Chapter 3

The three of us stumbled upon each other, and I eyed Jayceon with a pang of discomfort. "Didn't you mention you had a business meeting today?"

He looked caught off guard, hastily explaining, "Ezra, don't get the wrong idea. Today was just when Arielle was discharged from the hospital, and since Felix is out of town, she had no one else. I went to pick her up."

Arielle, leaning against him, offered a faint smile. "Yeah, if Felix wasn't busy, I wouldn't have asked Jayceon."

"But Jayceon is really considerate. With just one call, he was at the hospital in less than fifteen minutes."

Fifteen minutes? That hit me. The drive from the office takes about forty minutes. He must have driven like the wind to see someone he truly cared about.

Once inside, Dad and my stepmother naturally lavished attention on Arielle, hovering over her.

As for me, since his remarriage, Dad barely spared me a glance.

"What are you doing here? And without a single gift! Don't you know your sister just recovered from a cold? You could at least bring something to cheer her up."

I ignored his criticism. Since Mom passed, he felt more like a stranger.

After his reprimand, I headed upstairs to grab my ID card and was about to leave when Dad called out to me.

"Tomorrow, your stepmother and I are going on a trip. Since Arielle just got out of the hospital and Felix isn't back yet, she'll be staying at your place."

I let out a dry laugh, frowning in refusal, "There are staff at home, aren't there? Why does she need to stay with me? Do you expect someone who's pregnant to take care of her?"

Dad's face turned crimson. He couldn't stand my defiance, especially when it involved Arielle.

"You ungrateful child! I just ask you to help out a little, and you keep finding excuses. She's your sister, and whether you like it or not, you'll do as I say!"

"Sister? My mom only had me. I don't know where you're getting this sister idea."

Before another argument could flare up, Jayceon stepped in to mediate, calming Dad before turning to me, "Ezra, don't get upset. You're pregnant; it's not good for you to be stressed."

"Even if Arielle moves in, it’s no big deal. I can hire a couple more staff."

He was pretending to reassure me, but in truth, he was paving the way for Arielle.

I chose not to argue further. I was too exhausted for conflict.

On the way back, I suggested we run a few errands, but Arielle said she was tired and wanted to go home.

Jayceon hesitated briefly, then opted to drop Arielle off first.

His excuse was that it wouldn't be right to let a guest go home alone.

Well, by doing so, he missed the fact that I was heading to apply for my passport and would soon be leaving the country.

I walked into the administrative office alone.

After submitting all the required documents, the staff informed me my passport would be ready in two weeks.

I nodded, staring out at the reddish sky, my eyes slightly misty.

Just two weeks, and Jayceon would lose the chance to see me again.

In the days that followed, Jayceon's attention was solely on Arielle.

Since Arielle moved in, his care for her was hard to disguise.

His once steadfast work routine was now full of excuses.

Claiming it was to accompany me as I approached childbirth, but I knew better—he simply wanted to be near Arielle.

In the garden, he had once planted a stunning array of tulips for me. But because Arielle pricked herself on a thorn, he had them uprooted overnight.

Later, he claimed the staff made a mistake and destroyed the whole tulip garden, promising to plant even more beautiful flowers for me.

I watched him love her, trying to mask his feelings, yet oblivious to the fact that his affection was glaringly obvious.

One day, as I was about to go downstairs, I ran into Arielle coming out of her room.

Seeing me, she smirked and blocked my path. "Sister, surely you've realized by now that Jayceon has feelings for me, right?"

"I mean, it's so evident even I can sense it."

I didn't want to engage, so I tried to ignore her, but she grabbed my hand.

"Don't go, sister. Is it because you've been without affection for so long that you're this distant? I've yet to share a little secret with you."

As she spoke, she glanced at my belly with a smirk.

"You were pregnant with twins before, weren't you? And they both ended in miscarriages. You thought it was because your body failed you. But actually, it was Jayceon who gave you abortion pills. Since he doesn’t love you, of course, he didn't want you having his children."

"You must be wondering why this pregnancy is going smoothly, right?"

"Well, I can't have children, and I told him I wanted a baby."

"So, this child of yours, Jayceon plans to give to me once born."

"My dear sister, isn't that just hilarious?"