Chapter 4

"Rose, I know you're upset tonight. If you feel hurt, you can tell me. But you shouldn't take it out on an innocent guest. That's not how a Delgado should behave."

All I could feel was the irony of his words.

Hadn't I told him? Had he ever listened?

Even when Bartholomew defended me, Landon somehow made it sound like I'd put him up to it.I lifted my eyes, my voice level.

"When you gave her my seat and put the bracelet meant for your wife on her wrist, she looked pretty comfortable, didn't she?"

Landon froze for a beat, and something rare flickered across his face. Guilt.

Then his guilt gave way to anger.

"Rose, are you seriously questioning me now?"

"Anna is my assistant. She has to go with me to all kinds of events. People might look down on her for being young, so she needs something impressive enough to make people take her seriously."

"You don't even work. You spend your days at home cooking and taking care of the house. When would you even have a reason to wear something like that?"

"Besides, once you're further along and less steady on your feet, what if you accidentally knock the bracelet off and break it? What's the harm in letting her wear it for a few days?"

Oh. So that was how he saw me.

I'd once worked as a chef at a five-star hotel. Maybe it wasn't glamorous, but it was a career I loved.

I'd once worked as a chef at a five-star hotel. It wasn't glamorous, but it was a career I loved.

Landon was the one who'd said it would be embarrassing for the Delgado family's wife to work as a chef.

His wife didn't need to work for a living.

He'd begged me to stay home and be a homemaker, taking care of everything so he could focus on his work.

I thought of how Bartholomew had stood up for the woman he loved back in the car.

Compared with that, I suddenly felt like a fool.

Landon seemed to realize he'd been too harsh. He sighed, his expression tired.

"Forget it. I won't argue with you. You're pregnant, getting worked up isn't good for you."

He set a small jewelry box in front of me.

"You've had a long day. I picked this out for you."

"I still have work to do. I'll sleep in the study tonight. Get some rest tonight. Tomorrow I'll go with you to your prenatal checkup."

I looked at the pair of dainty diamond studs.

Funny. I'd seen them before, in a photo Anna had deliberately sent me to show them off.

A few days earlier, Landon had spent millions at an auction to buy jewelry to match her bracelet.

He'd bought a pair of jade earrings and a matching pendant.

These earrings had been sitting in a corner of that pile of gifts, still bearing a tag that read "auction freebie."

How thoughtful of him to remove the tag before giving them to me.

So very dignified.

As I passed the study, I heard Landon on the phone.

The door wasn't shut all the way, and his gentle voice drifted out.

"Anna, don't read too much into it. She's not angry with you. I already talked to her. As my wife, she should know how to treat our guests."

"Why did I fall for her back then? She used to be lively and stubborn, a lot like you. She was a little clumsy, but she took her work seriously and always gave it her all. Even when she got chewed out, she never gave up. She was fun to be around."

"But now...she's obedient, sensible, and everything a proper wife is supposed to be. She's a good and boring wife."

Standing outside the door, I gave a quiet, humorless laugh.

He was the one who'd trapped me under all those rules until I'd become nothing more than a mindless machine running his household.

And then he blamed me for being dull.

Landon was still speaking.

"Don't be unhappy. What can I do to cheer you up? All right, I'll sing you to sleep."

Listening to that familiar melody, a sharp ache pierced my chest.

Back when Landon and I were dating, he'd stay on the phone with me all night whenever I couldn't sleep, singing until I drifted off.

But ever since he became head of the Delgado family, he'd never done it again.

Not even once.

Last week, my morning sickness was so bad that I could barely sleep. I wanted him to stay on the phone and sing to me, just like he used to.