“Yes,” Avery said.
“Indeed, your baby is slightly under-developed,” the doctor said after a pause, “you mentioned that it
was two-weeks behind when you did your check-up two weeks ago?”
“Yes. What now?” Avery’s heart sank as he awaited the doctor’s judgment. If the baby had stopped
developing, there was nothing she could do even if she wanted to keep it and she was prepared for the
worst.
“Can you show me the ultrasound report from the last check-up?” The doctor set the ultrasound sensor
down and passed her a piece of tissue paper.
She accepted and took out the ultrasound report from her purse and passed it to the doctor after wiping
her belly clean.
After inspecting the report from the time before, the doctor said, “though your baby is not developing all
that well, it is still growing in comparison to the last time. If you want to keep this baby, you need to take
good rest and make sure to take enough nutrition. Let’s observe the situation foree now.”
Avery’s heart calmed at the doctor’s advice.
The doctor printed the ultrasound report and handed it to her. “Have you done the screening test for
Down syndrome?”
Avery shook her head.
“You can do it now,” the doctor deadpanned, “have you eaten breakfast today? If not, you can proceed
with the test today!”
The screening test for Down syndrome was to check if the embryo had trisomy 21 or had an inherent
defect in its nervous system. If it was diagnosed with Down syndrome, the child will be born with
delayed growth and intellectual disability, along with difficulties in organ development or even deformity.
Avery knew that she could go through the test, but she didn’t have the courage to.
‘What should I do if the test suggests that something is wrong with the baby?’ She thought in fear.
Though she once said that she would give birth to it even if the baby was not healthy, facing up to the
reality still required a tremendous amount of courage.
“Miss. Tate, your child is slightly under-developed, so it is crucial that you do the test,” the doctor
noticed her hesitation and encouraged, “if the baby is not healthy, we need to
terminate the pregnancy. This is the best choice for you and the child.”
“The best choice…” Avery mumbled.
“Yes. There is no cure for Down syndrome in the present. Miss. Tate, I know that you are a skilled
neurosurgeon, but still, there is nothing you can do about this, right? If you can’t guarantee your child a
normal life, it is best to stop the pain during the pregnancy.”
The doctor’s words helped Avery regain her composure.
Back when she argued with Elliot over matters concerning the baby, she did so mainly under the
influence of emotions. She blamed Elliot for neglecting the health of the baby and how cold his attitude
was towards the child; that was the reason why she told Elliot that she would give birth to the baby
even if something was wrong with it.
“Write me a referral letter, then!” She said.
The doctor complied and handed it to her. “I wish both you and your baby good luck.”
“Thank you.” She accepted the letter and started her way towards the clinical laboratory. There were a
lot of patients in the clinical laboratory and she had to remain in line for a while before it was her turn.
After taking her blood, the doctor informed her that the results would be out in a week’s time.
“Will there be an electronic copy of the results?”
“Yes. We will send it directly to your phone.”
“Sure, thank you.”
After exiting the hospital, Avery bought her ticket for the flight back to Aryadelle. She instinctively
wanted to send her flight details to Mike, but hesitated right before sending the message.
Mike couldn’t control his mouth and would tell Chad everything, while Chad was loyal to Elliot.
After some thoughts, she deleted the message and decided that she didn’t need to tell Mike everything
from now on.
The next day, Avery stepped out of the exit of the airport in the capital of Aryadelle with her luggage in
hand.
She had become an infamous scammer who tricked Elliot into giving her 1400 million, so she wore a
cap along with a face mask to cover her face entirely. She wore an oversized t-shirt to cover her belly, a
checker long shirt and a pair of sneakers.
She caught a taxi after exiting the airport and told the driver the address of her mansion. As the car
drove off, she took out her phone to scroll through the contact list, before making a call to a certain
number…
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