Chapter 3

Elina

“What happened to you, Lora?”

“Where does it hurt?” Jonathan kept asking as he held Lora’s hand.

As I got closer, I could see more clearly that Lora was now leaning against Jonathan’s chest. He stroked her head in panic.

“Calm down, Lora. I’m here.”

Jonathan kept saying that, over and over, trying to soothe her.

“Uh… it hurts, Jonny.”

When I heard her call Jonathan’s name so sweetly and intimately, my heart ached.

I never realized they were this close.

At that moment, discomfort and pain overwhelmed me. Even though I was standing right in front of them, Jonathan didn’t shift his attention away from Lora at all.

My heart rebelled against this situation. I gathered my courage and spoke.

“Let me check her, Jonathan.”

I slowly knelt down, observing Lora more closely. The woman met my gaze, but her eyes showed no relief. Instead, she looked like she disliked it.

However, Jonathan slowly nodded, allowing me to examine Lora because he knew about my abilities. I had once studied sports rehabilitation, and I could tell whether Lora had suffered a serious injury.

As I examined Lora’s leg, I repeatedly made sure…

…that nothing was injured. This shouldn’t have become such a big deal.

“Jonathan, Lora—”

“Ouch! That really hurts, Elina…”

Why did she react like that?

She startled me, and I looked back at where I was holding—there was no wound there, yet she whimpered in pain.

In sudden panic, Jonathan pushed me, causing me to fall. He ignored me and focused on Lora.

“What did you do to Lora, Elina?”

I tried to answer, but no sound came out.

Jonathan’s accusatory words came faster than my defense.

“You should watch your behavior, Elina. You’re only hurting her more.”

His face was extremely hard, anger taking over him, and it was because he was worried about Lora.

Looking at the woman who was still whimpering, I tried to clear up the misunderstanding by checking her again.

Lora slapped my hand away hysterically. “No. I don’t want to. You might hurt me again…”

She clung to Jonathan even tighter. “I don’t want her to examine me, Jonny…”

Lora’s weak voice sounded so pitiful. Right after that, Jonathan shouted at me.

“Did you hear that, Elina!? You shouldn’t be here.”

“You’re just jealous and could hurt her. Leave!”

Filled with shock, I slowly stood up. Seeing him continue to worry about Lora left me shaken.

He treated me so badly and trusted that woman so easily. I turned around and walked back to the bedroom on weak legs, and Rose deliberately bumped into me.

Nearly falling, I steadied myself on trembling legs.

“Such a pitiful woman.”

Her words pierced me, but I said nothing and quickly went to the bedroom.

As soon as I arrived, I lay down on the bed, my heart still aching.

I kept waiting for Jonathan to come back, but he didn’t return until I fell asleep. Even when I woke up the next morning, the space beside me felt so cold.

Did he not come back all night…?

With memories of last night—of how he never stopped looking at Lora, I felt truly uneasy.

I immediately got out of bed and prepared for work, the uneasy feeling in my chest still lingering.

I tried to push all that discomfort away as I slowly exhaled through my mouth.

Going downstairs, I found Jonathan already neatly dressed. Something felt very different today because he was preparing breakfast.

I approached him, watching as he happily arranged the meal.

The moment our eyes met, I immediately asked him, “Did you not come back to the bedroom last night?” I restrained myself.

This stirred my anxiety as I waited for his answer. It wasn’t just worry, I was afraid of hearing something worse.

He looked at me, calm as usual. He placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Last night I took care of Lora until late,” he told me.

“You know, Lora just arrived here. Mom is very worried about her.” He shrugged and took a short breath. “When I came back, you were already asleep, so I slept on the sofa so I wouldn’t wake you.”

That small bit of consideration from him slowly eased the tightness in my chest. I remembered how Rose treated Lora—she was so attentive and always praised her, always speaking proudly of her.

That’s right, Rose must be very worried about Lora and asked Jonathan to keep looking after her.

I stepped closer to him, looking into his eyes gently.

“Are you okay, Jonathan?”

I felt bad for him, especially since he had even prepared breakfast this morning.

He really does everything, and he simply nodded.

A few moments after breakfast, Jonathan and I were about to leave for work together. My feelings were calm, but only briefly. The moment I opened the front passenger door, I saw Lora already sitting there.

Mentally, I truly did not expect this.

“Why are you here, Lora?” My voice slipped through clenched teeth as I held back my emotions.

She looked at me while holding her leg. “Elina, I’m injured.”

Something about this deeply bothered me. When I checked her leg earlier, I was sure she wasn’t hurt.

I tried to handle the entire situation calmly, even restraining myself by taking a slow breath.

Before I could speak, she spoke again.

“I’m not used to sitting in the back.” She looked at me, innocent and completely relaxed.

Lora held the door and then closed it just like that.

Jonathan didn’t even comment on it. I was forced to sit in the back passenger seat,  Once again, he seemed to focus only on Lora.

On the way to the office, Lora kept looking at Jonathan.

“Mom said I should come to the company to learn.”

Even to me, her voice sounded very sweet. She was enthusiastic when she said that to Jonathan.

“Are you okay with that?”

Lora nodded. “Of course. I’m learning so I can help you, Jonny.”

Watching their interaction, I pressed my lips together. This kind of blatant disregard…

“Besides, Elina will help me.”

Seeing Jonathan nod, he didn’t seem to have any problem with it. This made my heart ache. As Jonathan’s wife, who often helped him, he didn’t even ask for my opinion.

He said the company wouldn’t function without me, but that didn’t seem to apply when it came to my opinions.

We finally arrived at the company building. I prepared to get out, making sure nothing was left in the car. And then, my eyes couldn’t look away from what was happening.

Jonathan got out first and opened the door for Lora. The smile on his face made me freeze.

No.

This didn’t feel right.

No words came out of my mouth. Just like that, I couldn’t bring myself to follow them as they eventually disappeared from my sight.

With how busy things were at the company, handling a project that was nearly finished, I still couldn’t forget what had just happened.

Maybe later I would talk to Jonathan about this. I also needed to tell him about my pregnancy.

I immediately went to handle the project handover to the new manager, though I didn’t actually know who he was.

I didn’t intend to lose focus on my work, but how could I keep working when I saw Lora just walk into the room, hooking her arm around Jonathan’s?

It sent chills through my entire body. I felt like something was seriously wrong…