Chapter 2

The next morning, Jeremy headed off to the company bright and early.

Before leaving, he gave me a stern warning. "Take good care of Sophie. If she got hurt, you'd answer to me."

Sophie slept late.

It was past ten o'clock when she walked out of the master bedroom, wearing one of Jeremy's shirts.

"Morning, Elaine." She yawned widely, with a faint hickey marked on her neck.

I pretended not to notice and set the breakfast on the table. "We'll head to the mall after you finish eating."

Sophie pouted. "No need to rush. Jeremy told me I should sleep in as long as I want."

She took her sweet time finishing breakfast and then spent another hour doing her makeup.

By the time we were ready to go out, it was already noon.

*****

The driver drove us to a big shopping mall downtown.

Sophie linked her arm tightly through mine in a clingy way.

But only I could feel she was squeezing my arm on purpose.

"Elaine, you're not mad at me, right?" She leaned close to my ear. "Jeremy only let me stay in the master bedroom for the baby's sake."

"I'm not mad," I said flatly.

I was dying anyway. There was no point in getting upset over this.

We walked into the maternal and infant store.

Sophie went all out picking things out.

She grabbed baby clothes and toys and then picked out feeding bottles.

In the end, she stopped in front of a crib.

Sophie pointed at it. "I want this."

The shop assistant smiled. "You've got such great taste, Mrs. Wilson. This is our limited-edition model."

Sophie shot me a smug look. "Swipe the card for me, Elaine."

I took out the card Jeremy had given me and handed it to the shop assistant.

The payment went through.

Sophie broke into a bigger grin. "Thanks, Elaine. Once the baby's born, you'll be its godmother."

I kept quiet and turned to head for the pharmacy nearby.

My stomach started aching again.

I bought some painkillers and popped two pills on the spot.

The bitter taste drowned out the sickly sweet metallic tang in my throat.

I'd barely stepped out of the pharmacy when Jeremy called. "Where are you?"

"At the mall," I replied.

"There's a charity auction this evening. Bring Sophie along with you."

"Me too?"

"Sophie can't be seen in public right now," Jeremy said, as if it were plain common sense. "You're Mrs. Wilson, so you need to show up for such an event."

So I was nothing but a human shield playing the part of his wife.

"Fine." I hung up the phone and took Sophie along to get ready.

*****

The auction venue was lit up bright and fancy.

Jeremy had arrived earlier.

He wore a dark gray suit and a face mask, sitting in the front row.

He waved the moment he spotted us.

Sophie hurried over at once and sat next to him.

I took a seat on the other side.

The auction got underway.

Jeremy kept his head down, scrolling his phone while whispering a few words to Sophie now and then.

Then a pink diamond necklace came up for auction.

The starting bid was 1.5 million dollars.

Sophie's eyes shone with excitement. "It's so gorgeous."

Jeremy didn't hesitate but raised his bidding paddle. "3 million dollars."

The whole crowd gasped in shock.

The bidding price kept shooting up, and finally settled at 10 million dollars.

Jeremy won the necklace. He turned to Sophie, his eyes full of fondness. "Do you like it?"

Sophie's face flushed with excitement. "I love it. Thank you, Jeremy."

I watched the scene unfold, but my eyes were fixed on the breast pocket of his suit.

There was an old black pen clipped there. It looked out of place with his luxury tailored suit.

That pen was a gift I gave him back in our college days.

I'd scrimped and saved for three months to buy it.

He'd said it was the most precious gift he'd ever gotten. And he promised he'd use it to sign our marriage license someday.

We signed the marriage license later on, and he'd kept carrying the pen.

I once thought he was being sentimental about old times.

But now I knew, he'd merely gotten used to having it around.

The auction was over, and people started leaving.

Jeremy stood up and put his coat over Sophie's shoulders.

I walked behind them when a sharp, stabbing pain suddenly hit my stomach.

Everything went dark before my eyes. I reached out instinctively to grab the person in front of me.

My fingers barely touched Jeremy's sleeve when he roughly shrugged me off. "Don't touch me!"

I lost my balance and fell hard to the floor.

My knee slammed against the marble floor, hurting like crazy.

Everyone around stopped walking and turned to stare at me.

Jeremy looked down at me with a frown.

He brushed his sleeve off in disgust.

In front of everyone, he took off that coat and tossed it casually to a waiter standing nearby. "It's dirty. Get rid of it."

I lay on the floor, staring at the coat he'd thrown away like trash.

Sophie let out a gasp and covered her mouth. "Elaine, are you alright? You should be careful."

Her words sounded caring, but she snuggled closer into Jeremy's arms.

Jeremy wrapped an arm around her waist and shot me an icy glance. "Can you stand up? Stop making a fool of yourself here."

I gritted my teeth and pushed myself up from the floor little by little.

My knee was cut open, and blood seeped out, staining the hem of my dress.

But I couldn't feel any pain. My heart was broken beyond repair.

I brushed the dust off my dress, lifted my head, and gave him a polite, distant smile. "Sorry, Mr. Wilson. I've spoiled your sight."

Jeremy froze for a second. He hadn't expected me to stay so calm.

He frowned, said nothing more, and walked off with Sophie.

I stared coldly at his back.

It wouldn't be long: only 48 hours left.