Deirdre was momentarily stunned. She knew exactly who Brendan was referring to, which filled her with anger and amusement.

"Brendan, how can you be so heartless? How can you shamelessly bring the child up in front of me? If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been forced to leave the child! There's no mother in the world who doesn't want to be with her child!"

Brendan fell silent and started the car without saying another word.

As they drove out of the underground parking lot, he finally spoke. "If you don't leave, even if you can't be the child's mother, I won't stop you from seeing the child. Deirdre, it was your choice to give up. You were the one who first walked away from this child."

The sound of the wind rushing past filled the car as Deirdre's eyes filled with a mix of confusion and resentment.

She found it absurd. Brendan still believed that she had left first, that she couldn't endure and had abandoned their child. But it was Emily who had drugged her! If she hadn't left