Filed To Story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
Halston looked at the silent Jessanna. ‘ When her head is clear, she remembers that she lost both her child and uterus, and will sob the entire day away. Otherwise, she’d think she was still pregnant, and drag me to check ups and shops for toys and children’s clothing.”
“She probably didn’t take her meds today, which was why she kept insisting that it was her child’s death anniversary. She wanted to buy some clothes in memory of him, but was triggered as soon as she saw you. That’s why she reacted that way.” The man explained the entire situation to Flossie.
“I’m not telling you all this to take revenge or punish you; I just want you to know that you’re not the only one hurting in this world. You might be upset, but Jessanna is in misery too. How could I not feel sad?
Halston looked pained. He had sealed those memories away already, and didn’t want to bring them up anymore. He told himself that he would use the rest of his life to repent for his sins.
However, Flossie had returned now, and he just couldn’t pretend that she didn’t exist in his heart.
“You said that I hated you, and I admit that I did for a while. But the truth is … I hated myself the most, since I couldn’t manage our relationship well. I idealized everything, and in the end, I was too late. I couldn’t stop this from happening…” Halston trailed off, unable to continue. He turned away, shaking, as if he was forcing himself to suppress his emotions.
Flossie had rarely seen him be vulnerable like this. He was always cold and conceited, but now… he looked like a lost child. She had only ever seen him like this one other time – at his brother’s funeral. Her heart was breaking for him, and she couldn’t stop herself from wanting to hug him…
Suddenly, a voice inside her mind reminded her, “You’ll be unlucky for the rest of your life if you sympathize with this man… Don’t do it!”
In the end, Flossie just consoled him with a few dismissive words, “It’s already happened, so what can you do? Just cheer up!”
She couldn’t think of anything else to get rid of such deeply rooted pain.
“So… do you need me to do anything for you?” Flossie asked Halston carefully.
The man took a deep breath and finally collected himself, and his expression became indifferent again. Despite this, his glistening eyes gave away his true feelings. “If you really do feel guilty, have some compassion towards Jessanna. She may not be a good person, but she’s not evil either. Her life was tough, to say the least…”
He thought to himself, ‘My brother loved her so deeply. If he was still alive now. I’m sure their family would’ve been able to live a blissful life. ‘I suppose fate is cruel, and as the person my brother left his will to, I can only ease my guilt by treating Jessanna right.’
“Understood.” Flossie nodded.
‘Turns out Halston really does love Jessanna now – he’s actually willing to stay by her side despite her current state. Ah, what a touching love story! No wonder he was so adamant on divorcing me back then!’ She mused.
“We’re going to visit the child’s grave now. If you’re not busy, you can come with us,” Halston stated in a cold voice. He figured that Flossie had to be the one to resolve this, or else none of them would be able to move on, and they’d be trapped in this hell for eternity.
However, he wasn’t quite sure if Flossie was willing to do it, considering her pride.
“Of course, if you don’t want to, I won’t force you to,” the man continued, looking at Flossie expectantly.
“I’ll come with you. No matter what, the child was innocent.” With that, Flossie chose to head to the cemetery with Halston and Jessanna. It was located on the west side of Beach City, and was surrounded by a large forest. With the tombs built within such a secluded area, it seemed rather eerie from the outside.
Flossie was sitting in the backseat at the time, watching as the car drove by the woods, her expression rather gloomy. She knew that the child had been the victim here, and whatever was going on between her and Jessanna had to be put aside for now.
She couldn’t deny that she had harmed an innocent life.
The atmosphere in the vehicle was extremely tense, with the only sound in the car being Jessanna’s sobbing. Although Flossie hated Jessanna, she understood how painful it was for a mother to experience such a thing.
“Here.” She handed Jessanna a piece of tissue.
Jessanna turned to look at her with teary eyes, and shook her head. “Miss Ellsworth, I’m not trying to put up a pitiful act in front of you. I really am in pain, and I’m afraid…”
“I beg of you, please stop appearing before me and Halston. Every time I see you, I will only be reminded of how you pushed me to the ground, and how it felt when I was losing my child. I-‘
‘That’s enough, there’s no need to bring all this up if it upsets you.” Halston’s dismissive glare interrupted Jessanna’s pleas. It was obvious that he didn’t want Flossie to avoid him for Jessanna’s sake.
However, Flossie quickly replied, “Don’t worry, you don’t have to tell me twice. I truly wish you both the best.”
Since they were on the topic anyway, she decided to give them some suggestions. “Since you two are going to spend the rest of your lives together, you must still want children, right? When I was studying abroad, I made friends with this professor from the University of Calley. They were researching a procedure to create an artificial uterus. I can help you both ask if it’s possible in your situation, and how to safely deliver a child of your own…”
Flossie figured that Halston wouldn’t fight for custody once they had their own children, not even if he found out about Adie and Abby’s existence. Moreover, she would also be able to make up for her mistakes.
She genuinely thought it was the perfect plan.
“Really? Can we really do that?” Jessanna’s eyes lit up, a sudden liveliness returning to her soulless expression.
“If a procedure like that does exist, please let me know! I just want to help continue the Guajardo family’s bloodline, and have no more regrets… You’ll support me, right, Halston?” Jessanna said eagerly.
Halston was silent, frowning slightly as he focused on the road. However, anyone could tell that he was upset with the conversation, as his expression spoke volumes.
Flossie was worried that Halston would disagree, so she told him sincerely,’ Mr. Guajardo, you’re not getting any younger. You’ll be thirty soon, so you should have a child before then. Not only can you birth an heir, but the child might improve your relationship with Miss Ximenez…”
“Don’t worry about the procedure, there have already been a few successful precedents. It’s just due to legalities that it hasn’t been officially released to the public yet. I have some connections, so as long as you’re willing, I can help you apply for it. You-“
“Enough!” Halston’s expression was icy as he slammed his hand on the steering wheel. The loud honk made both Flossie and Jessanna jump in shock.
Halston shot both of them a dirty glare, then stared at Flossie through the rear view mirror and huffed coldly, “If you’re really that passionate about helping us, why don’t you do something practical instead?”
‘How can I help? I can do anything as long as you’re willing to have children!” Flossie said excitedly.
“No matter how great this artificial uterus is, it’s bound to pose some kind of risk. Rather than helping us apply for the procedure, why don’t you just offer yourself up instead?”
Flossie nearly choked on her own saliva after hearing the man’s words. “Are you insane, Guajardo?! How is that the same?”
“So, you do know the difference! How about you let me decide whether I want to have children, and who I want to have children with? There’s no need for you to get involved!” Halston said angrily and stopped the car.
Flossie figured that she was being too overbearing as well. Halston Guajardo had always been a prideful man, and was used to having everything under his control. If she were to take charge of something as important as having children, he would surely get upset.
“Ah, I’m sorry, I was too impatient… I don’t have bad intentions, I just wanted to recommend this procedure to you both, since you and Miss Ximenez-“
“Get out,” Halston snarled suddenly, his expression dark.
“Huh? Are we here already?” Flossie scanned her surroundings, but it was obvious they hadn’t reached yet.
“Get… out!” Halston ordered once again, not explaining himself in the slightest. He was at his wit’s end, otherwise, he would have never done something so discourteous.
“Fine then!” Flossie snapped, and got out without hesitation. The car was filled with such a depressing atmosphere that she figured it’d be better to walk to the cemetery on her own.
As soon as she got out, the car drove away speedily.
“Talk about petty!” Flossie watched as the car zoomed away, frowning. “I was just trying to be nice and help them resolve the whole kids issue. A thank you would’ve been nice, but he ended up throwing a temper tantrum instead… That ungrateful jerk!”
The temperature was oddly low in the dense forest despite it being summer at the time.
Just then, a notification popped up in her phone – it was a message from Kevin.
[I’m done, I sent all his details to your email.]
Flossie eagerly opened her mailbox and found a PDF consisting often or so pages. It had everything about William written down, including his birth place, his educational background, and even details on his friends.
According to the information provided, William really wasn’t lying about his family and educational background. He was indeed from a family of knowledgeable scholars, and he himself was one as well. Besides that, all of his friends seemed like good people, and he was known to be quite a reputable person within his social circle.
The only thing that seemed off was his past relationships. It seemed that Leia was his second girlfriend, while his first… was Jessanna Ximenez.
Jessanna was William’s first love when he was twenty years old. However, the relationship had only lasted about three months before the man was dumped. William was quite persistent as well. After getting dumped by Jessanna, he tried everything to make her stay, even going as far as to threaten suicide…
After that, he locked his heart away and focused on his studies entirely, becoming quite the elite. It is said that he would take over his father’s family business in the future too.
It was completely normal for someone to have past relationships, but William’s past included Jessanna… which made Flossie rather doubtful.