Chapter 2

On the day I was discharged from the hospital, Dylan came to pick me up. He draped a coat over my shoulders and bent down to help me put on my shoes.

Seven years ago, when I first moved into the Smith residence, I hadn't even known how to wear high heels. He'd crouched down in the entryway to fasten my shoelaces and smiled. "My wife doesn't need to know how to wear them. I know how, and that's all that matters."

Back then, no one at the Smith residence thought much of me. The housekeepers called me a hostess behind my back, and Sophia had even refused to attend our wedding.

Dylan was the one who'd taken my hand and led me into the hall, declaring in front of everyone, "She may come from a humble background, but she's the woman I chose."

Later, when he fought for control of Smith Group, I drank with him, stayed up late with him, and helped him organize stack after stack of documents. When he was hospitalized for stomach bleeding, I was the one who stayed by his side for three days and three nights.

Sophia only called me by my name after he'd secured his position. I thought seven years were enough for me to become a member of the Smith family.

…

When I returned to the villa, I found all the items from the nursery piled up in the living room.

Sophia sat on the couch and said apathetically, "Since you've lost your baby, you should put them away. It's depressing to look at."

I picked up the small wooden rocking horse on top of the pile. Dylan had personally assembled it.

He'd spent hours working on the rocking horse because he'd missed a single screw. He wouldn't even let me help. "When our baby asks about it in the future, I'll tell them their dad made it."

Now, the rocking horse was missing a leg, and it was casually stuffed into a cardboard box.

Phoebe sat beside Sophia. Her eyes were still red and puffy.

The moment she saw me, she sprang to her feet. "I'm sorry, Harper. If I'd known this would happen, I never would have asked Dylan to save me first."

Dylan supported her. "Your foot hasn't healed yet. Sit down."

With that, he turned to look at me. "We can always buy more things for our baby in the future."

In the future. The doctor had clearly told him there would be no future.

Perhaps he couldn't find it in him to remember, or perhaps he believed that as long as he didn't bring it up, he could pretend the matter had passed.

Sophia slid a statement across the table toward me. "Everyone's attacking Phoebe, accusing Dylan of abandoning his pregnant wife for his old flame. I want you to sign this and tell them you were the one who asked Dylan to save her first."

I stared at the few lines of text.

Dylan had indeed asked if I could make it out on my own. Yet, he hadn't waited for my response.

"She wasn't the one who asked me to save Phoebe," Dylan interjected.

My fingers twitched slightly.

The very next second, however, he continued, "Rephrase that line to 'Harper was closer to the exit, so I deemed that she could make it out on her own.'"

Sam immediately nodded.

"That's the truth, and Harper won't be held responsible."

That was the truth? So, as long as he reworded it, his decision to abandon me and our baby would become a mere error in judgment.

Phoebe lowered her head. Tears dripped onto the back of her hand. "Forget it. Don't make things difficult for Harper. It's not like a few insults will hurt me."

Sophia's heart went out for her, and she wrapped her arms around her. "You're far too sensible for your own good; that's the reason people keep walking all over you!"

Dylan looked at me, his tone softening. "Phoebe just returned to the country, and her family is an important business partner of Smith Group, Harper. This statement is just a temporary measure to keep public opinion under control."

He rarely took the time to explain himself to anyone.

Seven years ago, when the company's senior executives had pressured him to send me away, he'd slammed his resignation letter onto the conference table. "If the company can't accept my wife, then there's no reason for me to stay either!"

Back then, he was willing to give up everything for me. Now, he had everything he could ever want, so he could afford to ask me to compromise.

I took the pen and signed my name.

His brows eased, and he bent down to hug me. "I'm sorry for putting you through this."

Phoebe closed the distance between us. When she walked past me, she whispered in a voice only I could hear, "See? He still chose me."

I didn't look back. I simply handed my lawyer the black card with no limit.

I placed the little wooden rocking horse back in the box.

"Why don't you let the housekeepers take care of it?" Dylan asked.

I gently wiped the dust off the horse. "These are my baby's things. I want to put them away myself."

A flicker of guilt crossed his eyes. Yet he didn't notice that, besides my baby's belongings, the box also held the very first piece of jewelry he'd ever given me.