Prosperous Marriage: Married to My Brother-in-law

Chapter 857 853: Joseph Colson (1)

"Crystal, how are you?" The man hurried to the bedside, his eyes seemingly only on Crystal, as if he hadn't noticed Camila Ruiz standing by the bed.

Camila stepped aside, deciding to observe first. If this man was really the father of the child Crystal was carrying, she would definitely seek justice for Crystal.

She remembered how her godmother had once happily complained to her about being treated like a national treasure when she was pregnant with Brother Ivan. The whole family adored her godmother, ensuring she had the best food and clothes, and her godfather even had bodyguards accompany her 24/7 for protection. Camila believed that a pregnant woman should be cherished by her man. But as for Crystal, she wandered the streets aimlessly, clearly in a poor mood, and even worse, she was malnourished.

To Camila, if the man before her, always exuding a menacing aura, had wronged Crystal, he's unforgivable!

Perhaps it was a strong sense of responsibility, or perhaps it was because she was a woman too, but Camila had already taken Crystal's issues as her own responsibility. If it weren't for her car almost hitting Crystal, Crystal wouldn't be lying in a hospital bed right now.

Crystal forced a smile, and Camila felt that her smile carried a hint of bitterness and a helpless plea. Why there was such a plea, Camila couldn't fathom.

"I'm fine."

"Why did you leave the house like that? And why come to T City? You have no idea how worried I was about you," Joseph Colson sat by the bed, looking at Crystal's still slightly pale face with heartache. For a moment, his usual stern expression softened. He tenderly brushed her bangs away from her forehead.

"I, I, I just wanted to get out and clear my mind." Crystal lowered her gaze, not daring to meet Joseph's eyes.

A few days ago, she found out she was pregnant, and the father was Joseph, the man who had taken her in out of kindness. She thought she could keep the child because, although Joseph was ruthless to others, he treated her well. She didn't expect Joseph to ask her to have an abortion, which struck her like a bolt from the blue.

She didn't dare say Joseph loved her, but she loved him.

At her most helpless moment, it was Joseph who provided her a place to stay. Even though her position in the Colson family felt lowly, she already considered Joseph an benefactor in her heart. As time went by, she slowly fell in love with him. She even knew about his issues with Charles, the second young master of the Colson family. She didn't care about how others judged him; to her, Joseph was a complex man. After hurting Charles, he often hid in the study regretting his actions, but remorse always turned back into hatred, driving him relentlessly to attack and harm Charles again and again.

For such a man, she hoped to give him a stable and happy family. But when he asked her to terminate their child, her conviction crumbled. She had overestimated herself and misunderstood Joseph's heart.

She left the Colson household.

With only a small amount of money, she walked out of the home she had lived in for nearly eight years.

She roamed aimlessly, somehow making her way to T City by car. The money ran out fast. She worried about how she would get by in the coming days, and in her daze, she almost collided with Camila Ruiz's car.

Seeing Joseph appear at the hospital in such a short time only twisted the knife in her heart.

The journey from A City to T City would take two to three days by car. Joseph must have flown, but even by plane, it couldn't be done within half an hour. The only plausible explanation was that Joseph had already been in T City, possibly tailing her from the moment she left home. Yet, he didn't make himself known. Though they'd spent so many years together, he didn't come looking for her when she left.

The heartache was unimaginable.

Joseph came to T City to deal with his brother Charles, no doubt.

She had overheard Joseph drunkenly lamenting how lucky Charles was to have gotten into the Ruiz Family and become so close to their eldest daughter. She even found many photos of Charles and Camila Ruiz in Joseph's study.

She recognized Camila as the woman who almost hit her and, thinking of Joseph's ruthlessness, felt Camila would likely get entangled with him. That's why she showed Camila a look of remorse.

She wished she could save Joseph's soul, to make him stop being so stubborn, but alas...

Joseph's behavior towards her now made her tremble. From what she knew of him, she felt unknowingly used as a pawn in his schemes. In front of Camila, she couldn't say a word and could only plead with her eyes.

"Even if you want to get out and clear your mind, you should let me know first, understand? Don't be so willful from now on," Joseph said deeply, his words faintly tinged with tolerance.

Towards Crystal, he held a love he didn't want to reveal, but...

He turned and looked at Camila Ruiz standing to the side, then rose, introducing himself with a cold demeanor, "I am Crystal's brother, Joseph Colson. I assume you know what's going on. Can you tell me?"

Joseph Colson?

Camila's eyes widened at the name. This man was Brother Charles' very elder brother? Judging by Joseph's expression, he indeed was a ruthless person.

And he claimed he was Crystal's brother, so was he the one who took Crystal in? Then the child Crystal was carrying wasn't his?

"Joseph, this matter..."

"Crystal, take a good rest. Miss Ruiz and I will talk outside." Joseph gently interrupted Crystal, motioning for Camila to follow him out of the ward.

Watching them leave, Crystal's heart sank to the lowest depths.

She felt Joseph's strangeness; Joseph clearly recognized Camila yet pretended it was their first meeting. What was his plan? And what part of his plan was she?

Sister?

Those words burned into her heart like a hot iron, making her entire body hurt.

Her hand, free from the IV drip, instinctively covered her stomach, where her child lay, yet the child's father didn't want him. She was an orphan, and must her child be unfortunate like herself?

Crystal's face turned pale again.

In a corner of the hospital corridor, Joseph stood by the railing, lighting a cigarette and smoking slowly.

"What's going on with Crystal?"

His back to Camila, his cold, detached voice held no blame.

"I almost hit her, frightening her to the point she fell to the ground, and since she's pregnant, it almost resulted in a miscarriage. Luckily, she was delivered to the hospital in time and the child was saved. This is my responsibility. If you want to hold someone accountable, I will bear it." Camila's tone was equally cold; she had no fondness for someone who hurt her Brother Charles.