Forced To Marry My Cousin's Fiancé

Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Ethan had barely slept.

The entire night passed in restless silence inside his bedroom while fragments of the previous evening replayed repeatedly inside his mind no matter how much he tried ignoring them.

Lane kneeling on the kitchen floor.

Her trembling hands grabbing the ultrasound pictures first before anything else.

The tears she tried so hard not to let fall.

And those words—

"You can hate me as much as you want... but don’t hate the baby."

Ethan leaned back slowly against his office chair the next morning while staring blankly at the untouched documents spread across his desk.

The large windows behind him overlooked the entire city skyline, sunlight reflecting sharply against towering glass buildings below. Normally, work distracted him easily. Numbers, meetings, contracts—those things made sense.

Because Ethan genuinely hadn’t meant the baby.

That was the problem.

He hadn’t even noticed the ultrasound pictures at first.

He only saw the groceries scattered everywhere and reacted instinctively out of irritation.

But the moment he realized what those papers were—

The look on Lane’s face had already changed completely.

Ethan exhaled slowly through his nose before rubbing tiredly against his jaw.

Damn it.

For the first time since this entire mess started, Ethan felt something dangerously close to guilt settling heavily inside his chest.

Real guilt.Not annoyance.Not frustration.

Guilt.

Because Lane truly believed he hated their child.

And honestly...

Had he given her any reason to believe otherwise?

No.

The realization sat heavily inside him.

For nearly four months now, Lane had handled everything alone.

Doctor appointments.Pregnancy symptoms.

Fear.Loneliness.

Meanwhile Ethan barely acknowledged her existence most days unless absolutely necessary.

At first he convinced himself distance was easier.Safer.

But lately—

The silence between them had started feeling less like control and more like avoidance.

A sharp knock interrupted his thoughts.

"Come in."

His assistant stepped inside carefully carrying several folders.

"The investors from Singapore confirmed tomorrow’s meeting."

Ethan nodded once without much attention.

"Move the afternoon conference to Thursday."

The assistant blinked slightly.

"You’ve already postponed it twice."

"I’m aware."

The assistant wisely didn’t question further.

Nobody inside Blackwood Enterprises questioned Ethan Blackwood twice.

The moment the office door closed again, silence returned immediately.

And somehow—

Lane’s voice returned with it.

"I didn’t choose this..."

Ethan leaned back again while staring toward the city outside.

She was right.

That part irritated him most because it forced him to confront truths he’d spent months avoiding.

Lane never trapped him.

Never manipulated him.

Never demanded anything afterward either.

She simply endured everything quietly while carrying his child.

And somehow that made Ethan feel worse.

His phone buzzed suddenly against the desk, interrupting his thoughts.

Ethan glanced down automatically.

Lane.

His expression stilled slightly.

For several seconds, he simply stared at the screen while the phone rang quietly.

Lane rarely called him.

Actually—

She almost never did.

The call eventually stopped unanswered.

Ethan lowered the phone again.

Probably something related to the house.

Or maybe the pregnancy.

The thought lingered faintly before he pushed it away again and forced himself back toward work.

Ten minutes later—

His phone rang again.

Lane.

Ethan frowned slightly before finally answering this time.

"What is it?"

Silence greeted him immediately.

Faint breathing.

Hesitation.

Ethan’s expression hardened slightly.

"Lane?"

Still silence.

Then finally, very softly—

"Uh..."

Ethan closed his eyes briefly in irritation.

He had meetings waiting.

Reports unfinished.

And somehow listening to hesitant breathing through the phone suddenly exhausted him more than it should have.

"If you called for a reason, say it."

Lane went quiet again.

Something fragile about that silence unsettled him unexpectedly.

But before she could speak again, Ethan ended the call.

The office fell silent once more.

For several seconds he stared at the phone afterward with faint annoyance lingering inside him.

Then—

The phone rang again almost immediately.

Lane.

Ethan’s jaw tightened slightly.

Without thinking much further, he blocked the number.

The silence afterward should have felt relieving.

Instead something uncomfortable settled inside his chest.

Because Lane rarely reached out to him willingly.

And today she called three times.

That alone felt unusual.

Still, Ethan ignored the thought and returned to reviewing documents on his desk.

At least he tried to.

Because concentration refused to settle properly all afternoon.

Every few minutes his thoughts drifted back toward Lane again.

Her expression yesterday.

The ultrasound pictures.

The slight visible curve of her stomach now.

And strangely—

The image of her protecting the pictures like something precious replayed most clearly.

Another knock interrupted him later that afternoon.

This time his phone buzzed simultaneously across the desk.

Unknown caller.

Ethan almost ignored it completely before something made him answer anyway.

"Yes?"

"Mr. Blackwood?"

One of the maids.

Ethan frowned immediately.

"What happened?"

Concern appeared instinctively before he could stop it.

The maid quickly answered.

"Miss Lane wants to talk to you."

Ethan’s brows furrowed deeper.

Why was she using the maid’s phone?

A few seconds of muffled movement followed before Lane’s soft voice finally came through the line.

"Hello..."

Ethan leaned slightly back in his chair.

For some reason, hearing her voice through another person’s phone made something inside him tighten faintly.

"What is it?"

Lane hesitated briefly before answering quietly.

"Your mother is here."

Silence followed.

Ethan blinked once slowly.

That was it?

"You called me three times because my mother visited the house?"

"No," Lane answered softly.

The response came quickly enough to make Ethan still slightly.

For a second, neither spoke.

Then Lane continued quietly,

"I called earlier because..."

Her voice faded uncertainly.

Ethan waited.

But Lane never finished the sentence.

Instead she spoke again after a pause.

"She wanted to talk to you."

Ethan’s expression remained unreadable while staring quietly at the city beyond his office windows.

Somewhere deep down, discomfort slowly settled heavier inside him now.

Because he suddenly realized something.

Lane had probably spent several minutes trying to gather courage before calling him earlier.

And he—

Ignored her.

Hung up.

Then blocked her entirely.

A strange feeling flickered unpleasantly inside his chest afterward.

Not pity.

Not sympathy.

Something closer to shame.

And Ethan Blackwood hated feeling ashamed.

His voice lowered slightly when he finally responded.

"I’ll call her later."

"Okay."

Lane’s voice sounded smaller now.

Careful again.

Like she had already retreated emotionally back behind her walls.

The same walls Ethan himself helped build around her these past months.

The realization sat heavily inside him.

Neither spoke afterward.

The silence stretched awkwardly between them until Lane finally murmured softly,

"I’ll give the phone back."

Then the line disconnected.

Ethan slowly lowered the phone afterward.

The office suddenly felt unbearably quiet again.

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