Chapter 3

Winifred pulled herself out of Timothy's embrace. Her eyes were bloodshot and lifeless as she said hoarsely, "I'm going to go lie down for a while. You go do your thing."

"I'll carry you."

Timothy lovingly stroked her cold face, then scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the bedroom. He then gently laid her down on the bed and playfully booped her reddened nose.

These little actions of his were no different from before. If it weren't for the existence of Selena, Winifred would've believed that he still loved her dearly, and she would've snuggled into him as affection for him flooded her.

"It's still early. You can get some more sleep."

Timothy reflexively went to unbutton his shirt, wanting to lie down beside her. But the next second, he sat back up, as if he suddenly remembered something.

He looked at Winifred as he chuckled. "I was going to sleep next to you, babe, but I suddenly remembered I have an important meeting coming up. If I lie down now, I might not have the heart to get up later."

Winifred glanced at his collar. She couldn't see anything, so she didn't understand why he pulled away. Was it out of guilt? Had he actually gone the whole way with Selena?

She stared at him with those bloodshot eyes of hers and asked, "Where were you last night?"

If he came clean, then she would very likely break things off immediately.

Timothy slipped his hand under the blanket and held onto her cold hand, then smiled at her. He had a pair of really nice-looking eyes that held deep affection. When he looked into her eyes and smiled, it would make her believe that she was the center of his world.

His voice, gentle and magnetic, also sounded very nice.

"Something came up at work, so I had to pull an all-nighter. I was so busy that I didn't even notice that my phone had died. I only saw that you had called me a few times last night when I turned my phone on this morning, and so I hurried home. Was there something urgent last night?"

He didn't come clean. He was still lying to her.

Winifred felt very disappointed. He had probably rehearsed those lines in his mind countless times. Or perhaps, he had already lied to her before, and that was why his lies came so smoothly right now. She really couldn't tell that he was lying to her at all.

She swallowed her tears and said, "Nothing urgent. I just got my period, and my back hurts really bad, so I wanted to ask you to buy me some pads."

Timothy quietly exhaled in relief. Feeling bad for her, he gently massaged her hand. "Your period was two weeks late this time. I was starting to wonder whether you were pregnant with our baby." He let out a disappointed sigh.

At the mention of "our baby", Winifred's nose stung even more.

She had indeed been pregnant, but she had suffered such an emotional blow because of him, and now their child was gone.

"I'll work harder next time and try to knock you up as soon as possible."

Timothy massaged her shoulders a little erotically, but Winifred reflexively pushed him away.

She had pushed him quite hard, and this took Timothy aback. Since they'd gotten together, Winifred had never rejected his touch. So why now?

Winifred looked at him feebly and spun an excuse. "I'm cramping, and you're still trying to sweet talk me."

Timothy relaxed. "Okay, okay. My bad. I'll go buy them right away."

After he left, Winifred could no longer stop her tears from gushing out.

She truly loved him. Could he not see that?

Why did he have to pursue her for so many years? Why did he have to make such a big spectacle out of his proposal to her? Why did he treat her with such care and attention, only to turn around and try for a baby with another woman when she had fallen irrevocably in love with him?

Why did he have to hurt her like this?

She clutched the bedsheets desperately, not even letting go when her knuckles turned white. She didn't want to sob out loud, lest anyone downstairs hear her.

After Timothy went downstairs, he instructed their housekeeper, Hoda Kepler, to make some ginger-infused milk for Winifred.

Then, when he got into the car, he gave Selena a call.

Selena's voice was sweet and syrupy when she answered, "Timmy, what's wrong?"

Timothy frowned, and his voice was cold. "Does Winnie know about us?"

Had she found out that he was donating his sperm?

Winifred wasn't someone who acted up like this. She had always had menstrual cramps, but she had never cried over them before. Also, she had been glancing at his neck earlier. What had she been looking for?

He had only gone to help Selena last night, that was all.

Selena was taken aback. Had Winifred confronted Timothy?

She decided to see how things unfolded and denied it first.

"How's that possible? You and I are the only two people who know about it. You know that I only want a child, Tim. I don't want to ruin your marriage. So, even if Winnie found out about it, it would definitely not be from me."

Timothy figured that Selena wouldn't dare provoke Winifred that way, so there was no way she would tell her about them.

He also believed that he had been very discreet. Moreover, Winifred trusted him too, and she wouldn't doubt him like this.

He had probably just been overthinking things.

Or maybe it was the aftereffects from donating her bone marrow. She had experienced back pain before because of the surgery, too.

He relaxed almost instantly.

"Keep your mouth shut, and make sure no one else knows. Also, Winnie hasn't been feeling well lately, so I need to take care of her. Let's not meet for now. We can revisit things after the wedding."

"Very well. But… Don't you want to see the sexy lingerie I bought?"

Sexy lingerie?

Timothy's Adam's apple bobbed.

He blurted something and then hurriedly hung up the phone. He then deleted the call record before driving off to buy sanitary pads for Winifred.

…

Winifred hid herself under the blanket while she cried, and after a while, she actually cried herself to sleep.

When she woke up again, it was already past noon.

The whole house was quiet. She propped herself up and noticed four packs of her usual sanitary pads and some painkillers on the bedside table.

On her phone was a lovey-dovey text message from Timothy.

"Your hubby has gone for a meeting. I'll come home and have dinner with you tonight, my wifey. Be good at home. I love you."

There was also a notification of a bank transfer. He had transferred 14,300 dollars to her.

She wordlessly set her phone down and shut her swollen eyes.

The "hubby" and "wifey" nicknames and the transfer amount that contained the numbers "143"—I love you—once felt full of love and affection. Now, they just felt like he was trying to make it up to her after his lies and cheating.

Timmy came home as promised that night. After dinner, he left again, citing needing to work overtime as the reason.

That night, while Winifred lay on the bed, her lower abdomen started to wrench in pain. Cold sweat broke out all over as she whimpered in agony, "Babe… Timothy…"

The only sounds that answered her were her own painful whines.

Her sweat-drenched hair was plastered onto her pale cheeks, and her body trembled from the pain. She pushed through the agony and grabbed her phone, instinctively wanting to call Timothy.

Coincidentally, Selena sent her a video right then. She was wearing sexy lingerie as she danced in a dimly lit room. And sitting across from her was Timothy. He was holding a glass of wine while staring at her unblinkingly.

A few seconds later, he stood up and stalked toward Selena.

Winifred was keen to see if he and Selena had any overly intimate interactions when the video cut off.

Just as her phone fell to the floor with a loud thud, Winifred also collapsed back onto the bed, looking as if she were dead to the world.

The moon disappeared behind the clouds, and everything was swallowed by the darkness.

The next morning, Timothy came home with a single, vibrant-looking rose. He hurried into the bedroom. "Babe…"

The bed was empty.

He glanced at the time and found that it was only 6:00 am. Where could she have gone so early in the morning?