The Bond Between Us novel Chapter 573

Julie had been shacking up with Rowan for a few months now, and she thought she had him figured out. But all her little quirks and antics? They didn't get her anywhere. Out of what seemed like a sense of decency, Rowan had picked up some essentials for Julie's upcoming labor and stuff for the baby, stashing them in the cellar before he took off. The rest was up to fate, leaving Julie to fend for herself.

That very night, the labor pains hit hard. Julie's belly started twisting, and fear gripped her heart like a vice. With zero experience in childbirth and no one around to help, she lay alone on the cellar's cot, biting down hard, enduring. With every wave of pain, she cursed Joseph, cursed the Salstroms, and damned Anastasia to high heaven.

After a grueling day and two nights of labor, it felt like death was knocking on her door. Julie's heavy breaths echoed through the cellar, her cries unanswered. Rowan, sitting just outside on the ground, listened in. As long as she was still breathing, he wouldn’t step in. Julie cursed as she pushed, cried out of sheer terror.

Finally, after over thirty hours of agony, she gave birth to a boy. Exhausted to her core, Julie looked down at the child with no warmth, only a mix of resentment and pain. Frozen with uncertainty, she didn’t dare move or even know what to do next.

The baby's cries finally roused Rowan into action. Just as he was about to enter and fetch the child, a pair of leather shoes came into view. Rowan tensed, looking up to see the man before him, and respectfully called out, "Mr. Asher."

The man, in his thirties, had a vicious scar slashing across his face, splitting his features and obliterating any sense of handsomeness. That scar was a gift from Herman himself. Asher was the same man who had been calling Rowan, the one behind the fire at the Elysian Technologies factory.

Hearing the infant’s cries from the cellar, Asher said, "Bring the child to me." "Yes, Mr. Asher," Rowan replied, stepping inside.

Julie, weak but desperate, pleaded, "Help me." Rowan cut the umbilical cord, wrapped the baby up, and carried him out without a second glance. Julie, seeing her child taken, pushed herself to get up and reclaim him, "Give me my son back, where are you taking him?”

Outside the cellar, Asher's face twisted into a grimace upon seeing the newborn, his scar stretching grotesquely. "Well, he's from the Salstrom bloodline, Herman’s nephew."