Love Blooms In Prenups By Lydia Onions
Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The air was heavy with the pungent smell of alcoholic disinfectant in a private hospital located in Baykeep. There was no other source of light in the room save for a solitary lamp that gave off a dim yellow glow. The rest of the room was dreary and silent.

Melody Tuffin was seated next to the doctor in the gynecologist’s office as the latter browsed through Melody’s medical report. After a brief moment of silence, the gynecologist pushed her glasses back up her nose and eyed Melody. “You’re Melody, correct? Are you sure you won’t reconsider?”

Melody clenched her fists tightly and raised her head to look at the gynecologist as she replied, “I’ve thought things over. Dr.

Lewis.”

As Annie Lewis was a mother herself, she couldn’t help but step in with some words of advice whenever she encountered such heart–wrenching situations.

“Let me confirm this with you again. You’re currently pregnant with twins, and you’re into your first trimester. Based on the ultrasound scan, the children are developing fairly well in the wound. Since you’re such a pretty young lady, I’m sure the children you give birth to will be cute as well.”

At this, Melody thought, “Cute? Children?”

Although she was rather moved by what Annie had said, Melody thought about her bedridden mother and decided to proceed with the harsh decision she had made.

“I’ve decided. I don’t want them,” declared Melody in a mildly shaky but firm and insistent voice.

Annie sighed softly before uttering. “At this stage, I have two options available. We can either proceed with a drug–induced abortion or carry out a surgery. The surgery would naturally be more harmful to your body and would present higher risks. As such, I would recommend moving ahead with the drug–induced method.”

“All right then. I’ll opt for using the drugs, replied Melody.

As she spoke, Melody closed her eyes, and a solitary tear ran down her cheek from the corner of her eye. Annie started to key in the relevant information into her computer while she explained the key items to take note of. “I’ll prescribe you two types of medications. For the first type, you’ll have to take them in the first two days, whereas the second type is for consumption from the third day onward. All you have to do is head to the pharmacy to collect the medication.”

Melody grunted in acknowledgment and brought the prescription that Annie had written over to the payment counter to first settle her bills. Following that, she headed over to queue at the pharmacy to collect her medication.

When it was finally her turn, the sound of a loud commotion suddenly carried over from the entrance to the pharmacy. Soon after, several men dressed fully in black barged in.

She wondered, “Who are these people?”

Everyone had been frightened to the point that they kneeled on the ground in a show of subservience. Even the staff who were preparing the medication now scrambled to hide beneath the various shelves and cabinetry. Only Melody was left sitting right where she was in a daze.

A burly and extraordinarily handsome man strode to the front of the group and walked steadily over to Melody. His entire body emanated a chilly aura that made her shiver involuntarily.

After a short moment, the man stood before Melody, and she finally recognized him to be the man from that night a long time ago. The man smiled coldly before he reached out and grabbed her by her jaw. In his clear and imposing voice, he said, “How dare you abort the babies?”

Melody’s jaw hurt from how he had grabbed her so roughly. She frowned slightly and defiantly replied. “Why not?”

The man took in her words and gazed silently at her with his deep blue eyes, which only barely masked his grin.

Suddenly, he burst into laughter. Melody was shocked by that and clenched her fists tighter in her anxiety. The prescription order she held in her hands was now crumpled and creased extensively.

She retorted, “Who are you to tell me what to do? I can do as I please.”

The corners of Maverick Mills‘ lips lifted even further in response. He surveyed the surroundings coldly before his alluring lips opened once more as he said, “Do you want to watch some entertainment, or do you want your life?! It’s your choice.”

Even though he was clearly asking a question, he spoke so matter–of–factly that everyone else present was utterly terrified. Immediately, they dispersed from the scene, and the place quickly settled down once more.

It had gotten so quiet that they would probably even have been able to hear if a pin had dropped. Melody gazed inscrutably at the man who had suddenly appeared before her, and she held her prescription order ever so tightly. Even though she was afraid, she forced herself to look at him as she asked, “What do

you want?”

He smiled seductively and replied, “You’re carrying my children. What do you think?”

“They… They’re mine!”

Chapter 1

“Marry me!” declared Maverick.

Melody was taken aback by this sudden proclamation that didn’t quite suit the scene or the atmosphere. Without skipping a beat, the man raised his arm and signaled for his men to bring forth a set of documents.

Although she didn’t receive the documents, she could see the documents‘ titles written large at the top.

‘Marriage? He’s insane!” thought Melody.

Melody’s mind was thrown back to how she had first gotten entangled with the man so many moons before. It had happened on a night about three months ago. Back then, the scorching summer sun blanketed the entire city in its burning rays and spared no one. Everyone was left sweating and panting from the uncomfortable heat. Melody had just finished an interview. It was one in a series of interviews she had with various companies, but none of them had borne fruit.

She was confused about this state of affairs as well. Based on the exemplary results she had obtained in university, it should have been an easy task for her to secure a job.

Still deep in thought, she was brought out of it by the sudden trilling of her phone, She saw that it was her mother’s primary doctor, Steven Yates and immediately answered.

“Hi, Dr. Yates. Did something happen to my mom?” asked Melody.

There was a brief moment of hesitation before he ultimately decided to get straight to the point. He replied, “It’s about your mom’s medical bills. It’s been delayed for about two months now. The hospital is refusing to accept the delayed payment any further, even on my account. They’re saying that they’ll shift your mom out of the intensive care unit if the payment is not made within the next three days.”

Melody stiffened with rage upon hearing this. She replied, “Weren’t there scheduled payments for my mom’s medical bills straight to the hospital’s account?”

Steven was hesitant to share the truth with Melody, but he ultimately relented after weighing the relative pros and cons. “The truth is… We haven’t seen the payment being made since April.”

“April? It’s already the month of July now! That means it’s been a good three months since the payments have stopped… mused Melody.

“Dr. Yates, are you…” began Melody.

However, Steven sighed and interjected, “I can only help you this much. Melody.”

Melody was downright enraged. She couldn’t believe that the Tuffin family had just cut off payment for her mom’s medical bills so abruptly and without informing her. She guessed that this was the work of the vicious mother–daughter pair in the Tuffin residence.

She clutched her phone tightly in a grip and frantically pleaded, “I’ll have to trouble you to help me out again, Dr. Yates. I’ll be sure to make the required payments within the next three days.”

Steven had always felt a great deal of pity toward Melody and thus usually watched out for her a fair bit. However, things had dragged on for far too long this time, so he had no choice but to reveal the truth to her.

“All right. Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of your mom for the next few days, replied Steven assuringly. However, he had no choice but to be rather cruel and said, “For the medical bills… Do try your best to hurry. I won’t be able to help you for much longer.

Naturally, Melody was aware of the difficulties and constraints that he faced. She was already more than thankful that he could help her this much and hurriedly conveyed her gratitude.

“Sure. Thank you so much. Dr. Yates,” stated Melody. With that, she ended the call and immediately hailed a taxi to head straight for the Tuffin residence.

Over at the Tuffin residence, Joseph and his family were lounging about on the couch when Melody suddenly barged in. However, they didn’t bother acknowledging her presence at all.

That was until Melody marched straight up to stand in front of Joseph. In her icy tone, she demanded, “Why did you cut off the payments for my mom’s medical bills? Give me 75 thousand now to settle the payment.”

Joseph raised his head in response and replied, “You didn’t even bother addressing me as your dad. The first thing you when you came over was to demand money. What happened to your upbringing?”

did

you

Melody scoffed coldly and replied, “Dad? Are you sure you’re fit to be a dad? My mom’s in the hospital for all this time, but didn’t even bother to pay her a visit. Now you’ve even gone so far as to cut off the payments for her medical bills. How dare you talk to me about my upbringing? She’s been in the hospital for a good ten years now. In all this time, nobody has stepped forward to teach me all these.”

Joseph frowned upon hearing Melody’s accusations. He turned to glare coldly at Yolanda Lark, who was seated next to him.

“What’s the matter?”

Yolanda saw that Joseph was enraged and immediately extended her hand to catch hold of his arm.

16-17

Chapter 1

“Ah! Hasn’t the company been facing some financial troubles recently? They’re looking everywhere for investments to come in. We don’t even have much money left for ourselves. It’s been a long time since Margaret and I went to the mall. Naturally, the money has stopped flowing toward Beatrice as well,” explained Yolanda.

Joseph’s body stiffened in response to Yolanda’s words.

Seated next to them, Margaret Tuffin chimed in as well. “That’s right, Dad! It’s been a long time since I bought any new clothes for myself. I can’t even bring myself to attend gatherings with my friends out of embarrassment. I’ve rejected them

all.”

The meaning behind her words was clear. She was implying that her social circle had shrunk as a result and that their family would now be more distant from the rest of high society. This was something Joseph understood as well, and he immediately consoled his daughter, “Come with me later, Darling. I still have a couple of thousand on my card. You can use it to buy new clothing and attend all those gatherings.”

Margaret obediently replied, “Thanks, Dad!”

As she stood by the side, Melody took in this scene and couldn’t help but grit her teeth as she exclaimed, “Dad!”

Joseph finally made eye contact with Melody and replied, “Look at how you’re behaving right now. You’re shouting and making such a scene. There’s not a single trace of the bearing and demeanor that an upper–class lady should have.”

Melody twisted her lips into a mocking smile as she retorted, “How exactly am I an upper–class lady? Haven’t you been telling the world that Margaret is your one and only daughter?”

Josephi was taken aback by her words and stared at his gorgeous but aloof daughter. He frowned in his displeasure as he thought back to how everyone had assumed Melody would grow into an exceptional beauty when she was born. However, it was a pity that she was held back by her mother’s low social status and was destined to be hidden away from the public eye.

Melody didn’t want to continue this pointless argument with Joseph any further. Her face was stern as she icily said, “I’ve come here for one thing only. Pay for my mom’s medical bills again.”

Joseph frowned as he struggled to hold back his frustration and replied, “Didn’t you hear? We’re all out of money. Hang on for a moment while I figure out what to do next.”

“Wait? Can she afford to wait any further? You can spare the money to get new clothes for Margaret, but you can’t do so for my mom’s medical bills? That’s human life at stake here! The hospital has already said that they’ll move her out of the intensive care unit if the money isn’t transferred, exclaimed Melody.

Joseph thought back to how he had been so busy during this period of time, begging others to help him out, and yet none of them had stepped forward to save him and his company. At that moment, a rush of rage burst forth and overwhelmed him.

“She should just die. She’s been wasting and draining all the money just by staying at the hospital for such a long time,” remarked Joseph.

Joseph’s callous words struck Melody like a thunderbolt. She glared at him with undisguised animosity in her eyes as she recognized how cold and heartless her biological father was.

Seated by the side, Yolanda saw that the pair had stopped their argument and hypocritically stepped in to advise. “Melody, do empathize with your father. He’s been bustling up and down recently for the sake of the company. He’s not as young and fit as he used to be either. Ah! It’s all my fault! Mr. Graham had initially wanted to invest in the company, but he wanted at meal with our daughter in exchange. However, Margaret was about to be engaged with Matthew, and we couldn’t allow anything to get in the way of that. That’s why things have developed to this state.”

As she spoke, she glanced to the side to monitor Joseph’s expressions. She realized that his eyes lit up momentarily when she mentioned the part about investments. She subtly nudged Margaret,

On cue, Margaret jumped in and added, “That’s right, Dad! Mom told me all about it right after she found out.”

She paused for a moment and pretended to ponder the matter before she continued, “If you really need me to have a meal with Mr. Graham, I’m willing to do it. I’m just afraid that Matthew would…”

Joseph understood what Margaret was getting at even before the latter had finished speaking.

The Smith family was a rather reputable and powerful family in Baykeep. Matthew Smith would inherit everything the Smith family had in the future and had a great destiny ahead of him. It would only cause unnecessary complications if he were to replace out that his fiancée had gone for a meal with an older man.

After some thought, Joseph eyed Melody and mused that Margaret wasn’t his only daughter. He coughed lightly and grutly instructed, “I can give you the money you need for the medical bills, but you’ll have to do something for me in return. Go to Utopia Hotel tomorrow night at 8 p.m. to have a meal with Mr. Graham. Otherwise, end of discussion.”

“I won’t go,” replied Melody firmly.

“Oh? Is that so? Then don’t look to me for money anymore,” replied Joseph.

After their exchange. Melody left the Tullin residence in exceptionally low spirits.

As she smacked her head gently, she thought, “What do I do now? I didn’t manage to get the money. There are only two days Jeft… Ahl Joshual Only he can help me now.”

Chapter 2