Chapter 2

The very idea of all the expenses during pregnancy and after the baby arrived had left me sleepless for nights, fraying my nerves. We had fought over money more than once, yet this time I stayed composed. He took my silence as the calm before a storm.

I remembered the phrase he always said. "Wasn't it you who said to be kind to others and not worry too much about material things?"

Samuel paused for a moment. "Honey, you're really not angry?"

"She isn't having an easy time either," I said with a smile.

Two days later, he went about his usual routine after work. When he realized I truly hadn't gone after the other party, he grew a little anxious and began casually mentioning that three thousand dollars around the house.

Just as he had expected, I went down to the building where his company was located on the third day.

Samuel had a good rapport with his colleagues, and after work, small groups of people would gather around him. Kate was among them. My reputation for being sharp-tempered and fierce meant that most colleagues kept their distance, and the accountant who had miscalculated, Kate, hid behind him.

"Honey, what are you doing here?" he asked, rushing over with a panicked expression. "This is a workplace. Can we discuss things at home instead?"

Everyone's eyes shifted from my face to my belly, watching me warily.

I was heavily pregnant, and with the way people knew me, it was only natural they assumed I had come to cause trouble.

To them, Samuel was easygoing, and I was the only one who nitpicked.

"Honey, what are you talking about? I just went for my prenatal checkup and came to pick you up after work," I said.

Kate still seemed a little scared that I might cause a scene. She had only been at the company for three weeks and was newly pregnant, hoping to get maternity leave without being fired for the mistake.

Thanks to my husband, she got my contact, and from the start, she apologized repeatedly and even transferred the money to me.

When Samuel found out, he was both guilty and angry. "Why did you make it hard for poor Kate? Her family isn't well off. It's just three thousand dollars. Did you really have to scare her like that?"

At that moment, we were in the hospital. My mother-in-law, Charlotte, suddenly fainted and would soon be diagnosed with dementia.

Since he didn't bother keeping his voice down while reprimanding me, the people around glanced over as if I had acted inhumanely and taken someone's money.

"I returned it, honey," I said.

He suddenly found his words caught in his throat. "Returned it?"

I showed him the chat logs, where I had been comforting Kate the entire time.

"Don't worry. Samuel and I are not holding this against you," I had written.

Because of this, Kate had said many kind words to me at work. She accepted the money happily after I soothed her, and I told her to consider it a gift for her child.

With this chat record, the nature of the three thousand dollars changed completely. No matter what, that money could never be claimed back.

I watched quietly as he fell silent, then let out a light laugh and pushed open the hospital room door first.

Charlotte had five children—four sons and a daughter—with Samuel and Riley being the youngest. They had always been close.

They argued heatedly about which child should look after her. In a family of five, it wouldn't naturally have fallen to Samuel, but he stepped forward, insisting that I could manage the meals and massages.

His older brother, Derrick Dalton, objected. "Isn't that a bit much? Olivia is pregnant."

"She's very strong. She handles most of the heavy work at home," Samuel said.

Riley had always been close to my husband. As soon as we entered, she gently pushed me aside and affectionately looped her arm through his, praising him openly.