Your Guise Is Slipping, Miss Pearl (Pearl and Richard) novel Chapter 1216

"I want to apologize to you, Richard. I'm sorry."

Jasmine's voice trembled, like she wasn't ready to say all this.

"Five years ago, I did something really dumb.

"I used some tricks to make myself pregnant because I couldn't have you, Richard. At first, I was excited. I thought if I couldn't have you, at least I could have a part of you. But then, I realized how wrong I was.

"By the time I realized, it was too late to abort it. I had to have the baby. Being a single mom, cut off from my family because I was scared they'd find out what I did, was tough.

"As Chet got older, I noticed he looked a lot like you, Richard. It made me both happy and scared. I never told Chet about his father because I was scared it would mess up your life, Richard. I didn't want to cause trouble. I was scared you'd want to take Chet away."

As Jasmine talked, she grew calmer, like she was just telling a story.

"But it's a small world after all, and eventually, you guys found out about us. I hoped it wouldn't be a big deal when we met again, but you wanted to know the truth, no matter what.

"So, I brought him here to hide, but you guys still found us." At that point, Jasmine felt a lingering fear. "This is it. This is the truth. You can punish me."

Jasmine remained kneeling on the floor, ready for whatever was coming, as if she were a criminal ready to accept punishment and trial.

Pearl and Richard felt a storm of emotions. They were extremely angry but didn't know what to do next.

Thinking Pearl was weighing her options, Jasmine offered, "If you take Chet, I'll leave and never come back. Or, if you want, I'll take him away and you'll never see us again."

She was trying her best to keep Chester alive.

Pearl knew she couldn't make an easy choice. Jasmine did something terrible, but she was also a mother.

"Just leave with the child," Pearl finally said.

Richard stayed silent the whole time. He felt partly to blame and thought he should take some responsibility.