Chapter 4
I fiddled with the necklace in my hand. "So making it up to her means handing over the anniversary gift that was supposed to be mine?"
Matthew stared at the necklace in my hand, his brow furrowing. "I'll get you something even better."
Look at that, all he ever talks about is making it up to me.
He goes from making it up to Elaine, then turns around and tries to make it up to me.
He acts like he's so fair, trying to keep everyone happy—like that's supposed to make it all okay.
"Like I even want it." I tossed the necklace right at Matthew's face.
The gemstone left a scratch on his face.
He didn't say a word, just stared at me with those heavy, brooding eyes.
"If she dares to take what's mine, I'll make sure she regrets it. So if you don't want me to go after her, tell her to keep her claws to herself and keep her hands off things that aren't hers."
Elaine picked up the necklace. "Rachel, you really shouldn't just toss aside Matt's feelings like that. If you're pissed that he gave it to me, I'll just give it back."
She tried to force it into my hand.
I pushed her away.
She stumbled, and Matthew rushed to catch her..
He snapped, "Rachel, are you done yet?"
Watching Matthew go full-on protective mode for Elaine, I scoffed out loud.
"Oh, what, feeling sorry for her now?" I pushed out my belly, taking a few steps forward. "Come on, take your revenge for your precious childhood sweetheart—right here, hit me."
I took a few more steps forward.
He stepped back, instinctively shielding Elaine.
The veins on his forehead were starting to pop.
I knew he was really pissed off.
"If you're not going to help your childhood sweetheart get her revenge, then I'm out," I said.
I walked right past him.
But he suddenly caught my wrist.
"Rachel, you need to know when to stop. Elaine's already forgiven you for last time, so you're moving back today," he said.
He seriously thinks I'll move back?
Seriously? That's hilarious.
I jerked my wrist free from Matt's grip.
"She's not holding a grudge? So I should thank her for being so 'generous,' just so you can act like you're doing me a favor by letting me move back?" I snapped.
"Do you always have to be so sharp with your words?" Matt asked.
My anger was spent, and Matt's tone softened.
"You know I didn't mean it like that," he said.
"Is it really that hard to admit you're wrong for once?" I shot back.
He put his hand on my belly, which was noticeably bigger now.
"Just a week and your belly's grown again," Matt said.
"Rachel, even if you don't care about yourself, you can't just ignore the baby," he said.
"Stop throwing a fit. And from now on, stop picking on Elaine," he added.
So the price of moving back was watching them play couple every day, without being able to complain.
I brushed his hand away. "Now you care about the baby? Where was that concern when you kicked me out?"
"Only dogs block the way. Move," I snapped.
I shoved Matt aside and headed straight for the door.
Elaine was getting nervous, pushing him to do something.
"Matt, Rachel's really pissed because you gave me that necklace. You need to go make it up to her," Elaine urged.
Matt stared hard at Rachel as she walked away.
"I kept pampering her all these years. No wonder she's got such a nasty temper," Matt muttered.
"Forget it. Let her suffer a bit out there—she'll come running back soon enough," he scoffed.
Hearing his words still sent a sharp pain through my chest.
He had no clue that ever since the day he threw me out, I never planned to go back.
I never planned to go back.
His silence these days was just speeding up my process of moving on.
I had just gotten into the cab when my phone rang.
The interviewer was calling.
"Miss White, I'm sorry, but we can't offer you the job," the interviewer said.
I gripped my phone tightly.
"Even though I didn't get the job, thank you for the opportunity," I replied.
"Miss White, I have a question," the interviewer suddenly said.
"I don't have time for questions."
"Sorry, but could you come back and pick up your resume?"
"No need. Just toss it," I said.
I hung up.
Then I saw a message from Elaine.
[Rachel, do you really think any company would actually risk hiring the wife of Quinn Corporation's CEO?]
[Instead of stubbornly dragging yourself through all this mess, maybe you should just swallow your pride and seriously consider asking Matt to forgive you.]
I didn't bother replying. I just blocked her and deleted her number in one swift move.
Once again, I found myself staring at my chat with Matt.
I sat there in silence for a long time, then finally hit block and delete—for good.
Got turned down again and again these past few days.
Rejections didn't even sting anymore.
Guess that's it. I gave up.
Looks like I'll have to wait until the baby's here before I can job hunt again.
My mobile payment got frozen.
The cash Vera gave me was almost gone.
I looked at everything I owned.
There was a limited-edition bag worth over a million dollars.
A diamond necklace worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The priciest thing was the wedding ring on my finger.
A custom-made ring, worth 7 million dollars.
If I cashed in all this stuff, me and the baby would be set.
It'd be more than enough for us to get by.
But I wasn't desperate enough for that. Not yet.
I glanced at the three black credit cards.
I dug them out of my luggage.
Matt had clearly left them there on purpose.
But I'd resisted the urge to use them.
Vera's words echoed in my mind.
"That's not mooching off him. He's your husband—he's supposed to take care of you and the baby, that's just his responsibility," Vera said.
"You should spend his money like crazy. Max out his cards," she added.
I shoved the three black cards into my bag.
I was still his wife, carrying his baby. It was only fair I spent his money, and there was nothing wrong with that. Even if things got messy later—worst case, I'd just give it all back.