Chapter 2

She seemed surprised that I was home.

Vernon looked at me with red-rimmed eyes. “Mr. Houde, I’m really sorry that I disrupted your wedding. Bridget was accompanying me, and we left with my child. The main reason I rushed back was to apologize to you. Please don’t get mad.”

I held the luggage tightly.

“That really puts you in a tough spot. You took her away, yet you came back home to apologize to me.”

Vernon’s face instantly went pale. He looked at Bridget, and he was somewhat at a loss for words.

Her expression hardened for a moment, and her voice was low.

“Hubert Houde, don’t be so rude. If you are angry about anything, you can come after me. I’m the one who left you at the wedding. I’m the one who betrayed you. It has nothing to do with Vernon.

“It’s hard for him to take care of a child as a father. His body is weak, and he can’t handle the pressure from gossip even more. So, watch what you say.” So, she knew how to feel empathy for others.

It suddenly felt as if someone had split my heart open, and an endless stream of cold wind poured in.

Since planning the marriage, I thought that we were both preparing for the wedding, even if she only gave me support and some empty words of concern.

However, the reality was that I was the only one preparing for the wedding. From setting up the venue, to arranging the programs, to coordinating the staff, I had to do everything myself.

Until the day of the wedding, I was afraid that our friends and family would wait for too long. Despite feeling ill, I had been running around.

However, she did not seem to care if I was uncomfortable or tired.

It would be rather humiliating to be abandoned at a wedding and have to face it alone.

“Aren’t you going to ask me how to handle the part after this?”

Bridget took it all for granted. “You weren’t born yesterday, and you aren’t a pampered young heir like Vernon either. You’re a veteran in the workplace. I know you can handle something like this.”

“Bridget, don’t be so mean. Be nice to him.” Vernon opened his mouth to persuade her. Then, he looked straight at me with pity.

“I’m sorry. You know very well that Bridget’s usually quite gentle. It’s just that when things involve me, she gets anxious and a bit unsympathetic.”

Honestly, in my eyes, Bridget had always been cold and aloof. There was nothing about her that was gentle.

Back in college, she had decisively called the police when a few punks surrounded me. That was the only time I remembered her showing gentleness.

That one time was enough to make me fall for her, and I was completely mesmerized. Then, like a pathetic fool, I chased after her all day and night for a long time.

I firmly believe that my genuine love would eventually get to her.

After I returned from that business trip out of town, with the company about to go public, she unexpectedly proposed to me. She said that she would not waste the six years of hardships that I had been through with her and wanted to fulfil my wish.

At that moment, I thought I had finally reached the calm after the storm and that even mountains had moved for me.

Who would have thought that she was not at all an unapproachable ice queen? She had long been a gentle and loving wife to someone else.

I smiled mockingly to myself. My heart was a whole trail of mixed feelings. I had no idea what I was holding on to for the past six years.

Just then, Vernon stepped forth. “I have a child with Bridget. Love has never been about who came first. It’s about sincerity, and only with true devotion can it last. Now that we are at this point, I hope you can step back and return her to me. Will you?

“My child can’t be without a mom.”

Right then, it was as if I had become the one who had swooped in and stolen someone else’s partner.

Bridget held her child tightly. “You don’t have to apologize. All the responsibility lies with me.”

She looked at me with guilt, but there was more ruthlessness in her eyes.

“Hubert, I proposed to you on impulse. I owed you too much after all. I wanted to make it up to you with marriage. I thought I could settle with you. I thought that if I gave him a child, my marriage would be fairer to you. But the truth is that as soon as Vernon appeared, I knew that I didn’t want anyone but him.”