Lahat ng Kabanata ng Saved From Poverty, Sacrificed to His First Love: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

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 day

The following day, Dylan came to the hospital to pick me up. He looked like he hadn't slept all night. His eyes were bloodshot, and the first thing he did after taking his seat was glance at my IV bag. "Did you bleed again last night?" "Yeah." "Why didn't you tell me?" I held his gaze. I'd called him last night. My call had barely rung twice before he hung up. Sam explained that Phoebe couldn't stop crying while she was getting stitches, so Dylan had stayed beside her and couldn't answer his phone. "I was afraid of bothering you."Dylan fell silent for a moment. He must have remembered that phone call, too. He reached out and pulled me into his arms. "Phoebe's hand was cut by the cracked emerald, and she needed two stitches. Growing up, she's always been afraid of pain. Plus, she's all alone, so I couldn't abandon her.""I see," I responded softly. "I know you're upset about the bracelet." He paused for a beat before lowering his voice. "I was the one who fell out with

It took me half a month to renovate the old house Mom had left behind. There was originally a dead orange tree in the yard. Maya advised me to chop it down, but I watered it for several days instead. Later, a gardener told me that the roots had already rotted. If I kept it around, it would only attract pests. I stood beneath the tree for a long while. "Let's chop it down, then."Some things, once dead, couldn't be brought back to life just by watering them a few more times. After the timber was hauled away, a large patch of the yard was left empty. So, I planted white hydrangeas there. I used my own savings to rent a small shop by the sea, where I planned to open a bakery. Before marrying Dylan, I'd worked as a drink server at a private club and as an apprentice at a bakery.When Mom was in the hospital, I often brought her leftover bread. She always told me that everything I baked was delicious. Later, after I moved into the Smith residence, there was a chef in the h

Dylan didn't leave the coastal town. He checked into the guesthouse next door. Every morning, before the bakery opened, he stood across the street. I ignored him, but he kept waiting until night fell. One day, a typhoon swept through the area, blowing the bakery's sign off its hinges. When I arrived at the bakery the following day, the sign had already been repaired. Julian told me Dylan had spent half the night fixing it in the rain. He'd gashed his palm on a piece of metal and needed six stitches. I contacted a repairman and had the old sign replaced with a new one. Dylan looked at the old sign that had been taken down, a flicker of embarrassment crossing his eyes. "Why did you change it?""I don't like to be in anyone's debt.""We're married.""Not for much longer."He fell silent. …Right before the divorce hearing, he finally signed the agreement. On the day he signed it, he transferred all his assets back under my name. I refused to accept them. He came to th

Three years later, I bought a small building by the sea. The first floor housed my bakery, while the second floor was used to teach young women from the area how to make desserts. Some of them were just like the old me. They had no formal education and no family they could rely on. I paid them a wage and taught them a skill they could use to support themselves. Maya often told me that I'd changed a lot. I was no longer timid and cautious, nor did I instinctively read the room or walk on eggshells. Looking at myself in the mirror, I finally realized that I'd lived much more like myself after leaving Dylan. I never sold the old house Mom had left me. The hydrangeas in the yard bloomed every year. Once in a while, when I sat beneath the tree, I still felt a pang of sadness as I thought of my unborn child. However, that sadness no longer held me captive. I established a relief fund in his name to help pregnant women who couldn't afford medical treatment. The very first donation