Chapter 7

Nothing that came from Heather's mouth surprised Winifred anymore. Her mother had always been this presumptuous.

Heather always believed that she was so remarkably capable that she could sort everything out, and she was also so arrogant that she assumed all her decisions to be right.

Winifred took a deep breath to steady herself. "I won't make that call."

Heather was getting quite pissed off. "I've arranged everything nicely for you, and yet you won't listen. You've really gotten quite stubborn! Are you feeling bolder now that you're with Timothy? If I hadn't convinced you to be with him in the first place, would you even be living such a good life now?"

Winifred hadn't agreed to be with Timothy because of Heather's persuasion. She had gotten together with him because she had fallen in love with him.

When arguing with parents, it was always the children who ended up on the losing end.

If they won the argument, people would call them ungrateful. If they lost, they would be left frustrated.

Winifred's face paled, and she looked so frail that she might keel over at any moment. She didn't want to continue the conversation.

"I won't make the call, and I'm not feeling bolder about anything. If there's nothing else, then you should leave. Don't you need to go take care of Rosalie?"

Heather's anger flared, and she stomped toward the door. But she quickly made a U-turn and came back to grab the jewelry box.

"I'm doing this for your own good. Otherwise, your sister-in-law will hold a grudge against you for the rest of your life! I want the two of you to be as close as real sisters, and I hope one day, when you're older and have children of your own, you'll understand why I'm making such efforts," she said coldly.

With that, she turned around and hurried out, as if she were worried that Winifred would snatch the necklace from her if she were even a little bit slower.

But Winifred didn't try to grab it back from her. She was just too drained. Her back was covered with cold sweat, and her legs were so weak that she just collapsed straight onto the ground.

She clutched her chest as she gasped for air. She couldn't help but wonder what was happening to her and why she was constantly feeling panicked and out of breath.

After a while, when she finally felt a little better, she turned and looked at the bowl on the table.

She stirred it and realized that it was a beef stew—an iron-rich food.

It was also her favorite dish when she was young.

This was her mother's love, but it was also a shackle.

Half an hour later, when she came down the stairs, Hoda said to her with a smile, "Your parents are so good to you, ma'am.

"They went to buy all these ingredients from the market first thing this morning so they could cook this beef stew for you. These are all iron-rich foods, and they're to help replenish all the blood you lost. Your mother personally stewed it, too. Have you had it?"

No, she hadn't.

Winifred walked into the kitchen and saw all the cuts of fish, chicken, duck, and free-range eggs piled on the glass countertop.

Her stomach twisted in knots, and she said softly, "Can you make me a bowl of oatmeal, Mrs. Kepler?"

"You don't want the beef stew? That's fine, I'll make you some oatmeal. Mr. Stringer scolded the two nutritionists this morning for letting you get thinner, so you should eat more, ma'am."

She would.

She knew that there was nothing more important than being healthy. She needed to leave this house with a healthy body and start her new life.

That afternoon, she received a text message from Rosalie.

"Winnie, I've received the necklace. Thank you, and I'm not angry anymore. You should take care of yourself, too. Once you're better, you should drop by more often. I'll have your brother cook you some of his specialties."

The words "drop by more often" felt like a slap to the face.

Rosalie naturally knew who had bought the apartment, yet she still lived there as if it were the most natural thing in the world. But she wasn't to blame. The blame lay with her parents and brother.

She didn't reply to Rosalie's message.

Soon enough, her mother sent a voice message.

"Why didn't you reply to Rosalie's message? I did you such a big favor, and all you needed to do was say a few polite words to her. Are you really that emotionally stunted?"

Winifred ignored that too.

She had seen her brother's post on social media last night. Their family of four was all smiles, and Rosalie was wearing the diamond necklace that Timothy had bought for her.

Her mother also made a post, writing, "My son and daughter-in-law are so well-matched. How happy we are to be together as a family."

Along with that caption was a photo of the four of them.

No one mentioned Winifred at all.

She hadn't expected anyone to invite her back for dinner, but she was still utterly devastated that while they were enjoying their good food and good company, no one even remembered that she was the owner of the apartment.

Timothy arrived home soon after the sun had set. The moment he saw Winifred, he asked, "Winnie, I saw your brother's post on social media. Why is the necklace I bought for you on Rosalie's neck? You gave it to her?"

Winifred didn't know how to respond. She didn't dare tell him what had really happened as it just felt too embarrassing.

Timothy was clearly unhappy. "I've bought you plenty of jewelry, so why would you give away that one? I had asked a highly-regarded jewelry maker to custom-make that for you a week ago, to ease your sorrow from the miscarriage.

"I've actually noticed how strangely you've been acting this past week. You won't let me touch you, and you don't look happy to see me. Now, you've just given away the necklace I gave you. Have your feelings for me changed? Do you not love me anymore?"

Winifred didn't think he would turn it around and blame her instead.

"What about you? Do you still love me?" she retorted.

Timothy vowed again and again, "My feelings for you have never changed, and I'll love you forever."

"And what if I don't love you anymore?" Winifred continued to ask.

Timothy stiffened. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms. His chin rested on her head, and his voice was hoarse and domineering as he stated, "You have to love me. You can't leave me, babe. I've loved you for eight years, and I no longer know how to live without you.

"It's fine that you gave the necklace away. I'm not blaming you, I just had to say something. I'll buy you an even more beautiful one next time. Don't say that you don't love me. I can't bear to hear that."

If he truly loved her that much, then he wouldn't have cheated on her, and he definitely wouldn't have fed roasted candied nuts—roasted candied nuts that were meant solely for her—to another woman.

Her eyes fell vacant, and she murmured, "Then roast me some candied nuts. Do it yourself."

Winifred sat at the dining table while Timothy was in the kitchen roasting the nuts. She stared at him through the doorway and watched as his tall figure bent over the sink, carefully prepping the nuts.

The lights were warm and bright, and the glow cast on him made him look refined and elegant.

Tears started to fill Winifred's eyes as she continued to stare at him. If he hadn't cheated, there was no way she would ever have the heart to leave him.

She truly loved him, but she couldn't bring herself to love him anymore.

Soon, Timothy's phone rang. She watched as he declined the call, then quickly sent off a message. The phone didn't ring again after that.

The candied nuts were soon ready.

He picked one up and fed it to her, but it didn't taste sweet anymore, only bitter.

She probably wouldn't touch candied nuts anymore for the rest of her life. This was likely also the last time Timothy would ever roast them for her.

Later that night, while lying in bed, Winifred stopped Timothy when he tried to kiss her.

Timothy was practically pouting. "Babe, I know we can't have sex, but I just want some kisses and cuddles. I've already held it in for more than half a month. Let me at least touch you a little?"

Hadn't he just been "kissing" and "cuddling" Selena yesterday in the car?

What a phony.

"I'm worried things will get out of hand. I can't think about that right now," Winifred answered while placing the blankets between them like a barrier.

The only upside to the miscarriage was that she could now openly reject Timothy's touch.

He let out a helpless sigh. "Then I'll go to the study to cool off, okay?"

"Okay."

Once Timothy left, Winifred was left alone in bed. She glanced at the calendar and saw that there were 19 more days until the wedding. She wished that the day would arrive sooner so she could finally leave everyone behind.

An hour later, Selena sent her a message again.

"You made Timmy roast you some candied nuts just so he wouldn't be able to leave the house? Ha! Do you think his doting nature will last forever?

"Winifred, don't you find it humiliating to know that your husband has been pleasuring himself to videos of me? He's not attracted to you at all!"

Selena then sent her a voice recording of Timothy's moans and grunts.

Winifred's face paled. So, that was what he had been up to in the study.

"Oh, right. It's my birthday the day after tomorrow, and he's going to celebrate it at Jillsbury Restaurant. Want to come?"

Winifred had no interest in going.

The day soon arrived. Early that morning, Wayne unexpectedly gave her a call.

"We're going to be discussing the wedding with Rosalie's family. I hope you'll come too."

"I'm not feeling well, Wayne, so I won't join."

"We've already taken your condition into account, and that's why we didn't arrange for it to be held at home. Jillsbury is a restaurant, so it won't matter. There's no superstition about you going there."

That so-called superstition claimed that women who were still recovering from any obstetric procedures mustn't visit other people's homes throughout the period.

Winifred wasn't interested, but she couldn't help but reconsider when hearing the mention of Jillsbury.

"Alright, I'll go. What time should I be there?"