Noah lowered his head. He knew he had hurt Elena. And earning her forgiveness wasn’t going to be easy. But he would never give up.

"I know I messed up," he said regretfully. "I hurt Elena over and over again."

When he looked up, his gaze was filled with determination. "I’ll correct my mistakes. I’ll apologize to Elena and bring her back. But Tessa..."

His expression changed all over again, his gaze turning frigid.

"She will be punished for what she did."

"She is carrying your child," Catherine reminded him.

"So what?" Noah shot back. "That doesn’t give her the right to hurt Elena."

Catherine gaped in shock. A moment later, she composed herself.

"Your father and I knew what kind of woman Tessa was," she started slowly. "We tried to keep her away from you. But you still brought her back. Elena was so good to you. And you were not satisfied."

Her gaze turned distasteful. "You wanted nothing more than to be with Tessa. And now that you have gotten what you wanted, you are talking about aborting her unborn child. What’s wrong with you?"

"I know I made a mistake," Noah roared, losing his cool. "I am sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have trusted her blindly. But now I know what she did behind my back. And I won’t forgive her. I’ll punish her for her deeds."

Catherine’s mouth parted in astonishment.

"She was the one who spread rumors about Elena online," he added. "She even tried to kill her. She deserves to be punished."

The moment Catherine heard that Tessa had tried to kill Elena, her entire body stiffened.

"Elena lost her child. How could Tessa give birth to my baby? I’m terminating her pregnancy."

His tone was final and decisive.

"Besides, with her heart condition, pregnancy is not safe. The doctor already warned me about it. It’s only sensible for her to terminate the pregnancy."

His voice softened a bit when he uttered the next words, "If I punish Tessa and cut ties with her, Elena might forgive me and take me back."

Catherine kept staring at him, struggling to reconcile his words with reality.

"You think Elena will be happy about this? You think you’ll earn her forgiveness by killing Tessa’s child?" Catherine shook her head in utter dismay.

"Noah..." She ground her teeth in frustration. "Elena is already married. Forget about her. Let her go and focus on what you have. Tessa is pregnant. That’s where your responsibility lies."

"That’s not possible," Noah shot back instantly. "Elena doesn’t love that guy. She is only upset with me, and that’s why she found a man to piss me off."

His eyes gleamed with unhealthy obsession. "Fifteen years of togetherness... How could she forget all of that?"

Noah’s eyes glowed with madness. "She is waiting for me to remove Tessa from my life and ask for her forgiveness. Once I punish Tessa, she will forgive me. She will definitely come back to me."

"Noah..." Catherine tried to say something, but Noah didn’t listen to her.

"She loves me," he cut her off. "For all those years. There is no way she will forget that love in just a few days. Her marriage to that man is fake. She is only trying to get my attention."

He tilted his chin with a smug look.

"I have already made up my mind," Noah said arrogantly. "I am bringing her back."

"I don’t know whether she loves that man or not. But she already announced her marriage to that man in public. That means you and Elena are already divorced."

All his smugness vanished from his face. His heart sank to the depths of his chest.

It was true that he had already divorced Elena secretly.

"When did this happen?" Catherine demanded. "Why didn’t we know about it? Neither you nor Elena mentioned a word. You hid something this important from us."

Noah pulled his chin down. Shame burned through his chest.

"But from now on, you will not do as you please." Catherine’s voice turned colder. "Tessa’s child carries the Sinclair family’s blood. That baby is innocent. You don’t have the right to harm it, whether you want to be with Tessa or not."

Noah looked up at her. The determination in Catherine’s eyes was unwavering, and he found himself unable to argue.

"Until the baby is born, I’ll take responsibility for her," she said with an ultimatum. "That child belongs to this family, and I won’t let anyone harm it. Not even you."

Noah didn’t stop her. He knew his mother wouldn’t change her mind, no matter what.

"Fine. Since you want the baby to be born, I won’t insist on an abortion. But..."

His tone turned deadly serious. "I will send her away as soon as the baby is born."

He turned to leave.

"Where are you going now?" Catherine asked.

Noah’s steps halted in midstride. He glanced back at her over his shoulder and said, "I’m going to bring Elena back."

Without waiting for her response, he walked away.

"This boy..." Catherine let out a deep sigh, her shoulders sagging in helplessness. "If you had cherished her while she was with you, she wouldn’t have left you. Now, it’s late."

Shaking her head, she headed toward the room where Tessa was resting.

She carried herself with natural authority. Her chin lifted slightly as she regarded her.

Tessa let her lips curl a bit. "Thank you, Catherine, for helping me. You came at the right time. Or Noah..."

She didn’t finish the sentence. Covering her face, she sobbed.

"I never imagined he could do something like this to me," she said between the sobs. "When I saved him back then, he promised he would never let me get hurt. And today, he personally dragged me here to abort my child."

She cried harder. "He treated me as if I were his enemy."

Catherine remained silent. Her sharp gaze remained fixed on Tessa as though trying to see through her.

"He said he would do anything to protect this baby," Tessa recounted, her voice breaking with sobs. "He even arranged the best doctors for me to ensure a safe pregnancy."

More tears streamed down her face. "I never thought he would try to hurt our child."

"I talked to him," Catherine finally opened her mouth. "He said this pregnancy is dangerous for you, given your heart condition."

Tessa stopped sobbing at once.

"Don’t you think he has a point?"

Tessa snapped her head up, speechless.

"You should consider what he said," Catherine continued coolly. "Perhaps you should focus on your health before thinking about having a child."

"What? This is your grandchild. Don’t you want it?" Tessa’s asked frantically. Shock flashed across her face, followed by utter disbelief.

"Dear, I am only concerned about you," Catherine replied calmly. "What if something happens to you? What if you suffer from a heart attack? Why are you risking your life?"