Chapter 95: Chapter 95
Elise knitted her brows in light annoyance.
She had made herself crystal clear yesterday, yet Fleur was still acting as if she hadn’t understood a word. She was either stupid or playing dumb.
"Excuse me, I’m in a hurry," Elise said coldly. Without another word, she bypassed Fleur and walked ahead.
To her surprise, Fleur turned and kept pace with her. "Elise, which doctor did you book?"
Suppressing her irritation, Elise replied indifferently, "Chief Physician Seter."
"What a coincidence, me too!" Fleur chattered on. "I developed adenomyosis after giving birth to Robin. When I was being treated for depression abroad, I took a lot of medication, which caused my adenomyosis to get progressively worse over the last two years. Dylan said Dr. Seter is a leading authority in the OB-GYN field, so he personally booked an appointment with her for me today."
In response to Fleur’s unsolicited oversharing, Elise merely curled her lips into a faint smile, too bothered to engage.
Seeing her persistent cold shoulder, Fleur frowned. Her voice softened, taking on a cautious, delicate tone. "Elise, do you... not really like me?"
Elise stopped in her tracks, took a deep breath, and turned to face Fleur with a calm, expressionless face.
"Miss Bonnaire, I made myself perfectly clear yesterday," she said, her voice freezing. "I don’t care for meaningless socializing. I don’t have a great temper, and sometimes I say things that aren’t pleasant to hear. Since you have a history of depression, let me remind you to minimize your contact with me. It’s better for you, and better for me."
The expression on Fleur’s face gradually stiffened. She stared at Elise, her eyes looking fragile, even carrying a hint of wounded vulnerability.
Elise withdrew her gaze, turned toward the nurse’s station outside the consultation room, and handed over her medical insurance card. "Hello, I have a morning appointment with Dr. Seter to set up my pregnancy file..."
Fleur stood frozen in place, watching Elise speak with the nurse.
The woman had exquisite features and a cool, elegant aura. Though she was perfectly polite and understated, every movement effortlessly exuded the innate poise exclusive to a wealthy heiress.
Fleur’s grip on her lab slip tightened, her teeth clenching in secret.
Just then, footsteps approached from behind. Fleur turned around, and upon seeing the newcomer, she called out softly, "Dylan!"
Over by the counter, Elise’s foot paused just as she was about to step into the consultation room. In the next second, she walked right in without looking back.
Dylan’s gaze followed Elise until the door shut before he finally looked at Fleur. "Have you been seen yet?"
"Yes, Dr. Seter gave me a slip to get a color ultrasound first." Fleur paused, then added, "I didn’t expect it to be such a coincidence. Elise is also here for a prenatal checkup, and we happen to have booked the exact same doctor."
Hearing this, Dylan’s gaze shifted back to Dr. Seter’s door.
Separated by the solid wood, he couldn’t see a thing. But when he had just arrived, Elise had clearly heard Fleur call his name. He had also clearly seen her footsteps falter for a fraction of a second—yet in the end, she had chosen to ignore him completely.
Dylan’s brow furrowed tightly, his eyes darkening with a sullen glint. No matter what, he was still the father of the child. Elise was truly being ruthless!
Noticing the shift in Dylan’s expression, Fleur lowered her head, a flash of smugness darting through her eyes.
Then, she looked up, her brows knitting with a touch of sternness. "But honestly, Dylan, your wife is pregnant. As her husband, how could you not accompany her to her prenatal checkup? Pregnancy and childbirth are incredibly grueling for a woman. You’re being so thoughtless, no wonder she’s upset with you!"
Hearing her words, Dylan’s expression softened, seeming to fall into thought. After a moment, he looked at Fleur, pursing his lips before speaking. "She’s angry with me right now. She probably doesn’t want to see my face."
"And to think you two have been married for five years!" Fleur gave him a reproachful look. "Women always talk tough but have soft hearts. Besides, Elise is pregnant right now; her bad temper is mostly just hormonal. It’s precisely at times like this that you, as her husband, need to show her tenderness. How can you just stay far away just because she says she doesn’t want to see you?"
A look of hesitation flickered across Dylan’s face.
Fleur reached out and gave him a direct nudge. "What are you still standing around for? Go on in!"
Dylan looked at Fleur, finally letting out a sigh. "Then, will you be alright on your own?"
"I’m not the one who’s pregnant. It’s just a color ultrasound; I’ll be fine." Fleur offered him a gentle, reassuring smile, perfectly embodying the role of a caring sister-in-law who was worried sick over her brother-in-law’s marriage.
Deeply moved by her kindness, Dylan nodded in response. He turned and walked to the consultation room door, knocked twice, turned the handle, and stepped inside.
Watching the door close behind him, the gentle smile on Fleur’s face gradually faded away. She looked down at the lab slip in her hands, her eyes completely devoid of warmth.
...
Inside the consultation room.
Elise had just taken back her medical card when Dylan entered.
When the doctor saw Dylan, she immediately stood up to shake his hand. "Mr. Bennett, the eldest young mistress just took her lab slip to get a color ultrasound."
"Thank you for your trouble, Dr. Seter." Dylan shook her hand, then swept a glance over at Elise beside him. "Is my wife’s checkup going smoothly?"
The woman smiled and said, "Mrs. Bennett is here for her twelve-week file-creation checkup today. She needs to do a fasting blood draw first. I was actually just asking Mrs. Bennett why she came alone. Since they’ll be drawing quite a few vials of blood today on top of her fasting, pregnant women are very prone to dizziness and weakness. It’s highly recommended to have a family member accompanying them."
Listening to the doctor, Dylan was instantly reminded of when Elise was pregnant with the twins. It had also been the twelve-week checkup, and after that blood draw, Elise had nearly fainted.
There was no way Elise didn’t know her own physical limits, yet she had actually come alone just to spite him.
At the thought of this, the flare of anger in Dylan’s chest intensified.
...
Emerging from the consultation room, Elise completely ignored Dylan, heading straight toward the lab department on her own.
Dylan caught up with long strides and firmly grabbed her wrist.
"Elise, even if you’re throwing a tantrum, you need to have some sense. How could you come to a file-creation checkup alone? Even if you don’t care about your own body, you should at least consider the child in your womb."
Forced to a halt by his grip, Elise turned to look at him, her face masked in pure annoyance. "Who said I came alone?"
Dylan froze.
Before he could react, a voice called out from a distance—
"Elise!"
Madeline was rushing toward them with hurried steps.
The moment Dylan saw Madeline, everything clicked into place.
Elise seized the opportunity to yank her hand free from his grip. "I don’t need you here. Go accompany Fleur."
With that, Elise pulled a thoroughly bewildered Madeline along, turning to walk straight toward the lab.
Even after walking a considerable distance, Madeline could still feel a sharp, cold gaze boring into her back. It wasn’t until they rounded a corner that she finally dared to look back.
Fortunately, Dylan hadn’t followed them.
She let out a quiet sigh of relief and linked her arm through Elise’s. "What is Dylan doing here?"
"He’s accompanying Fleur for a medical appointment."
"The OB-GYN department?" Madeline’s eyes widened. "Fleur is pregnant?!"
"No, they said it’s adenomyosis."
"Oh." Madeline pouted. "Having her brother-in-law accompany her to the hospital for a gynecological issue... should I call her fragile and incapable of self-care, or should I say she has absolutely zero sense of boundaries?"
Elise curled her lips into a cold, indifferent smile. "As long as the two of them don’t see an issue with it, anyone else’s opinion doesn’t matter."
Madeline clicked her tongue twice. "If it were me, I could never bring myself to do something like that..."
The two chatted as they made their way to the lab.
...
Fasting for a blood draw was a brutal physical trial for a pregnant woman like Elise, who already suffered from low blood sugar.
By the time the last vial of blood was drawn, Elise’s face had turned stark white, and her vision began to blur.
Even though Madeline had long since prepared a bottle of glucose water and was waiting by her side, the moment Elise actually blacked out, panic seized her.
"Elise!"
Madeline strained against Elise’s limp, slumping body, shouting in desperation, "Someone help! A pregnant woman just fainted here—"
A tall, commanding figure moved even faster than the nurses, rushing forward to scoop the unconscious Elise into his arms. Turning on his heel, he sprinted straight toward the emergency room.
"Dylan..." Madeline scrambled to gather the scattered lab slips from the floor, pushing herself up to chase after him.
