16

(Betty’s POV)

Haven’t I already spent years trying not to interfere? Haven’t I accepted every cold look, every distant response, every reminder that his heart belonged somewhere else?

Nobody knew that. Nobody knew that sometimes I had cried myself to sleep because I felt like a stranger in my own marriage. Nobody knew how humiliating it was to stand beside a man who looked at everyone except his own wife with genuine affection. Nobody knew how many times I had told myself that perhaps things would eventually change.

And now, because strangers had seen a few pictures and heard one side of a story, I was suddenly the woman who had stolen someone else’s love.

I opened T****k again. I should not have. But I did. A new comment caught my attention.

“She probably got pregnant on purpose to trap him.”

My heart stopped. My hand instinctively moved to my stomach. The words hurt more than I expected.

“How did you even know that?” I whispered to the empty room.

Another person replied beneath it.

“Obviously. Why else would a contract wife suddenly get pregnant?”

I stared at the screen until the words blurred.

Tears gathered in my eyes and I quickly wiped them away. I refused to cry because of people who did not even know my name beyond what they had seen online.

I tossed my phone onto the bed and stood up. I walked toward the mirror.

My reflection stared back at me—pale, tired, eyes still slightly red. For a moment I wondered what everyone else saw when they looked at me.

A homewrecker? A gold digger? A woman desperately holding on to a man who did not love her? Or just Betty? A woman who had entered a complicated marriage and had somehow developed genuine feelings for the man she was supposed to remain emotionally detached from.

I placed my hand over my stomach again.

“I’m not trapping anyone,” I whispered. My voice trembled. “This baby is loved.” At least by me.

I turned away from the mirror and returned to the bed. My phone was still lying where I had thrown it. I picked it up again, but this time I did not open T****k. I returned to F******k. Jewel’s friend request was still waiting.

I stared at it. After everything I just read, I suddenly felt less curious and more suspicious. Why had she sent me the request? Was she trying to provoke me? Was she trying to get close to me? Or did she genuinely want to speak to me?

My thumb hovered over the Accept button. Then I stopped.

No. Not yet.

I am not going to allow curiosity to dictate my next move.

I locked my phone and placed it beside me.

But deep down I knew one thing: Jewel did not send that request for no reason. And sooner or later, I was going to find out why.

---

The next morning I woke up around ten am.

The moment I opened my eyes I knew something was wrong.

My stomach churned violently, and before I could even sit up properly I threw the duvet aside and rushed into the bathroom.

I barely made it to the toilet before I began vomiting—again and again until my whole body felt weak, as though the little energy I had left had been drained out of me.

I remained there for a while, one hand gripping the edge of the sink while I tried to steady my breathing.

Pregnancy was beautiful, or so people always said. Nobody ever mentioned how exhausting it was.

I splashed cold water over my face and stared at myself in the mirror.

My eyes looked tired and I looked pale.

I sighed before walking out of the bathroom. After changing into something comfortable—soft loungewear that did not cling—I left my bedroom and headed downstairs, hoping to find something light to eat before Jayson returned from wherever he had gone so early.

But the moment I stepped off the last staircase, I stopped.

Thalia, Jayson’s mother, was standing in the living room.

Oh, this woman, she doesn't like me.

From the moment she discovered that her son was in love with another woman, she had made her position very clear.

She even advised me, more than once, to leave Jayson and stop holding onto a marriage that, in her opinion, had never belonged to me in the first place. So seeing her standing there this early in the morning immediately put me on alert.

Surprisingly, she smiled. “How are you doing?”

I blinked.

Was she seriously asking me that? I almost laughed. Yes, I was carrying her first grandchild. Of course she would suddenly care whether I was doing well.

“I’m fine,” I replied politely. “How are you?”

“I’m fine. Is the baby fine?” Her expression became cold despite the pleasantness in her voice.

“Yes.” I replied.

She walked toward me. Before I could ask why she was there, she grabbed my hand.

“Come with me.”

I frowned. “Where, what are you doing?”

She did not answer. She pulled me toward the kitchen.

Her grip was unnecessarily tight, and by the time we entered the kitchen my wrist was already aching.

I yanked my hand away. “What’s wrong with you? You were hurting me.”

She looked at me coldly. “You’re happy, aren’t you?”

I stared at her. “I'm not supposed to be sad, am I ?”

“You’re happy after making sure you’re pregnant with my son’s child.”

My jaw tightened. There it was. The real reason for the pleasant greeting.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Yes, I’m happy. I’m happy about my baby, and I don’t see why I should apologize for that.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You knew my son loved someone else.”

“I knew, so?”

“And yet you stayed.” she shot back in anger.

“Because he is my husband.”

Her lips curled with disdain. “You women always think a marriage certificate can make a man love you.”

I felt something inside me snap. “Mrs. Williams, your son is the one who doesn’t know what he wants. One minute he acts as though he cares about me, and the next he reminds me that he still loves Jewel. I didn’t force him to marry me, and I certainly didn’t force him to stay married to me.”

“You don’t understand anything.” she chuckled.

“No, I understand perfectly. You think because your son loves another woman, I should simply disappear and make things easier for both of you.”

She scoffed. “The whole of Paris knows who my son loves.”

I stared at her. “What does that mean?”

She tilted her head. “Are you even online? Have you seen him with his lover?”

My stomach twisted, my gaze assessing her.

She reached into her handbag and pulled out her phone. “Perhaps you should see for yourself.” She unlocked the screen and held it toward me.

My eyes immediately fell on the video.

Jayson and Jewel, together.

They were walking into a resort. Jewel was beside him, smiling. Jayson had his hand lightly placed against her back as they entered the building.