Chapter 2

The next morning, when I woke up, Rowena was already gone.

There was a message on my phone she'd left before leaving.

"Honey, no idea when the project will wrap up. I'll make it up to you when I'm back."

"Made you breakfast. Eat it when you're up."

I walked out of the bedroom and saw a fried egg and a bowl of porridge on the table.

It didn't look like much, and it didn't taste like much either.

Still, this was the first time in all my memory that Rowena had ever cooked.

The way I saw it, it was probably just some soothing excuse she'd tossed off without thinking.

I dumped the food into the trash.

Then I called a subordinate I hadn't contacted in a long time.

When the line connected, his voice came through, thrilled.

"Mr. Dickerson, you finally reached out."

"Back then you said you wanted to be with Ms. Pruitt, told us not to contact you unless it was life or death."

"So now you're... planning to come back?"

I nodded.

"There's no need to spread word of my return."

"Also, pull Rowena's company financial statements for me. Aside from normal business turnover, compile every other irregular record."

Back when Rowena started her company, I had my people put in the investment for her, taking a stake of over forty percent. In a sense, Rowena was working for me.

But a year ago, ever since Rowena brought Rufus back into her life,

she started dipping into company money on her own to buy him gifts and cover his spending.

At first, I reminded her this violated the shareholder agreement.

But Rowena just got impatient.

Said Rufus had gone through a lot of hardship trying to build his own business out there.

They were childhood sweethearts.

They'd grown up together.

Now that she'd made it, she said, she ought to look after him more.

They were glued together every day, and I only assumed it was the deep bond of old friends.

I didn't care about that money.

After all, the money was all mine, quietly invested through her. As long as I didn't press the issue, no one would say a word.

I even figured that someday, if Rowena ran short on funds, I could put in a little more and it would be fine.

But looking at it now, I'd been naive.

Since she'd chosen to betray me,

I wouldn't keep tolerating it.

Around noon, Rowena sent me a message.

"Honey, the project's moving fast. I should finish today. If it goes quickly, I can come back tomorrow, and I'll bring you a present."

Before I could reply, I saw Rufus's post.

In the photo, a long, slender petri dish, and a pair of hands forming a heart.

The caption: "IVF going smoothly. Waiting for our little life to hatch!"

There were plenty of comments below.

"Rufus, weren't you a committed bachelor? How come you suddenly want a kid?"

"Won't get married, but willing to have your baby? Don't tell me it's Rowena's."

"Isn't it obvious? Rowena treats Rufus so well she even bought him a sports car worth millions. What's one kid on top of that?"

"But isn't Rowena... married? Her husband..."

"He's a waste. You forget last time at our get-together, Rowena said she was fooled by his looks back then."

"Looking at it now, he's just a good-for-nothing kept man. Give her another shot and she'd never marry him."

"She kept refusing to have his kid because she was afraid the kid would end up as useless as her husband."

Someone tagged Rowena, asking what she'd do if I found out.

When Rufus first came back, he'd added me as a friend.

It seemed she hadn't told Rowena.

Or maybe he'd forgotten I was still on his friend list.

A moment later, Rowena replied:

"So he finds out. So what."

"Just a waste who lives off me. How could he ever compare to Rufus?"

Everything below it was mockery aimed at me.

My chest wrenched, and it suddenly came back to me.

A while ago, I'd brought up having a child.

But Rowena always used the excuse that the company was in its growth phase and she couldn't be distracted.

She wouldn't even have a normal married life with me, always claiming she was too tired.

Yet now she was willing to do IVF for Rufus.

So it turned out,

it wasn't the fear of holding the company back.

She simply wasn't willing to have one for me.

Just then, Rowena sent me a photo.

A table of rich, nourishing dishes, and a selfie of her.

"Honey, Rufus said he didn't want you to worry, so he told me to send you a team-dinner photo to see."

"You eat well too. I'll be back soon."

Beside her, Rufus was throwing up a victory sign, a taunting smile all over his face.

I let out a cold laugh and replied:

"Come back whenever you want."

"Don't bother coming back at all, for all I care."