Chapter 2

Lily was a good baby, she didn't give me much trouble.

Although I lost the opportunity to compete for General Manager, I stayed at my job until the day before I gave birth.

After having the baby, I planned to return to work after three months.

But my mother-in-law, who had promised to come help us with Lily, immediately turned cold when she found out I had a daughter.

One moment she complained of a backache, the next a headache. She refused to come help us with the baby no matter what.

I hired two nannies. One I found using cold water to mix Lily's formula, and the other I caught secretly drinking Lily's formula.

My mom passed away early, my dad wasn't in good health, my in-laws were useless, and the nannies were worse than useless.

In desperation, Liam and I discussed who would quit their job to stay home with Lily.

If we went by our incomes, it would definitely have been Liam.

But he stayed home with Lily for two days and managed to give her diarrhea so bad she ended up in the hospital.

The doctor said formula must be mixed strictly according to the instructions. Liam sheepishly scratched his head and said,

"I just wanted her to drink more."

So, after much thought, I decided to give up my career for our child.

That "giving up" lasted for a year.

I used to naively believe that Liam and I were a team, that my role at home taking care of Lily and his role earning money were both for the good of our family.

But I never imagined that this was all Liam's setup, that his goal was to tie me down at home and make me his free nanny.

I remember when Lily was six months old, she was either teething or going through a growth spurt, waking up at least five or six times a night, crying uncontrollably every time.

Liam could soothe her once or twice, but after a while, he grew annoyed.

He stopped getting up to make formula or change diapers. Whenever Lily cried, no matter how loud, he'd snore like a pig, completely oblivious.

One time I was so tired I kicked him. "Liam, I'm so exhausted. Can you please make a bottle?"

Liam jumped out of bed like he was possessed, pointing at my nose and yelling, "Chloe, do you have any conscience?! I have to work tomorrow, and you want me to get up in the middle of the night to make formula and soothe the baby?! Do you want me to go to work tomorrow or not?!"

"You're tired? What do you have to be tired about? You stay home with the baby all day, you sleep when she sleeps, what's there to be tired about?!"

He rolled his eyes at me and snorted, "You're so loud, I'm going to sleep in the guest room."

From that day on, Liam and I began sleeping in separate rooms, a separation that lasted for six months.

When Lily cried in the middle of the night, I was the only one to comfort her. When she got a low fever after her shots and cried all night, I held her and comforted her through the whole thing.

Taking care of a child was truly exhausting. My back ached, my legs ached, my neck ached, and even my chest felt a dull ache. Yet, Liam still believed I was enjoying a life of leisure at home.

Turns out, he wasn't ignorant of how hard it was to care for a child; he just thought it was all "my" responsibility.

I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, tears rolling down my cheeks.

What others saw as a good husband, what others saw as a happy family, was, in private, already broken beyond repair.

If he wanted me to be his free nanny so badly, then I would defy his wishes.

The next morning, I got up and started updating my resume. Once it was done, I sent it directly to Liam's company – my old employer.

When I was about to leave the company before, Joanna had tried to talk me out of it for a long time.

She said that while Chengsheng Group paid well, it wasn't stable.

They were incredibly competitive, and the "last place elimination" system had actually started with them.

I was young and ambitious then, believing young people should earn more money, and I politely declined Joanna's good intentions.

Not long after submitting my resume, I received a call from Joanna.