Love beyond the mask ( Whitney )
Chapter 878

"You've got to face reality, Tiana. The tests and my own assessments confirm it.

Infertility isn't always absolute, Tiana. If you weren't careful, there's always a chance..."

"No, that can't be." Tiana bit her pale lip, fighting back tears, shaking her head in denial. "It's impossible. There's been some mistake, Whitney. Don't dwell on it, okay? Just leave the hospital. It's a minor mix-up; I'll talk to the doctor and clear it all up." With that, she clumsily slid off the hospital bed, pushing past Whitney.

Whitney's patience snapped.

"Are you running from this?" she growled, gripping Tiana's frail shoulders. "Running won't solve anything! If you push me away, what will you do? How do you plan to handle this, and what about the baby?" "There is no baby, I beg of you, stop it."

Tears blurred Tiana's vision, her voice a croak. It was Parker's child, deep down, she knew!

But she was at a loss.

This was all so sudden. Even confiding in Whitney felt utterly humiliating, let alone figuring out what to do next.

This was trouble! Clearly, trouble that should never have arrived...

Whitney didn't give Tiana the chance to retreat into her shell. With a snort of derision, she pulled Tiana towards the door, "You don't believe it, huh? Fine, let's confront the doctor together. They'll run another test to confirm!" "Stay out of it, Whitney."

Tiana resisted, pushing back. "I'm not going to see the doctor now, do you hear me?"

"You won't believe it until you see the coffin, will you!"

Whitney was determined, refusing to let Tiana push her away after such a bombshell. She dragged her all the way to the doctor's office.

The doctor, who had just handed Whitney the test results, looked up in surprise at Tiana, frowning. "A family member, are you? Why did you let the patient get up? I already told you, it's early pregnancy complications that led to her symptoms, not just a simple flu or stomach bug.

This could've been dangerous. You've been treating it like a minor illness. Unbelievable!"

Tiana's face drained of color at the doctor's rebuke.

Whitney glared meaningfully at her, then turned to the doctor. "Sorry, Doctor. My friend here can't believe she's pregnant. That's why we had to come to you for confirmation."

"Weren't you given the test results?" The doctor's irritation grew, glaring at Tiana. "Do you think this hospital's a playground? We take every test seriously... Forgive me for being blunt, miss, but looking at you, I have to ask-are you considering not keeping the baby because of some personal secrets?"

Tiana felt as if her soul was exposed, her lips pressed tightly together, silent.

Whitney frowned at the doctor. "Please don't speculate about her personal life. Although I understand you mean well, my friend thought she was infertile due to a past trauma, which is why she's struggling to believe this."

The doctor, realizing his blunder, apologized. "My mistake. I assumed, seeing a young, beautiful woman not wanting her child-we see it too often here. If infertility was due to an injury... and now there's a miracle pregnancy, these one-in-a-million chances do happen. There are no absolutes in medicine. Miss, you're over a month pregnant, and in another month, it'll be too late to decide otherwise. Whatever your decision, you should inform the father and come to the hospital together."

"A month? Doctor, can you be more specific?" Whitney's eyes sharpened.

Tiana, overwhelmed, stole a glance at her. "Whitney, please stop asking."

"Her last period was at the end of the month," Whitney pressed, ignoring her and addressing the doctor.

The doctor calculated. "Then it's been about 35 to 45 days."

Whitney turned to Tiana, realization dawning. "Tiana, 45 days ago, you disappeared! Please, just tell me... were you harmed by Bryce and Jarvis's people? You mentioned escaping to Saltland Island, being held by Parker's uncle. What exactly happened there?" "Whitney, please don't meddle in my affairs, okay?"

Tiana's discomfort was palpable, fearing Whitney would strip away her last shred of dignity if she kept probing.

She had hoped to keep this secret, treating it as a nightmare, not to be laid bare under scrutiny.

Not yet ready.

And Parker? He had no inkling he'd touched her, let alone that she was now pregnant.

She needed to think, to figure out what to do.

Her mind was a tangled mess, but Whitney seemed hell-bent on uncovering a truth.

All Tiana wanted was to be left alone, to escape this place. She covered her head with her hands, her voice hoarse, "I wasn't harmed, don't worry or rush me. Even if you keep asking, I won't say because... I don't want to! Pregnancies happen, young girls deal with them quietly all the time.

Whitney, I'm an adult. I can take responsibility for myself.

Please, don't make a big deal out of this. I'm not falling apart; you're the one who seems about to."

Whitney was livid. If she hadn't known Tiana to always be headstrong, she'd have lashed out. "How can you even say you're not falling apart? You're crying out of fear, yet you push me away. Who's the father that you're protecting him like this? The bastard."

"It's none of your business. Just drop it.

And don't spread this around, especially not to those who shouldn't hear it, Whitney. Don't make me angry."

"Who shouldn't hear it? Parker?" Whitney sensed something amid the chaos.

Counting back, it all pointed to Parker, the one person Tiana was both avoiding and entangled with.

Due to Barclay, Tiana had been cautious around Parker for a while.

Yet, their relationship had turned peculiar recently.

Whitney pieced it together, suspecting Tiana's pregnancy was closely linked to Parker.

45 days back, wasn't Tiana trapped on Saltland Island?

And during that time, wasn't Parker there too, recovering from amnesia under Phineas's care?

In the tangled mess of past events, it seemed increasingly likely that a moment of recklessness had occurred between two people...

Whitney grew more agitated the more she thought about it. Tiana was tight-lipped, refusing to divulge any details about the circumstances of her pregnancy or mention any man's involvement. This only convinced Whitney that the child's father must be a key figure. She was deeply frustrated.

After Tiana returned to her hospital room, she secluded herself, shutting Whitney out and refusing further communication.

Whitney, left on the outside, felt a wave of disappointment wash over her. In this moment of crisis, the first person she thought to seek out was Ludwik...

With a sigh, Whitney furrowed her brows and pulled out her phone to call Ludwik.

-

Outside the obstetrics and gynecology department, a striking figure stealthily followed.

Endora only retracted her thoughtful gaze after she saw Whitney assisting Tiana back to her room.

Staring at the department's sign, she mused - the patient was that tramp Tiana. What kind of trouble had she gotten herself into now?