Chapter 262 A Good Match
Chapter 262 A Good Match
Maria shook her head. "Don't get yourself too worked up just yet, Mr. Du. We still don't know if I'm a match to your son. I'll have myself examined tomorrow."
"Yes, yes," Mr. Du replied, trying to calm himself. "You're quite right. But in appreciation of your kindness and generosity, even if the results come out negative, I give you my word that we will remain friends in the future!"
"Oh, Mr. Du. You think far too highly of me, but it really is my honor." Then Maria made it a point to smile at James.
James wanted to see how far she would go, didn't he? Well, she might not be able to defeat him, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let herself fall behind.
After dinner, Mr. Du offered to drive Maria back to Golden Mansion, and they discussed the kidney donation process all the way there.
Maria watched as his car drove away from her apartment, and her pleasant expression slowly disappeared.
She hadn't lied.
If she was a match, she would donate her kidney.
After all, she wasn't planning to live long.
She let herself in, and no sooner had she gone past the foyer than the doorbell rang. She already knew who was on the other side of the door without having to check.
As she pondered whether to let him in or not, her phone rang. Her uninvited guest was calling. She swiped to answer. "I know you're in there," James growled. "Open the door!" "It's late, Mr. Xi. I want
to go to bed, so it's best that you leave."
Her words only fanned his fury. "If you don't open this door in the next minute, I'll break it down myself."
Maria sighed.
She knew he was a man of his word, and that somehow made her even angrier at him. She ended the call and pulled the door open. "Are you out of your mind, James Xi? If so, may I suggest admitting yourself to a psychiatric ward and have an expert take a look at you?"
Bang! He stepped inside and slammed the door close behind him. His rage was palpable in the air around him. "Do you want to die that badly, Maria Song?"
She matched him with a mocking sneer. "How forgetful you are, Mr. Xi! Weren't you the one who's been wanting that all this time? Didn't you say it yourself, that you wanted to kill me?
Why are you asking me such a stupid question now?" James glared at her, the muscle in his jaw working as he gritted his teeth. "Apologize to me. You don't have to go to the hospital tomorrow." He had only wanted to scare her a little, of course, and he had never expected her to make such a promise to Mr. Du.
"I'm afraid I'm about to disappoint you again, Mr. Xi." She strode past him and opened the door. "Like I said, it's late. You'd better go."
In the next second, James grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into his arms. Before he could do anything else, she shouted, "If you lay a single finger on me, I will call the police and file a rape complaint!"
It was still her choice whether to get pregnant or not, and at the moment, having James' baby was the last thing she wanted.
"It won't be good for you to anger me so much."
"You're not a child, Mr. Xi. You know better than anyone else that we should take responsibility for the things we say. Didn't I play according to your intentions back there? I did my best so that you wouldn't lose face during dinner.
What else are you dissatisfied with?" There wasn't a single thing he was feeling satisfied about! James held the back of her head and forced her to look at him. "Make sure you don't live to regret this!"
"Don't worry, I won't."
"You've got quite the nerve, Maria Song!" And with that, he shook her off and stormed out of the apartment.
The door slammed shut into its frame, followed by a deafening silence. Maria's tense nerves gradually eased, and soon she felt the beginning strains of exhaustion.
She went to the bathroom and sluggishly filled the bath with water. She kept telling herself not to dwell on matters, not to think of anything at all, and just take a shower and go to bed.
The next day, Mr. Du sent a car to her apartment to take her to the hospital.
Both he and his wife were waiting for her at the lobby, and as soon as they saw her, they walked over, their eyes brimming with emotions.
Mrs. Du was in tears as she thanked her repeatedly. Maria comforted the couple, and after a wile of reassuring them, she followed the doctor into the examination room.
It took two hours to finish all the tests. Mr. Du requested the hospital to speed up the progress in order to obtain the results sooner.
What was supposed to have taken several days only
took two.
Maria didn't go anywhere during this period and just stayed in the apartment. When Mr. Du called to give her the news, she had been looking out the window in a daze.
His voice sounded rather strange. "Ms. Song, you are a match to my son."
'A match?'
Maria felt hollow. And oddly enough, Mr. Du seemed to be feeling the same. Shouldn't he be happy with the results? Why didn't she hear any excitement or joy?
Then his next words struck her like a thunderbolt from the sky.
"But I'm afraid a kidney transplant would be impossible. You're pregnant, Ms. Song." Mr. Du was quite depressed at this turn of events. It truly was a pity.
"What did you say? I'm pregnant?" Maria asked, rising from her chair in one sudden motion.
Mr. Du sighed. "Yes, the doctor said you're ten weeks along and advised against the transplant for the time being."
'Ten weeks pregnant?' She tried to recall when her last period was-two months ago. The time frame seemed to fit.
But it still didn't make any sense. When James had returned from the States, she hadn't been pregnant then. And afterward, they had never been able to get along well enough to get intimate in bed.
"Perhaps there's been a misunderstanding, Mr. Du. Is James Xi with you?" 'This was probably just another one of his tricks,' Maria thought.
"Mr. Xi? No, why would he be? Anyway, why don't you come over to the hospital first? You can confirm it for yourself then. Your results here show that you're pregnant."
Maria ended the call.
She didn't believe any of it, of course. She hurriedly changed her clothes and rushed to the hospital.
To her dismay, the attending doctor only repeated what Mr. Du had told her over the phone. She was indeed pregnant.
And the results couldn't be wrong since they had been obtained through a blood test.
She still refused to believe it, though, so they arranged for a color ultrasound examination. It showed a tiny little bean inside her belly.
She held the slip of paper bearing the results with trembling hands. She really was pregnant.
The doctor had even done her the favor of calculating the time difference between her last ultrasound and this recent one. It turned out that she had been pregnant back then, too, but only for about a week. That being the case, it was still impossible to make out anything resembling a fetus. Copyright by Nôv/elDrama.Org.
Though disappointed, Mrs. Du walked over to her with a smile. "Maria, it's good to be pregnant. Babies are a blessing." The older woman sighed inwardly, feeling sorry for her own son.
'A good thing?
Is it really a good thing?' Maria's thoughts were running amok in her head, and while her face was blank, her eyes held a wealth of confusion in them.
She knew who the father was; who else could it be?
When Mr. Du came out of the doctor's office, Maria looked at him and spoke with resolve. "Mr. Du, I'd like to ask you for a favor..."
At HL Group
James had spent the past hour sitting in front of floor-to-ceiling windows of his office with his eyes closed and his thoughts in disarray.
Summer knocked on the door and walked inside. "Excuse me, Mr. Xi. Mr. Du called to say that the test results have come out."
He didn't say anything, and Summer wondered if her boss had fallen asleep. "Excuse me, Mr. Xi?"
"Go ahead."
"Maria's a match to Mr. Du's son."
'A match?' James' eyes opened wide.
Without saying anything more, Summer left the office quietly.
James sat there staring at the ceiling for a while more before he called Maria.
She didn't answer. He called again. He was at his ninth call when Maria finally picked up. "Hello, Mr. Xi. I'm assuming you're already aware of the results? Well, are you satisfied now?"
James said nothing.
After a moment of dead air, Maria sneered. "What exactly are you doing, Mr. Xi? Why did you even bother to dial my number if you don't have anything to say?"