Chapter 3

That night, photos of Meghan attending the charity gala with Hector made headlines across Halston. The media was eager to stir up drama.

The headline read, "Pregnant Ms. Gregory Appears with Her New Lover. Has Mr. Nicholson Been Dumped?"

In the photo, Hector was helping Meghan walk, his wrist adorned with a watch I knew all too well.

Meghan had bought that watch at an auction to celebrate our third wedding anniversary. She had said that it represented every second we spent together and her everlasting love for me.

How ridiculous.

…

The next day, I went to the private club to work out as usual. As soon as I entered the lounge area, I heard a group of wealthy young heirs gossiping.

"Hey, did you guys see the news? Looks like that guy from the Gregory family is really going down this time."

"Tell me about it. Even the watch they used to show off their love is on that pretty boy's wrist now. Isn't that a blatant insult to Ashton?"

"If you ask me, Ashton brought this on himself. Back when Meghan was still the illegitimate daughter everyone looked down on, he devoted himself to her and even spent the entire Nicholson family fortune to help her reach where she is today. This is karma."

"I heard he's still making chicken soup for his pregnant wife. What a pathetic cuckold. He's a disgrace to every man. If I were him, I would've killed myself already."

I strode into the lounge, and the entire room immediately went quiet. The young heirs looked embarrassed for a split second when they saw me, but their expressions quickly gave way to amusement.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Nicholson. How did you manage to find time to come out today? Aren't you supposed to be making soup for your wife at home?"

It was Philip Mercer who spoke. His family owned a construction materials business. He had always wanted to curry favor with Meghan, and he'd held a grudge against me ever since I refused to introduce him to her.

I walked to my usual seat with an unbothered expression, accepted the glass of water the attendant handed to me, and took a small sip.

"Making soup once in a while is romantic, but doing it every day turns you into a housekeeper. I'm not like you, Mr. Mercer. I heard you even signed up for cooking classes just to win back your wife after she kept a college student on the side."

Philip's expression changed. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Whether it's nonsense or not, you know best, Mr. Mercer," I said.

I set my glass down and looked at everyone in the room. "As for who Meghan chooses to give the watch to, that's her business. After all, to the Gregory family, a watch is just a drop in the bucket. But what's mine is mine. Even if I threw it to a beggar, it's nobody else's place to tell me what to do."

With that, I paid them no further attention and closed my eyes to rest. Even though I had won the argument, I knew they still saw me as a joke.

After I finished my workout, I got a call from Meghan. "Ashton, I have a gathering tonight. It'll just be a few old friends. Come join us."

She sounded like she was in a good mood, as if she had already forgotten that she'd slapped me yesterday.

"Isn't Hector coming?" I asked flatly.

She replied, "He's tired after accompanying me to my prenatal checkup today, so he's resting at home. Besides… you know Mr. Owen and the others. It wouldn't be appropriate to bring him."

I sneered. Meghan had always been practical. Whenever she needed someone to keep up appearances, she still thought of me, her respectable husband from a good family. As for Hector, he was merely a plaything in her decadent life.