Chapter 2
At that moment, I felt like the sky was about to collapse.
My head was buzzing, and the anger of betrayal made me tremble uncontrollably.
On the phone screen, the camera turned towards the balcony.
Lawrence, simply wrapped in a towel, was leaning against the railing, smoking.
His skilled movements and intoxicated expression clearly showed he was a seasoned smoker.
But Lawrence never smoked in front of me. In these times when everyone is under a lot of pressure and needs some form of relief, he lived like a self-restrained soldier.
I even asked him why he didn't like smoking, drinking, or playing cards like other men.
He held me, his face full of disdain for those things.
"Melinda, I don't like those things. They only make your health worse and don't help your life at all. Besides, smoking makes you smell bad, and I don't want you to dislike me!"
At that time, I was moved and hugged him, thinking how lucky I was.
Looking back now and seeing Lawrence's current state, I only felt irony.
His mistress deliberately pointed the camera at Lawrence, "Lawrence, you clearly want to smoke, but you hold back in front of Melinda. Why?"
"Isn't it because Melinda is so fussy, saying that men who smoke are not good people? I had no choice but to pretend I didn't smoke to win her over."
I was shocked. So he had been acting from the very beginning.
Was his pursuit of me, his tenderness and care, and even his vow at my parents' graves to treat me well for life, all an act?
Was it all just a performance?
This thought sent a chill down my spine, and I shivered.
The once gentle and loving Lawrence now only seemed terrifying to me!
"Ah, you're so bad! Did you know she was a professor's daughter from the start, so you pursued her?" the mistress giggled.
Lawrence's tone was disdainful, "What else? Do you think there's anything about her that would make me lower myself to please her?"
"Then Lawrence, you are really pitiful, having to face a face you hate for so many years and still act like you're deeply in love," the mistress laughed coquettishly.
Lawrence gave a wicked smile, threw away his cigarette butt, and walked over, squeezing the mistress's chest, making her gasp.
"You know it's not easy for me, so hurry up and let me enjoy it one more time. It's not easy for me to come out and see you. Melinda is already starting to get suspicious tonight," Lawrence said, pressing himself against her and biting her.
The mistress gasped, the camera shook, and she said disdainfully, "Then take the flowers you threw away and give them to her to make her happy. I don't like them anyway."
"Okay."
The video ended abruptly.
I could guess what would happen next, even without watching.
It felt like a thousand needles had pierced my heart, and I cried in pain.
Since Lawrence started his company, he had been socializing frequently.
I knew the market had been bad these past two years, the economy was down, and business was tough.
To establish himself in the business world quickly, frequent socializing was normal.
So I felt sorry for him, because he had to drink, which he hated, to make money and create a better life for me and our child.
And every time he came back from socializing, he would bring me a bouquet of flowers, saying it was to make up for not being able to spend time with me.
I was moved to tears, snuggling in his arms, asking, "Why are you so good to me? What if one day you don't want me anymore? Where would I find someone who treats me as well as you do?"
He would pinch my nose, looking dotingly at me, "Melinda, even if I don't want the whole world, I could never not want you! Unless you get tired of me and don't want me anymore!"
When he said this, he would look terrified and hurt, as if he was afraid I would abandon him.
At those times, I felt so lucky.
To have met such a good man like Lawrence!
But now,
The flowers he gave me were the ones his mistress didn't want and threw away.
The words he said were lies to make me happy.
Even his pursuit of me and our marriage had ulterior motives.
I knew this was all a trap set by the mistress to drive a wedge between Lawrence and me.
But I couldn't care about that. I couldn't accept such betrayal and frantically called Lawrence.
But no matter how much I called, no one answered on Lawrence's end.
My heart felt like it was being cut with a knife, and I cried uncontrollably.
I had no choice but to wait anxiously.
My heart felt like it was being fried in oil, going through the torture of being boiled and fried.
Not for that bad man Lawrence, but for being deceived and not seeing through him.
I wasn't someone who would be blinded by love, but I didn't expect to be deceived by a bad man like Lawrence for years, even giving him my parents' insurance compensation to start his company.
Thinking about it made me feel both disgusted and angry.
I wanted to divorce Lawrence and take back everything he got from me!
At that moment, my belly suddenly moved.
The baby seemed to sense my emotions, gently pushing against my belly with a small hand, as if to comfort me.
My tears, which had stopped, flowed again, and thinking of the baby, my heart ached once more.
I could do without Lawrence, but what about the baby?
The baby was innocent. I couldn't judge her life and death because of her father's actions.
But stubbornly giving birth to her, letting her grow up in a single-parent family without a father?
I had seen many issues online about children from broken families having personality defects.
Should I let my child bear such a shadow?
I was torn, not knowing what to do!
For the sake of the child, should I pretend I didn't know anything and continue to endure that bastard Lawrence?
No, I couldn't do it. I couldn't endure it!
But firmly divorcing him, letting the child be born without a father, was also unfair to the child.
"Baby, what should I do?" I placed my hand on my swollen belly, "If I divorce Lawrence, will you blame me?"
Suddenly, the place where my hand was placed moved.
A small, round, fist-like thing gently touched my palm through my belly.
At that moment, my heart felt both warm and sour.
"Baby," I couldn't help but cry again, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Since Lawrence betrayed us, let's not want him anymore, okay? I promise, I will give you double the love to make up for it, okay?"
Feeling the little fist drawing circles in my palm through my belly, as if responding to my words, I cried uncontrollably.
Even the unborn child understood my pain and sympathized with me.
But Lawrence, for whom I was carrying this life, betrayed me at such a time.
My heart felt like it was being twisted by a knife.
I couldn't sleep the whole night, silently crying until dawn.
At the crack of dawn, there was a deathly knock on the door.
Followed by a vicious, sharp curse, "Melinda, you bitch, it's already this late, and you're still sleeping. Get up and make me breakfast. I want a sandwich! I warn you, don't think you can be lazy just because Lawrence isn't home. Get up, or you'll regret it!"
The person cursing outside was Lawrence's mother, Missy Morgan.
Lawrence's family was from the countryside and very poor. His college tuition was borrowed from the whole village.
During college, he worked part-time and didn't go home during holidays, working to earn tuition.
After we got together, I felt sorry for him and always found excuses to give him the chicken legs I bought when he couldn't afford food, claiming I was on a diet.
To protect his dignity, I even had my friends pretend to be customers at his part-time restaurant and give him extra tips, just to make things easier for him.
Even the gifts he prepared for my parents when he first visited my home were bought with my money.
At that time, he held me and said, "Melinda, how lucky am I to have met you!"
"I will love you well and only you for the rest of my life!"