The CEO’s Billion Dollar Bride
Chapter 229 - 210. How did the child hide

Chapter 229: 210. How did the child hide

Lina Miller was a strong girl; ever since he met her, Mario Jensen had never seen her cry - not even the time when she was almost kidnapped and raped by hooligans when she was so young. She didn’t shed a single tear.

He still remembers her seven years ago, as an eighteen-year-old girl, surrounded by gangsters in a broken warehouse near the dock in Andras City. She was almost raped when he coincidentally went there to take care of business for his father. Just one glance at her - her ponytail fluttering, and he was captivated by her.

Her plain yet determined eyes shone fiercely even when restrained by several men, silently protesting instead of begging for help.

"Yo, this girl is smart. She knows screaming for help is useless and doesn’t even make a sound!"

"Boss, are you sure it’s interesting to force yourself on a woman who doesn’t even know how to scream?"

"You don’t get it. Making a woman who doesn’t scream beg for mercy under me is the most interesting!"

"Her eyes are so scary. She looks like she wants to eat me. Boss, I dare not be the first to go. You go first, then I’ll go!"

Mario still remembered the anger that erupted inside him when he heard this conversation. It was the first time in his life that he fought for a woman, a stranger he just met. Afterwards, he reminisced about his fear from then. He was just one man, while there were more than ten armed gangsters against him.

Luckily, someone recognized him at the time and retreated, not wanting to offend the Jensen family. He only suffered minor injuries. If they had really fought, he would have been at least half-crippled.

After successfully rescuing her, he examined whether she had been injured and found that she had been biting her own tongue the entire time. She stared at him in silence until he promised not to touch her. Only then did she dare to let go of her mouth.

After all this time, he still clearly remembered the look in her eyes. It was calm, cold, and fierce, but not a single trace of fear. That steady gaze had put even a full-grown man like him to shame.

He asked her why she’d rather bite her tongue and die than call for help, and she said that shouting for help was useless and would only drag others down, just like how it had almost involved him.

It was better to have a quick, self-inflicted end than to risk involving others.

Mario admitted that he was amazed by her words. Besides a clear mind, she possessed a kind heart. In the abandoned warehouse, no one would have found her, and even if she had screamed, anyone who came to help would have likely suffered the same fate.

So, the only thing she could do was resist to the death!

For a girl in this time and age to value her chastity so strongly was rare. To self-harm, to preserve her honor was what conservative women in ancient times would do. But that had not made him think of her as foolish; rather, he was deeply touched by her!

Somehow, he began supporting her through university, where she was discovered by a talent scout even before graduation. From then on, she embarked on her acting career, eventually winning awards as an actress with her talent. She was the most diligent actor he’d ever seen, the most disciplined, and the cleanest of scandals. It had everything to do with her chaste personality.

And yet, all this was destroyed by him in one night. He could only imagine her feelings; she trusted him the most. In all these years, he was the only one who had lived in this house. But she never thought that the one she trusted the most would easily destroy everything she had protected.

If he could, he wanted to apologize, not to seek her forgiveness, but to ask for a chance to make amends!

"Lina..."

Before he could even call her name, she spoke first: "Fabian, I’ve been tired lately, and I’d like to take a break for a while, is that alright?"

"Okay, if you’re tired, take a break," Mario agreed without hesitation.

Lina continued almost immediately: "Can I take a break for a year?"

What she actually needed was not a year, but an eternity. She couldn’t bear to leave him, but carrying a child to term and raising it required time and space.

So, she had no choice but to do this. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t tell him, but given his devoted personality, she didn’t think he would force her to have an abortion. They could only put themselves in a difficult position, and she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable.

When Mario heard the words "one year," his heart stopped, his breathing froze, and his gaze was full of fear. That fear made him think he was about to lose her.

"What happened, Lina? Why do you suddenly want to take a year off?" He wasn’t worried about the company being able to go on without her; he knew she wasn’t the type to casually quit. Was it because of something else or that night’s incident?

He wanted to ask, but he dared not. Once he asked, he didn’t know how she would answer, nor how he would face her. So, he could only pretend that nothing had happened!

"I’m just getting older and finding it harder to keep up. Recently, my body can’t take it if I stay up late. Now that the Jensen Film and Television Department is on track, the main character in the currently filmed ’Crowned Concubine’ might have to..."

At this point, Lina found it difficult to continue, and she didn’t dare to look at Mario’s unmoving eyes that were focused on her. The new movie, "Crowned Concubine," had a huge budget and had been filming for three months. As they were trying to catch up with the schedule, they had been working late at night. If she quit now, it would be Mario’s hard-earned dollars going up in flames!

But if she continued to work in her current condition, not only would the whole world know about the child in her belly, she wouldn’t even know if the child would survive. Regardless of who Mario loved, she wanted the child in her belly!

"That’s not the point," Mario stared at her intently as he spoke word by word, "It’s just a movie. I, Mario Jensen, can afford the loss. If you’re tired or unwilling to continue, I’ll call it off right away. The main point is, why do you need a year off?"

"If possible, even longer is fine. If you agree, I’ll leave Jensen and retire from acting."

"Retiring?"

He knew what kind of woman she was: a dreamer with ambition. The word "retiring" would have never entered her mind!