case, what had gone wrong? Was it something he hadn't noticed?

However, since learning of Scarlett's pregnancy, she had been constantly monitored. Almost every day before sleeping, he received reports about Scarlett's activities, sometimes detailed enough to include who she had talked to and what they had discussed. With that level of surveillance, what could possibly have happened? Sebastian couldn't understand.

Scarlett's eyes were red-rimmed. Her gaze lingered on the man's slightly trembling arm, her heart clenching unexpectedly. But she found it all bitterly ironic—not just her feelings for him, but also his excellent acting skills. She took a deep breath and tried to pull her arm away, but couldn't break his grip.

"Let go..." Her voice broke with emotion the moment she spoke.

Sebastian only held on tighter, moving even closer. "No." Even crouching, he was tall enough to be nearly eye-level with Scarlett sitting on the bed. He tilted his head slightly upward, approaching her with a rare display of vulnerability. "Not until you tell me why."

Scarlett remained silent. Seeing her silence, Sebastian didn't give up. He raised his hand to cup the back of her head, his tone lowering, becoming almost hypnotic. "Scarlett, if you want me dead, at least let me die knowing why."

Hearing those words, Scarlett frowned deeply and immediately pulled away from him. "Fine!" She looked at him with tears in her eyes, hurt and resentful. "You... since Adeline can't have children, why would you give her my baby?"

Sebastian froze at her words, even more confused than when Scarlett had pushed him away. 

Seeing him stunned, Scarlett thought he was surprised she knew about this. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, a hint of bitter triumph in her eyes. "Thought I wouldn't find out, didn't you? You're wrong! Adeline bragged about it to me!"

As she spoke, she started crying again. But even through her tears, her voice didn't stop. "I'm not your surrogate machine! My baby is mine! It will never be Adeline's!"

As Scarlett continued, she remembered what she'd heard on the satellite phone that day, and her heart ached even more. "She deserves pity because she can't have children, but what about me? After all my suffering carrying this baby, in the end it becomes her bragging right! Becomes her..."

She didn't finish.

Sebastian raised his hand and covered her mouth. Scarlett looked up at him and froze. His amber eyes were bloodshot, filled with unmistakable hatred.