Ch. Sorry Hayden, I’m Seven Months Pregnant with Another Man’s Baby 48 Sorry Hayden, I’m Seven Months Pregnant with Another Man’s Baby 48

Chapter 8 

I let out a soft sigh, my voice carrying just a hint of grievance. 

“Then Celeste really is…” 

“She lived recklessly, and when things caught up with her, she pushed everything onto me.” 

“She accused me of being pregnant by a criminal-” 

“And in the end, it turned out she was the one.” 

I shrugged lightly. 

“I guess I’m used to being blamed. It doesn’t matter anymore.” 

As I spoke, I forced a few tears from my eyes. 

Mom pulled me into her arms, her voice thick with emotion. 

“You’ve suffered so much, Arden.” 

“I never imagined the child we raised could turn out like this…” 

Dad snorted coldly, his disgust undisguised. 

“She was never one of us to begin with.” 

“Petty, filthy, shameless-going so far as to seduce Julian.” 

He waved a hand dismissively. 

“She was never fit to be compared to our real daughter.” 

Then he looked at me, his tone softening. 

“Don’t worry, Arden. From now on, your mother and I will take care of you. No one will ever wrong you again.” 

I looked up and smiled faintly. Inside, I felt nothing. 

When Celeste accused me, they never hesitated or asked a single question-they simply decided I was at 

fault. 

Now that the truth had shifted, so had their praise. It had never been about me. It was about the Ashcroft 

name. 

That night, Julian didn’t return until after midnight, drunk out of his mind. 

Watching him stumble through the door, Dad and Mom seemed to understand everything at once. 

Whatever child Celeste was carrying-it wasn’t his. 

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Dad exploded. 

“That ungrateful girl!” 

“We gave her everything, and this is how she repaid us!” 

“For all these years, she played us like fools!” 

“From now on, she has nothing to do with this family.” 

Julian stood there silently, saying nothing. 

Mom took my hand and placed it into his. 

“You need to take care of Arden from now on,” she said gravely. 

“She is your real sister. She’s suffered enough.” 

Julian looked at me, his expression conflicted. 

After a long pause, he nodded. 

I returned his gaze with a calm smile, but nothing stirred inside me. 

I still remembered when I was five years old. Julian had taken me out to play, then he left me behind at the amusement park and walked away. 

As he ran, he shouted over his shoulder, “Ever since you showed up, Mom and Dad stopped caring about 

me!” 

“I don’t like you!” 

“Go wherever you want. Don’t ever come back!” 

I chased after him until my legs gave out. He never looked back. 

That was the day I was pushed into a white van and sold from one household to another. 

When I was ten, my adoptive parents died in a car accident. 

I tried to go back to the Ashcrofts. 

But from across the street, I saw it-Dad and Mom smiling, gathered around Celeste, with Julian standing 

beside them, watching her gently. She looked like a princess. 

I was filthy, wearing clothes that barely held together. 

Mom glanced in my direction once. She didn’t recognize me. 

She was busy holding Celeste, coaxing her softly. “Be good, Celeste. You’re Mommy’s precious girl.” 

Dad laughed beside them. 

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“That’s my fault. I won’t mention Arden again. You’re the only daughter we have.” 

I stood there for a long time, until the pain dulled into numbness. Then I turned and walked away. 

Maybe it was that resentment that taught me how to survive on my own-collecting recyclables, working 

part-time jobs, paying my way through school. 

I never thought about coming back. Not until they found me again. 

Time wore those old, bone-deep grudges down. And now, when I looked at them, I felt no hatred. No love. 

Only the faintest trace of blood. 

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