Chapter 6

With a straight face, Meredith answered, "Sorry to disappoint." "Why would I be disappointed?" Ysabelle laughed and added, "The child is not even Josiah's. Did you really think that Josiah would care about that child of yours?" The look on Meredith's face changed and she snapped, "Ysabelle Layne, don't you dare vilify me and my child!" There was no way the child did not belong to Josiah as Josiah was the only man in her life. Even the night when she drugged, nothing happened between Yoel and her. "Well, the video of you cheating on Josiah is already spread across town. I'm sure the video speaks for itself, so why do I need to accuse you?" Leaning toward Meredith's ear, Ysabelle sneered, "If I say that the child isn't Josiah's, then the child isn't. You'll soon see what I'm talking about!" Ysabelle then turned around and left the room. Meredith's face was overcast. After the incident with Yena, she finally realized the lengths Ysabelle was willing to go just to get Josiah. Not long after Ysabelle had left, someone entered the room again. At the sight of the uninvited guest, Meredith's face turned white, and was immediately on guard, "What are you doing here?" It was Yoel Harper, the person who tried to keep her in bed the other night. After the incident, Meredith recalled that Yoel was kicked out of the house. Yoel looked haggard. With bruises and scars on his face, he walked toward Meredith in an awkward manner. Before Meredith could even respond, Yoel threw his arms around her tightly and apologized, "Edith dear, I'm sorry for coming to you this late. Let's run away with our child. Let's go somewhere that no one can find us." Meredith was first shocked but soon realized that she had once again fallen into Ysabelle's dirty scheme. What Ysabelle said to her earlier had finally made sense. Ysabelle had planned all of this. "You…" "Edith…" Yoel had no intentions of letting her speak as he quickly planted a kiss on her forehead and went on, "Josiah Shelby is such an evil and cold-hearted bastard. If he knew that this child was mine, he would definitely kill you. But don't worry my dear, I'm here to save you, let's leave this place right now…" Yoel then took off his coat, put it around Meredith's shoulders, and tried to get her off the bed. "What are you talking about? Don't touch me!" Meredith cried out as she tried to push Yoel away. Looking past Yoel's shoulders, Meredith suddenly noticed Josiah who was standing by the door. The expression on his face was utterly cold and grave. Meredith's mind went blank at that moment. She knew that there was no way for her to explain herself about the situation. "No! This child is not yours, stop saying nonsense!" Looking pale, Meredith tried to argue again. With his back facing the door, Yoel pretended as if he was not aware of Josiah's presence and pulled Meredith into his arms again. He then said, "Edith dear, don't be silly. Josiah never loved you. Even if Yena is dead, he will never acknowledge you as his wife anymore…" "Shut up right now!" Meredith yelled as she slapped Yoel on his face. It was then she was able to get rid of Yoel's grip on her. As she was still not fully recovered, Meredith staggered and stumbled her way to the door and kneeled down in front of Josiah. With tears blurring her eyesight, she sobbed, "Joe, please don't listen to his nonsense, there is nothing between me and him. Aside from you, I've never had another man in my life…" "Edith, don't you beg him!" Yoel rushed over to where Meredith was and pulled her back into his arms. He then glared furiously at Josiah and fumed, "Josiah, don't you dare lay a finger on Meredith and my child! Just come for me and leave them alone!" "No! It's not like that," cried out Meredith who was now losing her mind. Even though Josiah had not uttered a single word, the grave look on his face was a hundred times scarier than him yelling at her. Meredith knew that Josiah would not believe her with the concrete video evidence. She struggled away from Yoel, ran toward Josiah, hugged him, and said, "Joe, he made up the story. The child has nothing to do with him, the child belongs to you…" Josiah finally moved. He bent over and wrapped his fingers around her neck as he seethed, "Meredith Leighton, you're quite something, aren't you, huh?" Meredith felt his warm breath on her face but for some reason, she felt her body turn cold. With tears blurring her eyesight, Meredith shook her head and begged, "Joe, please believe me…you have to…" "You want me to believe you?" Josiah raised a brow, grabbed a fruit knife on the table, and put it into Meredith's hands. He pointed toward where Yoel was standing and said, "I'll believe you if you stab him to death in front of me." Meredith was startled. Of course, she would gladly stab the disgusting man to death. But what would happen after that? She would need to face the consequences of killing a man and what would then happen to the child in her? What about all the injustice that she was put through?