Chapter 4: Disheartened

Joe's expression froze. For a moment, he didn't say anything. Instead, he looked at Emily—or rather, scrutinized her—as if trying to figure out whether she was speaking out of anger or if she was serious.

Emily's face was calm, showing no sign of anger at all.

Joe frowned, his voice turning cold: "Why?"

Emily opened her mouth, wanting to tell him about what she'd heard in the hospital corridor today, to express her anger and pain, to voice all her disappointment and resentment toward this husband of hers.

But just as she was about to speak, seeing Joe's expression in that moment, Emily's heart skipped a beat. Reason instantly returned, and she stopped herself just in time.

She couldn't say it yet.

Once she did, Joe would definitely deny it immediately, and who knows what extreme measures he might take.

Right now, she wasn't strong enough to stand up to Joe. If she exposed everything, what awaited her might be imprisonment without even her freedom!

To get a divorce, she had to keep Joe calm.

With this thought, Emily took a deep breath.

"These past days, I've gradually felt that your heart isn't with me anymore. I think divorce would be good for both of us." Emily tried to make her expression look serious and sincere, and attempted to negotiate with him.

"But don't worry, I'll have this baby and give it to you."

This was a lie, of course.

Joe stared at her for a long time, then walked over to her side, bent down, and placed one hand on her lower abdomen.

"You're tired. You need rest." His voice became gentle again, his palm slowly caressing her belly. "Your pregnancy hormones are unstable right now, which makes you overthink things like this."

"Rest well. If you're unhappy, the baby will be unhappy too."

Emily felt the warmth from his palm and heard his gentle, coaxing voice, but she only felt a bone-chilling cold.

She turned her face away without speaking.

Joe straightened up and picked up his coat from the chair back: "I still have things to handle at the company, so I won't be staying for dinner with you."

Then he said to the butler beside him: "Emily isn't well. Don't let her go out casually. Even if she does go out, have someone follow her, understand?"

The door closed.

Emily sat alone at the dining table, looking at the table full of dishes, her hands slowly clenching into fists.

Suddenly, she swept her arm across the table, sending all the cups, plates, and bowls crashing to the floor!

"Mrs. Watson!" The servants were terrified and quickly gathered around.

"Mrs. Watson, are you alright?"

Emily bit her lip hard, her eyes completely red, holding back tears that were about to spill out.

"I'm tired. I'm going upstairs to rest for a while. Please clean this up."

That whole night, Joe didn't come home.

This used to be common, and Emily would only feel sorry for him working so hard. But now, he was probably with Olivia.

After all, she was the one he truly liked, and there was his child there too.

Emily silently shed tears. She didn't call Joe once, nor did she mention divorce again.

The next morning, just as she woke up, her phone rang.

She answered it, and Olivia's gentle voice came through: "Emily, it's me."

Emily's fingers tightened, but she didn't speak.

"I know you probably don't want to take my call, but I really want to apologize to you." Olivia's voice carried regret. "That day at the kindergarten, Nicholas was naughty and bit you. He's still young—please don't take it to heart."

Emily bit her lip, her voice squeezing out from her throat: "Of course... of course I won't blame him."

Olivia paused, then continued: "This weekend is Nicholas's fourth birthday. I'm throwing him a little party at home. Will you come?"

"Don't worry, I've already talked to him about it. He'll be very welcoming."

Emily's heart jumped suddenly.

Although she felt that Olivia must have bad intentions doing this, what mother would refuse to see her own son?

Especially since this might be her last chance to see Nicholas.

After she had the abortion, she would leave this city, leave Joe, leave all of this behind.

"Okay." Emily took a deep breath. "I'll come."

Olivia laughed, her voice sweet: "Really? That's wonderful! Saturday afternoon at two. I'll send you the address."

The call ended.

Emily held her phone, head down, silent for a long time.

On Saturday, Emily dressed up carefully. She put on makeup, did her hair, and wore a loose dress that concealed her slightly protruding belly.

She wanted to make a good impression on Nicholas.

When she was leaving, the servants asked where she was going. She told them the truth. The servant first called Joe to confirm, and only after Joe agreed did they let her go.

The family driver took her to a white villa.

At the entrance, she could see the garden filled with balloons and streamers, a huge inflatable castle set up on the lawn, and children's laughter coming from the yard.

She pushed open the door and walked in.

Olivia stood in the yard wearing a pink dress, her smile radiant.

Seeing Emily, she quickly came forward: "Emily, you're here!"

She reached out, wanting to link arms with Emily.

Emily shifted slightly, avoiding her.

Olivia's smile froze for a moment, but quickly returned to normal: "Come, I'll take you to see Nicholas. He's still feeling bad about what happened that day."

Emily followed her to the inflatable castle and saw Nicholas bouncing around inside with several other children.

He wore a birthday hat and a white shirt with a bow tie, looking quite proper. His eyes were crescent-shaped, exactly like Joe's.

"Nicholas!" Olivia called out. "Look who's here?"

Nicholas turned around and saw Emily. His smile paused for a moment.

But remembering what Joe had said last night, he reluctantly slid down from the inflatable castle, walked over to Olivia, grabbed her dress, and looked up at Emily.

"Call her Ms. Johnson," Olivia said to him gently, looking down.

Nicholas pressed his lips together and called out quietly: "Ms. Johnson."

Emily's eyes immediately reddened.

Despite her protruding belly, she still squatted down, trying to be at eye level with Nicholas, her voice very soft: "Happy birthday, Nicholas."

She took out a beautifully wrapped box from her bag and handed it to him: "This is my gift for you."

Nicholas looked at the box, then looked up at Olivia.

Olivia nodded, and only then did he take it and open it.