I looked at her indifferently and had no intention of greeting her even out of courtesy.

Natalie didn't seem to feel embarrassed and placed the flowers she bought for me on the bedside table.

She said, "You gave birth to a daughter, right? She must be as beautiful as you. It's a pity that Gabriel said before that he wanted a son."

Hearing this, I smiled and said, "Indeed, that may be because I don't have the ability to control my baby's gender. Perhaps you can help him have a son."

Natalie was stunned when she heard this.

I looked at the wedding ring on my ring finger that was not the right size for me and took it off silently.

"Actually, I think you're more suitable to be his wife than I am." I smiled and handed her the wedding ring. "Would you like to try it?"

Perhaps my movement was so abrupt that she was surprised and not knowing what to do for a moment.

"Ms. Jones, you seem to have misunderstood me. I didn't..." she said.

"Just try it." I interrupted her and handed over the wedding ring again.

After a momentary hesitation, she took it and put it on her ring finger.

Fortunately, it fit her ring finger perfectly.

But for me, this ring was a little bigger.

It was evident to demonstrate that he bought this ring for Natalie rather than me.

I couldn't help but laugh.

He was even reluctant to conceal the truth he had been cheating on me since the beginning of our marriage.

"It fits me so perfectly."

Natalie's eyes flashed with a subtle smugness, but she pretended to be reserved. "But it doesn't belong to me. Please take it back, Ms. Jones."

As she said this, she wanted to take it off.

I interrupted her again. "I'm giving it to you. You don't have to return it."

She was the one who Gabriel hankered to give this wedding ring to, after all.

As much as I hated to admit it, this was the truth.

In the evening, Gabriel came with dinner for me.

He said, "You can be discharged from the hospital tomorrow, right? I will pick you up then."

He took out the soup from the thermos while speaking, seeming so calm and easygoing, just like a good friend coming to visit me.

Drinking the soup, I said composedly, "You don't have to pick me up if you're busy with work. I can find my way home."

"I've been busy lately. I'll be with you more after this project is finished," he said.

It was the first time he ever explained why he was absent from the critical moments in our marriage, which surprised me a little. But I didn't want to pay more attention to him anymore and perfunctorily nodded.

The next day, Sophia came to the hospital early to pick me up.

I wrapped myself tightly in a coat and waited in the lobby with my baby in my arms for her to complete the discharge procedures.

On the way back, she still wanted to send me back to Gabriel's home.

I said, "Mom, I want to go home with you."

Sophia was stunned, and it took her a while to realize my determination.

"Okay, it's better to go home. I will take care of you personally so that you don't have to worry all the time," she said.

Sophia took me as well as Hazel back home.

Only with their taking care of me could I feel completely at ease.

But I didn't sit idle either. I found a lawyer to ask about something about divorce.

According to my lawyer, I could only file for divorce during the breastfeeding period so that Gabriel wouldn't be able to compete for the custody of my baby.

I sighed deeply. If possible, I didn't want to make too big a fuss about this.

After all, my marriage with Gabriel was deeply intertwined with the interests of both our companies, and the pros and cons still entailed to be balanced.

I had compromised three years of my prime life and couldn't harm my company any more.

That night, Gabriel found out that I didn't go home, so he came to Sophia's house in person.

I was still breastfeeding my baby when he rushed in.

When I saw him, I was stunned and calmly pulled the quilt over to cover my body.

He frowned slightly, as if he was dissatisfied, and came over to ask, "Why don't you go home?"

"I can relax here with my mom taking care of me," I said very calmly.

Scanning my face several times, he asked, "Are you angry?"

I didn't expect him to ask that and was stunned for a moment.

And immediately, the surprise turned into hilariousness.

I realized that maybe he wasn't caring about my emotions.

I looked up at him. He was still cool and distant with indifference.

I looked down at the baby in my arms and deliberately said, "Did you do something to make me angry?"

Gabriel sat on the edge of the bed, and a faint citrus scent wafted towards me.

Pressing my lips, I said, "She is a premature and weak baby who is sensitive about her surroundings. You just came back from work, so it's not appropriate for you to be too close to her."

He paused and looked gloomy.

Then, he stood up and said, "Then, I'll go back and take a bath."

Before I could reject, he strode out of my room.

It was funny that although we had been married for three years, he never stayed overnight at my house. He usually just ate a meal and left.

Maybe for him, coming to my house for dinner was like a forced social engagement, which demonstrated that he didn't love me at all.

It was my fault that I was blind and didn't realize it until now.

The stuffy room made the bitterness in my heart grow rapidly, and I felt a little breathless.

My baby seemed to notice my emotional breakdown and burst into tears.

I immediately cradled her to comfort her.

But unexpectedly, she cried even louder.

My eyes also turned red with tears. "Baby, don't cry."

But all my attempt to comfort her failed, so I also began to weep.

Sophia and Hazel heard us crying and went into my room.

"Oh my God, why are you crying?"

Sophia handed the baby to Hazel worriedly, and then came to comfort me.

I thought that I was so contentious that the more she appeased me, the more I felt like crying.

In the end, she shocked me to stop crying. Sophia glared at me fiercely. "If you cry again, I will ask Gabriel to bring you back right away."

When I heard this, my tears stopped immediately, but I still couldn't help choking.

As I calmed down, my baby also gradually became quiet.

"See, the baby is affected by your emotions. You have to learn to release your negative feelings. If you continue like this, you will easily suffer from postpartum depression."

Hazel reminded me with concern, and Sophia also realized the seriousness of my problem.

Thinking of what Gabriel said just now, I said to her, "Tell him not to come here anymore. We can't rest well if he comes."

She thought I was afraid that Gabriel would be tired from driving all his way here to visit us.

She complained to herself, "He is the father of your child. It is his duty to take care of you two."

I closed my eyes and said nothing.

Sophia listened to me and didn't let him come here any more.

Actually, Gabriel's plan really confused me. Why did he marry me in the first place if he couldn't forget Natalie?

Why did he give me hope and also bring me despair?

My mind was in a mess, and my heart was in turmoil.

The uneasiness made me get up and took out my cell phone from the bedside table.

I was bored and checked Instagram.

But unexpectedly, I saw Natalie's latest photo posted five minutes ago.

In the photo, there was only the back of a man washing his hands and cooking in the kitchen, enclosed with a sentence saying that "Having you is the greatest happiness in my life."

I recognized it was Gabriel at the first glance at this picture.

In fact, I had an inkling that Gabriel cheated on me with Natalie for a long time.

Because I had been secretly in love with him for almost ten years.

When we were in high school, Natalie was like a goddess in our school.

And in every gossip of her, there would be a boy named Gabriel.

The two of them were a legend in the school, and I heard romantic stories about them almost every day.

Everyone thought they were a perfect match.

The year they graduated, they chose to go to the same university.

Everyone said that they were true love, and soon I heard that they were officially in a moment.

So, I kept my love for him to myself and never told anyone.

When I learned that I would marry him, even though it was just a marriage of convenience, I was so happy and thought my dream had finally come true.

But now, as I reconsidered everything, I found out he still married me even though he had a better choice.

Maybe he was sure that I would bury my head in sand like an ostrich and forgive him no matter how many times he cheated on me.

The more I pondered about it, the more upset I felt. I left a comment: [That's great. I wish you two a long and happy marriage.]

After commenting, I turned off my phone and put it in the drawer again.

However, Gabriel kept his words and came to take me back the next day.

He said, "Mom is back, and she can take care of you, so go back today and don't cause trouble for Sophia, okay?"

Sophia also agreed. "When you recover from the surgery, you can come back and stay as long as you want. But now, just go back with Gabriel; otherwise, the neighbors will gossip about you."

Despite my reluctance, I had no choice but to follow him back.

Gabriel wrapped me tight with my coat, then started packing my things with Sophia.

I watched them without saying a word, thinking about buying an apartment.

Sophia enlightened me that gossip and unreasonable blame would follow behind me and my baby even if I divorced Gabriel and lived with Sophia with my baby in the future.

It would be better for me to buy my own house and live a peaceful life with my child.

Gabriel quickly finished packing up my things.

He carried my luggage while I held the child, and we walked out one after the other.

Although Sophia worried about me, she quit asking me to stay and told me repeatedly to take care of myself.

I nodded to whatever she said, but my heart was not in it.

Gabriel brought a driver with him, and we sat together in the back seat, but it seemed as if there was an invisible barrier that estranged us without any quarrels.

I was staring at the scenery outside the car window and didn't even notice him approaching.

By the time I found his face so close to me, it was too late for me to dodge.

Looking at his handsome face so close to me, I was suddenly stunned, and my breathing slowed down.

"How's our kid?" he asked.

I came back to my senses and said perfunctorily, "She's fine."

When I got home, Beth, who had been waiting in the living room, couldn't wait and ran over to check my baby.

"Hey, let me see my dear," she said.

Then, she took the child with great interest, and looked at the white and tender baby in her arms with a kind smile. "She's cute. I have prepared a gift for this little angel. Let me bring it to her later."

As she spoke, Beth looked up and asked me amicably, "Have you decided on a name for the baby?"

Gabriel blurted out, "We decided to call her Natalia."

This name was like a dagger stabbed right in my heart.

Why did he want to name my baby with a name so similar to his mistress?

"I disagree." I retorted without hesitation.

Gabriel frowned at me, and when he saw how tense and hostile I looked, he asked in displeasure, "Why?"

I said, "I don't like it."

Neither did I like this name nor the person who had a similar name to this one.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit weird, Beth tried to ease the tension. "Well, since you can't agree on her name yet, I'll go get a name from the priests, and you can decide it later, alright?"