Chapter 5

Joshua slept late and woke up late.

Just as he stepped out of his bedroom, Olivia pushed open the front door and walked in from outside.

"Honey, I went out and got your favorite chicken pot pie."

Olivia presented the packaged pie to him like a prized token. "I kept it tucked inside my coat all the way back to keep it warm. Eat it while it's hot."

In the past, whenever Olivia messed up or made him angry, she would always buy a chicken pot pie to make it up to him.

Joshua didn't actually care for it that much. He only ever relented and forgave her because he loved her and was willing to accommodate her.

What was today's pie for, though? Did she feel guilty after spending an entire night messing around with another man?

"Honey, did you see the message I sent you when I left this morning? What time did you wake up?"

For some reason, Joshua's demeanor over the past two days was giving Olivia an odd sense of unease.

"I didn't see it. I just woke up."

Joshua picked up his utensils. He wasn't going to mistreat himself for Olivia's sake anymore.

Seeing that his expression remained completely normal, Olivia finally let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm going to take care of some work first. Once you're done eating, I'll go for a walk with you."

While eating, Joshua unlocked his phone.

Damien had just uploaded a new post. "She's so good to me. I just casually mentioned I was craving chicken pot pie, and she immediately took me to get one."

Attached was a photo of a chicken pot pie from the exact same restaurant as the one in Joshua's hand.

Sitting across the dining table, Olivia let out a low chuckle.

A second later, a comment from Oliva appeared under Damien's post. "As long as you know."

Before long, Patricia left a comment of her own. "It's only natural she treats you well. Ask for whatever you like! You're our family's grand champion now, completely different from a certain useless parasite taking up space."

Olivia could see Patricia's comment too.

Joshua looked up to gauge Olivia's reaction, only to find her smiling happily, her face radiant with satisfied delight.

He smiled, pulled up Patricia's number, and blocked it. He had wanted to do this for a long time.

Before he could even finish breakfast, Olivia received a phone call from Patricia.

A shrill voice exploded through the speaker, making Olivia frown as she looked over at Joshua. "Mom said she wanted to send over some herbal medicine for you. Why did you block her?"

"No need to send any. I won't drink it."

Patricia loved sending him all kinds of bizarre home remedies. They were exceptionally bitter and entirely useless.

Joshua had forced himself to swallow plenty of them over the years, only to be sneered at by Patricia for wasting her efforts.

"Still, you shouldn't have—"

Even though Joshua had blocked Patricia's number, the chat history remained.

He slid his phone right in front of Olivia. The last message he had received from Patricia read, "Can a man who can't get his wife pregnant even be called a man?

"When she did get pregnant before, the baby didn't make it because of your garbage genetics. Have some self-awareness and stop ruining Olivia's life."

During their first year of marriage, Olivia had actually gotten pregnant once.

However, at seven months, the baby's heart suddenly stopped, forcing an emergency labor induction.

It was during that exact ordeal that doctors broke the news that his lab markers were abnormal.

Patricia had sent countless vicious texts like that over the years.

Joshua had simply known that Olivia cared about him and had defended him constantly. Not wanting to put her in a difficult position with her family, he had never brought it up.

This time, however, Olivia frowned. "She is my mother, after all. You could show a little understanding."

"I should understand her? Who's going to understand me?"

Joshua let out a cold laugh. "Olivia, I had looked forward to that baby for seven months too. Do you think I wasn't heartbroken?"

"But have you ever stopped to think that a stillbirth happens for a reason?"

Olivia let out a sigh. "Just like my mother said, you're eight years older than me. Poor reproductive quality is what caused the baby to—"

It felt like a brutal blow straight to the head. Joshua's eyes turned bloodshot in an instant.

"I'm sorry, honey." Olivia realized her mistake immediately. "I didn't mean it like that."

When Olivia was pregnant the first time, Joshua had cared more than anyone else.

He had constantly come up with new recipes to handle all three of her daily meals, and he had accompanied her on every single trip outside, no matter how short.

He had never missed a single prenatal checkup, meticulously reading guides and preparing every item for the baby.

He had done everything for her except carry the baby himself.

When the baby was lost and the doctor blamed it on his body, his whole world had collapsed.

During that period, he had to care for Olivia while enduring Patricia's relentless daily accusations.

It was Olivia who had stayed by his side to comfort him instead.

She had told him over and over again, "Honey, it's not your fault. Even if we can never have children in the future, it doesn't matter. You're the only one I care about."

It had taken him a full month to climb out of the abyss of self-blame.

Only now did he finally realize that all along, she too believed that losing the baby was his fault.