Chapter 16

"Child? In my womb? Do you mean—"

However, Perry interrupted Stephenie before she could even finish what she was supposed to say and said, "Yes, Steph. You are currently four weeks pregnant. You're carrying a child who is not even mine."

The shock that could be seen on Stephenie's face caused her to take a step away from him. As the full impact of the situation began to dawn on her, she coaxed herself to relax and take a seat next to her bed. As a result of the blank expression that remained on her face, Perry became aware that it was possible that Stephenie was unaware that she was pregnant.

However, it's possible that he was mistaken in his assumptions when Stephenie suddenly said to him, "Perry, I'm sorry."

It was dry, but heavily excruciating, words to hear that made his chest keep on throbbing hard, which almost made him unable to bear it. Perry, however, could not help but feel more anxious as he looked at her because of the apparent reaction she was giving. Stephenie's eyes were fixed on the ground as she became completely speechless and still appeared to be in a state of complete shock. The fact that she could hardly even look at him straight caused him to quickly feel guilty.

"You know, Perry, I didn't find out until today that I was pregnant." She carried on further. The room was suddenly filled with Stephenie's muffled sobs as she continued, "—my period is irregular. I thought I was just having another delay like the previous months."

"But look at you now—you're pregnant." Then Perry weighed in.

Stephenie felt guilty. The tears that fought their way out of her eyes defined every single aspect of the guilt that she felt regarding the situation. She was well aware that there was no escape from this situation. And now that Perry had been reacting in such a manner, she would most certainly have to face it all by herself.

Who in their right mind wouldn't be furious? After all, he was not even the father of the child that was developing inside of her at the time. Stephenie continued to sob as she pressed her palm against her stomach and held her breath. She couldn't believe that the man she had spent the night with would one day cause her to become pregnant—to be pregnant with Hades' child.

Stephenie made up her mind and stood up once more from where she had been sitting, while Perry remained motionless where he stood. This time, she dabbed her cheeks with her palm to dry her tears before turning to look at Perry with as much bravery as she could muster.

She grasped Perry's hand in hers and apologized to him while she said, "I'm sorry, Perry. I am not going to deny that I had an affair with another guy, but I want you to know that it was only once, and it happened before I moved in with you.

"What?" Despite the pain that was actually welling up inside of him, Perry gave off an expression of bewilderment. He couldn't believe that hearing it from her would cause him to feel twice as bad as when he found out from the doctor the previous day that she was pregnant. He just couldn't believe it.

But despite this, Perry couldn't help but think about her all the time. Even after learning all of the things that she did, he continued to care about her. It was difficult for him to find the right words to convey the fact that he still cared and loved her. And the more he keeps that to himself, the more frustrated he becomes about it.

"I have been trying to get away from a lot of men to whom my father sold me in order to pay off his debts. Sometimes, as leverage for the money he borrows from them, they'll take me as a piece of collateral. But whenever he acts in that manner, I make it a point to run away as quickly as possible. Until the very last one, during which I came dangerously close to being caught while I was attempting to flee, and during which I crossed paths with a man outside of the Orange Flamingo bar in Larkspur. He not only assisted me in escaping them, but also took me into his home to keep me safe. After that, however, things simply spiraled out of control."

My father sold me to a lot of men, to whom I had been escaping from, in order to pay his debts. I occasionally became a piece of collateral for all of the money he borrowed from them. But each time he does that, I always try to make my escape. Until the last one, where I almost got caught when I tried to escape, where I bumped into a man outside the Orange Flamingo bar in Larkspur. He helped me to escape from them and even took me into his place to be safe. But things just went out of control after that."

"Out of control?" Perry had a clear picture of everything in his mind, but for some inexplicable reason, he still wanted to hear it from her, even though he knew that in the end he would be disappointed by the truth.

Stephenie had her doubts about Perry's calm response to the situation. She was hesitant to give an answer to his question because she perceived an odd picture hidden beneath the steady expression he was projecting. However, it would have been a waste of time for her to try to hide it, as it appeared that Perry already knew what she was going to say before she even said it. What was bothering her now was why Perry would still want her to speak about it when doing so would only serve to ratchet up the tension.

"I–I slept with him." She confessed. Even when she tried, Stephenie could not look directly into his eyes. She allowed her fear to prevent her from facing him because she was certain that Perry would be incensed and disgusted at the sight of her. "It's my fault, Perry. I am aware that what I have done is inexcusable, and all that I can say is that I am sorry. Don't worry, I won't make you take responsibility for this. I'm grateful to you for the past few weeks because you've let me stay here and provided me with a secure place to live."

Stephenie withdrew so that she could retrieve the luggage that she had forgotten to bring with her the day before. But right as she was about to walk out the door, Perry grabbed her elbow and pulled her into an embrace. He didn't even let her speak a word, when he told her, "You don't need to leave, Steph." The tremor of sorrow that was audible in his voice was something that he came dangerously close to failing to conceal.

"I can't stay here any longer, Perry. I am only going to bring shame upon you and your family with this pregnancy."

"But where will you go? How do you plan to look after both yourself and the child in this situation?"

Stephenie's shoulders rose slightly as she hunched forward and said, "I'll figure that one out later."

"Please stay here, Steph. Stay here with me."

"I can't. Just try to picture what your mom and dad are going to say."

"I have already explained to you that it is none of my business whatever opinion they hold, regardless of what it is."

"Perry, I'm pregnant and you…you are not—"

But Stephenie was forced to shut up when Perry chimed in to speak. "You mean to tell me that I'm not the father of that child? I don't mind. There is no problem with that for me. If you allow me to take on the role of his father and we get married, I'm willing to take on the role of becoming the father of your child."

Stephenie was surprised when Perry finally told her what he had been planning to tell her ever since they returned home. He had been thinking about this all evening while she was still unconscious in the hospital. Perry had anticipated this exact scenario would play out in the event when he decided to inform Stephenie about his discovery of her pregnancy. He was a little taken aback by the fact that she did not even know she was pregnant, which would have been dangerous if she had learned it a little later.

This time, even if it meant he had to put his pride and ego aside, he was determined to pursue her. He was willing to accept everything about her because he believed that losing Stephenie would be equivalent to losing everything else in his life.

After a moment, Stephenie pulled away from his embrace in order to look at him. She sobbed, "Would you still accept me in spite of my situation?" as her eyes were completely swollen with tears that had been continuously streaming down her cheeks.

"I won't just stand here and watch you leave without taking any action."

"Perry, I—"

Perry, on the other hand, quickly silenced her by hushing her down to a whisper. "Not a word, Steph. I won't let you go—the two of you. So could you please stop crying right now?" As Perry knelt down to face Stephenie's belly, he immediately began to apologize to her and showered her with his warm smile. Perry leaned forward and rested his forehead on her stomach while murmuring, "Yes, that includes you too, son." He said this as he gently kissed her belly in a show of affection before pressing his lips against her stomach.

Stephenie couldn't help but let out a barely audible giggle as she said, "You already called him your son. But, Perry, he is only four weeks old at this point. We are unable to determine the gender at this time. What if she turns out to be a girl?"

After that, Perry got back to his feet and looked Stephenie in the eyes, saying, "I know. Because he's going to be my son."

After hearing those words from Perry, Stephenie was so overwhelmed with joy that she couldn't help but run up to him and give him a big hug.