Dangerous Desire The CEO’s Hidden Woman

Francis held her in his arms and brushed the hair back from her face, and asked, “Are you hungry?”

However, Scarlett didn’t answer him. It turned out that she had fallen asleep again.

Francis just breathed a deep sigh. All said and done, he felt relieved. Scarlett was pregnant with their baby, not suffering from any life-threatening disease that might kill her. The pregnancy signaled joy and hope for the future. Now, with another baby on the way, she would be compelled to stay with him and bring the child up with all the love and compassion she had in her heart.

Francis bent his head down and kissed her cheek gently. He whispered, “I’m sorry, Scarlett. I’m sorry for everything. I hope you know that I love you more than anyone in this world. I’ll keep you safe no matter what. I’ll keep our family safe forever.”

When Scarlett woke up again, it was eleven o’clock at night. It was very quiet at the hospital, with only the light from the corridor penetrating through the crack on the room door.

It was dark in the room, save for the dim light of a computer screen.

Scarlett turned over and opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling. Then turning in the other direction, she curled into Francis’s warm arms.

“Are you hungry?” Francis asked after he turned off his computer.

Scarlett shook her head and put her arms around his waist, and said, “I have no appetite.”

“Are you angry with me?”

Scarlett loosened her hand and looked up at him, and said, “What? I am buttering you up, can’t you see that?”

Francis stroked her hair gently and said in a low voice, “Well, I surrender. Consider me sufficiently buttered up, okay?”

Francis paused and then went on.

“I apologize. I shouldn’t have pushed you so hard,” he said.

“I won’t accept that. Now I’ve got you cornered,” she said.

“Then what are you gonna do?” Francis asked.

“It’s simple. I want to finish my studies.”

“So you want to go back to France?” Francis frowned.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“I mean, I’m fine right now. It’s not like I’m eight months pregnant or something and too big even to move, you know? I don’t want to give up my studies again because of a pregnancy. Because of Carlos, I wasn’t even able to do my final defense. Francis, why are you always being so hostile towards me? Why do you always have me missing out on milestones? I feel like you just want me to be your little wife… stay at home, keep popping out babies, wait for you while you’re handling your business meetings and fancy parties. Don’t you know that I have dreams and ambitions, too?”

“Scarlett, you are pregnant now. I would be worried about you if you are out of my sight. I mean, if you were deciding to pursue your studies somewhere around here… how can I just let you go off to France again? I can’t make sense of that. I need you to be close to me so that I can keep you safe.”

“Look, Francis, being in France was a great opportunity for me. I strove hard for it. I don’t want to give it up just like that. And I can take care of myself just fine. I don’t need your help every step of the way, don’t you know that by now?” Scarlett looked up into his eyes.

Right then, Francis turned the light on, and they just looked at each other, knowing that neither would give in to the other’s wishes.

Knowing he was on the wrong side, Francis knew well that he wouldn’t be able to convince her. Because of that, he just decided to stay quiet and say nothing more. He had no option but to give in to Scarlett’s wishes, or he might risk losing her forever.

Not realizing that Francis was on the brink of agreeing, Scarlett suddenly piped up, “If you disapprove, I will choose to have an abortion. Anyway, we are divorced now, and you’re not really authorized to have a say in this decision. It’s my body. Just look at how Carlos is suffering because his parents are divorced… what right do we have to do that to another innocent child?”

As soon as she finished, Francis flipped the table and let it clatter to the ground. Scarlett was frightened by his intense reaction, and her face turned pale.

“You want to abort the child?”

Scarlett just stayed quiet, so he became even angrier. Francis had never laid a finger on Scarlett, but right then, he looked like he might strangle her to death. She wished she could run away from him.

“I agree that you can go back to France to finish your studies, but you have to allow me to send someone to take care of you and keep you safe and healthy,” he said in a huff.

While Francis gave in, he was still furious; he hadn’t expected Scarlett to be so callous towards him over something as minor as her studies.

Scarlett saw Francis’s angry face and decided that silence was the only recourse.

That night, neither Scarlett nor Francis went to sleep.

Scarlett went to the doctor the next day, and they confirmed that she was indeed pregnant. Although it was good news, Francis couldn’t feel happy. Deep down, all he could think about was the fact that Scarlett had threatened to abort the baby if Francis didn’t let her go back to France and pursue her studies. Where were her priorities? Did she and Francis want different things out of life, and would they never be able to reconcile their divergent values?

Francis was hit hard because he felt he had never been frustrated like that.

Scarlett knew what she said had hurt him, but she didn’t know what to do to smoothen things out between them.

According to the doctor’s advice, Scarlett left for the villa and visited Francis for two hours every day, even though they didn’t talk too much.

On the last day, Scarlett finally came to his bed.

“Francis, about what I said on that day, I don’t really mean it. I won’t give up on our child. I would never do that. I just said that in a fit of anger and frustration. I’m sorry.” She said with her fists clenched. She’d been mustering up the courage for this all day.

Francis moved his eyes from the computer to her little face, and he could tell from her face that she was afraid of him even though they had been together for three years now.

Francis grasped her hand, then hugged her tightly.

“Thank you!” he said. “That’s all I needed to hear from you, Scarlett.”

A couple of weeks later, Scarlett boarded her flight to France.