A Night of Desire

"You should go back to the U.S.A.," Autumn Shelby said slowly, her eyes fixed on him. "Take the baby and go back to the U.S.A."

Sierra Sutton never imagined that after seeing the baby, her first words wouldn’t be to ask if the child was all right, or if he was all right, but to tell them to go back to the U.S.A.

His heart was in turmoil, but his expression remained as serene as still water, his eyes unable to hide his deep affection.

"And you?" he asked, refusing to give up, even though he had a sinking feeling he already knew the answer. "When are you planning to come back and join us?"

Just as he’d expected, Autumn Shelby looked at him and gave a slight, careless smile. "Me? I don’t know. I’m not sure. It’s uncertain."

"Why?" Sierra Sutton asked, slowly walking toward her. "Didn’t you say you only came back for something minor? Could something ’minor’ really take three or four months to resolve?"

As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed her arm. His voice trembled with emotion as he continued, "Or did you come back for him? Was he the real reason all along?"

Autumn Shelby stared at him coldly, but she didn’t deny it. "Yes. I came back because of him!"

A flicker of pain crossed Sierra Sutton’s eyes. ’So I was right.’ "You came back because of him. Then why did you lie to me?"

When Autumn returned to the country, how could he not have been suspicious of her excuse? But in the end, he had chosen to believe her.

After all, even though Autumn had been desperately in love with that other man, hadn’t she told him, when they slept together, that she loved *him*? That the other man didn’t know how to cherish her, that he didn’t care about her at all?

So she was done caring about him, done loving him!

So he’d thought that from the moment she slept with him, she had begun to distance herself from that other man in her heart and was finally starting to grow closer to him.

Even though for a long time after they’d slept together, Autumn had been cold to him, no longer showing him the gentle affection from that one night, and had even planned to marry the other man.

At one point, he had been completely disheartened, believing that their connection was fated to be just that one night.

But then, unexpectedly, Autumn told him she was pregnant! And what’s more, she was planning to keep the baby.

He was ecstatic. ’She must still have feelings for me,’ he’d thought. ’Otherwise, why would she want to have my child?’

Autumn said that while she wanted to have the baby, she didn’t want to get married yet. Therefore, she couldn’t give birth in Novaria. She didn’t want the reputation of having a child out of wedlock, which would bring shame to her, her parents, and the Shelby Family. She wanted to go to the U.S.A. to have the baby.

At the time, his career in Novaria was just taking off. But for Autumn, for their child, and for a love he had nurtured for eighteen years, he resolutely chose to go with her to the U.S.A.

In the U.S.A., perhaps due to the pregnancy, Autumn developed depression. While helping her through treatment and taking care of her, he also started to build a new life for himself from scratch.

He thought that if he could establish himself in the U.S.A., they would never have to return to Novaria. Autumn would never have anything to do with that man again, and their family could live happily ever after.

But he had been too idealistic. In the end, the baby was born and Autumn’s depression was cured, but she still chose to return to her home country—alone, and by deceiving him!

He’d thought his devotion would eventually win her heart. But now, he realized he was wrong.

He was devoted to her, but she was devoted to that other man. In the end, his devotion was no match for hers.