Chapter 3
Chapter 3
I didn’t care.
The room fell into a heavy silence.
After a while, he finally approached and spoke, his words as harsh as ever. “You wanted this baby. Don’t expect me to help raise it.”
As he spoke, he watched my face carefully, trying to gauge my reaction.
I gave him a faint smile. “Mom already found an excellent nanny. Someone will take care of the baby.”
Dissatisfied with my response, he frowned. “And don’t think you can use the child to tie me down. I won’t-”
“It’s fine,” I cut him off calmly. “Just be yourself. Mom will handle everything about the baby. You won’t be bothered.”
My response wasn’t what he expected. He pressed his lips together and fell silent.
After all, early in our marriage, I had once told him that if we ever had children, I wanted to give them a complete family.
I wanted them to experience the parental love I never had.
But now, I no longer had any expectations of him.
He opened his mouth to say something, but his phone rang.
He glanced at the caller ID, then at me, before walking out of the room to take the call.
But I could still hear the whining voice from the other end: “The baby isn’t even yours. Why are you visiting her? I want to go to my idol’s concert. You have to come with me…”
After he left to take that call, he never came back.
Just then, a pregnant woman walked past my door, supported by her husband.
“Honey, do you think the baby will look more like you or me?” she asked.
“Like you, I hope. As beautiful as you are,” he replied lovingly.
The woman laughed at her husband’s sweet words, and he laughed with her, his eyes never leaving her face, supporting her with utmost care as if afraid she might stumble.
They radiated such happiness.
I felt a pang of envy.
If only someone could love me like that.
Just then, my phone on the bedside table buzzed with a payment notification.
“Venmo notification: Nathan H. sent you $50,000”
I checked the message. The transfer note read: Mom told me to give this to
I composed myself and didn’t return it.
After all, I deserved this much.
you.
After spending several days in the hospital, Margaret brought
“e back home for postpartum recovery.
She promised that the day my recovery period ended would be the day Nathan and I divorced.
With her promise, my restless heart finally found some peace.
28.6%
Chapter 3
That evening. I received an unexpected call from Mrs Wilson, the director of the orphanage where I grew up.
She told me she’d found my birth parents, but they had passed away years ago.
However, they had left me a letter and a key,
I would need to go to the police station in their hometown to collect them.
I wrote down the address and was about to slip the note into my phone case when I heard the door open
Nathan walked in.
The strong smell of alcohol followed him into the room.
Before I could speak, he lay down next to me and closed his eyes. “Mom wants us to work things out.”
My heart skipped a beat in alarm.
Margaret had promised to let us divorce. Why had she changed her mind?
Anxiety rising, I pushed back the covers, intending to find her and get answers.
But Nathan suddenly turned and pulled me back, his face stern. “Don’t you know you can’t get cold right now? You’re a mother now – can’t you take better care of yourself?”
The concern in his voice sent a chill through me.
I instinctively pulled away from his grip, maintaining my distance. “L… I understand. You should go back to your room. I need to sleep.”
He noticed my resistance and let out a bitter laugh, his face showing contempt. “You just had a baby – your body’s all out of shape. Don’t worry, I’m not desperate enough to make a move on you.”
During early pregnancy, the doctor had said my nutrition levels were too low and I needed supplements, or the baby wouldn’t get enough nutrients. To ensure a healthy baby, I’d forced myself to take all kinds of supplements daily, finally reaching a normal weight.
Now after giving birth, I still had some softness around my middle.
I glanced at him but said nothing, turning away and lying down with my back to him. I’d ask Margaret about the situation tomorrow.
In the middle of the night, I woke up groggily to find the space beside me empty.
I reached for my phone to check the time, only to see a message from Nathan’s secretary sent three minutes ago.
She’d sent a photo of Nathan’s profile as he drove, with the message: “Having a baby doesn’t change anything. A man who doesn’t love you never will. I just missed him and came to see him for a moment, and he left with me right away.”
“Ashley, you’re the only one who took this ridiculous marriage seriously. You lost.”
