Chapter 421

Inside the doctor's office.

Elissa's attending physician faced the imposing man before him and said, steeling himself, "Mr. Murphy, it's not that I don't want to show you. It's against hospital policy."

In other words, it was a rule set by the Wilkinson family.

This wasn't Vistapeak City, nor was it a hospital under the Murphy Group's umbrella. This place, from top to bottom, belonged to the Wilkinsons. More importantly, the patient had been brought in by Laurel Wilkinson herself.

He wouldn't dare leak a thing, not even if his life depended on it.

Rowan Murphy's gaze lowered slightly just as Laurel's voice came from behind him. "Do you have to see it?"

Rowan was good friends with Rex Wilkinson and had dealt with Laurel before, so he was candid. "Laurel, I'll owe you one for this."

The implication was clear: he was going to see that report today, one way or another. Even if the Wilkinsons officially denied him, he would find other means to get it.

Laurel, familiar with his methods, wasn't surprised. She simply asked, "And after you see it, what then?"

Rowan deftly sidestepped the question. "That's between her and me."

If the child was his, he would do exactly as he'd told Elissa earlier. If it wasn't, and Elissa's heart was set on Frank Atwater, he would still take care of her. He would be a proper... doting uncle.

A fleeting shadow of loneliness crossed Rowan's face, a look Laurel had only ever seen on her ex-husband the day they divorced.

She glanced at the doctor and said calmly, "Let Mr. Murphy see it."

Then, lowering her eyelids to mask her own emotions, she turned and left.

With the go-ahead, the doctor quickly opened the computer, pulted up Elissa's ultrasound report, and said respectfully, "Mr. Murahy, this is Ms. Drummonds report."

Rowan walked to the desk, leaned over, and his entire body went rigid.

"Twelve weeks... that means three months, right?"

He could read it perfectly well, but for the first time in his life, he doubted his own understanding.

Three months.

How could it only be three months?

The doctor cleared his throat. "Yes, and gestational age is typically calculated from the fast menstrual cycle, so in most cases, it's slightly longer than the actual time since conception."

calculated from the test menstrual

In other words, based on when they were together, the child couldn't be even

three months along.

A thread of pain tightened around

Rowan's heart, a sharp, acidic ache

shooting from his chest to his

throat it was unbearable buthe

forced it down.

She hadn't lied to him.

It really... wasn't his child.

The doctor watched the man, who stood as if frozen in place, and didn't dare say

another word, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.