He Took My Love 99 Times. The 100th Time, He Lost Me Forever. Chapter 04

He Took My Love 99 Times. The 100th Time, He Lost Me Forever. Chapter 04

The researcher was already waiting in the procedure room.

“We’ve identified the earlier anomaly.”

She projected a report onto the screen, her tone as flat as ever.

“Ms. Vale is six weeks pregnant.”

“The embryo was conceived from the emotional bond built during the marriage, and it is the source of the final one percent of Affection the system has been detecting.”

I froze.

My hand moved to my stomach on instinct.

There was a child in there.

After ninety-nine extractions, it was the last thing the old me had fought to keep.

Dante went rigid too.

“If the embryo is forcibly used as the Affection carrier, the fetus will die and the pregnancy will terminate immediately.”

“Whether to proceed is for both parties to decide.”

Dante was silent a moment.

Then he asked:

“Can’t we keep using her Health instead?”

“No.”

The researcher pulled up my vitals.

“The last transaction already exceeded what Ms. Vale’s body can bear. Her readings are dropping fast.”

“If Health is extracted again, we cannot predict the consequences.”

Dante looked at my bloodless face, and something like struggle crossed his eyes.

Serena abruptly pushed the terminal away and stepped back, tears in her eyes.

“No. Forget it.”

“Dante, that’s your child with Nina.”

“Even if I never compete internationally in my life, I won’t trade it for my chance.”

She clapped a hand over her mouth, crying so hard she could barely stand.

“It’s just that after this qualifier, I don’t think I’ll ever get another chance like this.”

The last flicker of doubt in Dante’s eyes went out.

He clamped my wrist.

“We can have another child. Serena only has this one chance.”

“No.”

For the first time, I fought with everything I had.

“Dante, I won’t trade!”

“This is my child. You have no right to touch it!”

But with ten points of Health gone, I couldn’t even pry his hand loose.

I kicked over a chair, knocked into the equipment, tried to hide my hands behind my back.

He locked his arms around me from behind and pried my fingers open, one by one.

“Nina, don’t. Don’t make this harder.”

“When I’m back from the competition with Serena, we’ll try again.”

In the end, he pressed my fingertip onto the Confirm pad.

The researcher stood beside the screen and recited the procedure, nothing more.

“Confirming again. Extraction of life-bound Affection will terminate the pregnancy.”

Dante closed his eyes.

“Confirm.”

Red light swept across my fingerprint.

[Transaction complete.]

[Life-bound Affection converted.]

[Recipient Serena Moretti: Health +10.]

My abdomen felt as if a hand had torn it open.

By the time I dropped to my knees, warm blood was already running down my dress onto the white tile.

“My baby…”

I clutched his trouser leg and begged him to call a doctor.

His face went pale. He bent to lift me.

But Serena’s manager was calling, pressing.

“Dante, we have two hours to get to the airport.”

His hand stopped in midair.

A few seconds later, he handed me to the medics who had rushed in.

“The Exchange will handle it.”

“When I’m back, I’ll be there for you.”

He helped Serena turn and walk away.

The child inside me, whom no one had had time to hope for, became the first chip in her international career.

…

Twelve days later, Dante returned to the estate after accompanying Serena through her overseas qualifier.

No one was waiting at the door to take his bags, the way I always had.

No shoes of mine in the entryway, no towel of mine in the bathroom.

My half of the closet was completely empty.

He searched from the first floor to the third, and only then understood that every trace of my life in that house had vanished.

On the dining table lay a single divorce agreement.

On the last page, I had already signed.