I couldn’t stop myself from stumbling.

My chest seemed like a heavy rock pushed on it, going down bit by bit.

I’d always believed that when it came to the kid, Adrian had some limit.

No matter how messy he acted, how careless, he wouldn’t treat the kid like a joke.

But then I understood I’d been too innocent.

If even he could, just because I upset Amira, take the kid and hand her off to someone like a plaything.

Then later on, would things turn even worse?

My heart slowly turned cold, and fear wrapped around my thoughts.

Adrian held the sleeping kid and walked out.

“The baby is my daughter, with me here, would I treat her badly?”

“It’s only milk powder, it’s not like I can’t pay for it, if the dog drank it, then just get more, and our baby isn’t that fragile, right?”

He played with the baby, then lightly touched my head.

“Okay.”

Adrian’s voice sounded relaxed.

“The payment for taking the baby won’t be small for you.”

I pulled away from his hand, held the child tight with shaking arms, like I’d gotten something precious back, and I couldn’t stop my tears in the end.

I just felt that the man before me was very strange, very strange.

The Adrian from earlier kept himself neat; we’d grown up together, loved each other first, both simple and pure.

This last year, Adrian tried many times to play around, but all were stopped by me in a strict way.

About the condom, before, I tried to act like I didn’t notice.

Even though I’d already made up my mind to divorce, I still couldn’t accept that Adrian

had hurt both my body and feelings.

But now, I saw the messy black stockings in the room, saw the birth control pills near the bed.

I couldn’t keep denying that Adrian had already turned unclean; he wasn’t the same Adrian from before.

My stomach turned, and I just felt very sick.

I didn’t want to lose control, so I turned around and walked away.

After I came back, I slowly moved my and the child’s things to the home I’d bought overseas.

Adrian started giving me money for my “compliance”, sending it over; the sums were very big.

Different presents also started being delivered to the house.

Like this could cover up his guilt for cheating.

I took everything and then sold it for money.

That was what he was meant to give from the start; the more he sent, the better.

I didn’t fight, didn’t cause issues, didn’t go to Adrian anymore, didn’t care about him anymore.

He instead started acting like a “good dad”.

Sometimes when he returned home, he wanted to carry the child.

But I always found ways to pull the child away, not letting him come near.

Until now, Adrian had never asked what the child’s name was. What kind of good dad was he pretending to be?

I bent my head to look at the child in my arms, gently asked her, “Baby, do you hate mommy?”

The child, of course, didn’t understand, but smiled at me.

At that time, my nose felt sore, and I hugged her more tightly.

At the same moment, parts of the dating show live stream started spreading fast.

Someone saved the part where Amira gave the baby a cookie.

Someone enlarged the clip of the milk powder dropping to the floor and being picked up again.

There were also people who kept cutting the part where the baby was put on the floor to play with the dog.

The comments section burst.

“This is too much, right? Such a tiny baby can eat this?”

“The milk powder dropped on the floor and was picked up again?”

“That woman even gave the milk powder to a dog?”

Soon, someone found out that Adrian was married.

Right after that, the clip from five years earlier was also found.

A helicopter stayed in the sky.

Rose petals dropped from above.

“This was the way Adrian chased Mrs. Wilkinson before.”

“Even more over the top than now.”

The comments area was full of angry voices.

“So this is cheating, wow, even joining a dating show to cheat, you rich people, I can’t get it?”

“What kind of show is this?”

I read those comments, and my fingers stopped for a moment.

If it had been before, I would’ve at once asked people to take down the trending topic and hold down the public talk.

At any price, keep the Wilkinson family’s name and shares safe.

But now I didn’t do anything.

There was one comment, pushed very high.

“Love can change. Childhood lovers, how many can beat someone who comes later?”

I looked at that line for a long time.

Yes.

If back then, I hadn’t married Adrian so soon.

Now he would also be drawn to the so-called new person, right? Maybe this had been meant from the start.

There were three days left until the divorce.

That day was Thanksgiving; this year, the Thanksgiving show in Daly City was handled by our company.

This had been a plan that Adrian and I had done together for two years.

We’d once put in a lot of work for it; every show list, every act was chosen after a long time of thinking.

And the most important thing was that day I would present my podcast show in front of everyone.

That would be my first time showing up before the crowd; I’d been waiting for that day very much.

But just one hour before, I went up on stage at the Thanksgiving show.

I got a message that my show had been taken off by force.

At the same time, the screen in the broadcast room showed the scene, in the middle of the large stage, where Amira held Adrian’s hand and walked onto the stage.

I stood there, fixed in place, watching Amira spin around and around.

But in my heart, it felt like a fire was slowly burning bit by bit.

This spot should have been my show.

It was work I had spent so much time fixing, a setup I built piece by piece, the name that the Pearson family had finally kept steady.

But now, it was simply taken over by Adrian.

So the next steps would not fall apart, I could not even stop it right there, and I could not go up after Amira finished her act.

I could only stay here, watching everything happen with no control.

Watching all the effort turn into nothing.

A feeling of no control spread across my whole body. I just hated that I did not end things with Adrian earlier, even sooner.

After one track finished, the applause was light.

Before I could take a breath, Adrian took the mic and said, “Using this chance, I will share one thing: Amira will later join our Wilkinson Group and will become someone we plan to train.”

At that time, I did not even feel shocked anymore.

Adrian would even let go of tens of millions in the market just to clear an easy path for his lover.

My phone shook hard in my hand.

Calls from Daly City leaders came one after another.

I shut my eyes with no strength, turned around, and walked fast to the backstage.

In the backstage area, Adrian stood there, softly calming Amira, who felt nervous after the show.

Amira saw me first, moved forward half a step, standing in front of Adrian, her voice low and shaking.

“Sister-in-law, do not feel angry, and do not blame brother Adrian. I asked him, I wanted this chance to go on stage, if you want to blame, blame me.”

Each line, she said, meant that this show was what she wanted, and Adrian had given it to her.

And I was only that spare choice that got pushed aside.

The small bit of control I was still holding in my heart suddenly broke apart.

Without any thought, I lifted my hand.

A clear sound, Amira’s whole body was hit and turned to one side.

“Eloise, are you out of your mind?!”

Adrian’s face quickly became very dark, pulling her into his arms.

His voice dropped low, but you could hear clear anger.

“You crazy woman, why’re you hitting someone!”

I showed no feeling and tossed the phone right in front of him.

On the screen were missed calls from leaders one after another.

My tone was cold.

“See it yourself. The leaders are already blaming us.”

“Adrian.”

“Today, do you dare take the result of everything you’ve done?”

Adrian looked at the display, his look showing a short moment of unease.

He didn’t think the leaders would get so angry just for swapping a show.

But soon, that feeling was pushed away by impatience.

“Do we need to care?”

His tone sounded easy, even holding a bit of annoyance.

“It’s only switching a show, at most we pay some fine.”

“But why are you hitting someone? All choices today were made by me; if you want to blame, blame me.”

“Amira’s a performer, what if you mess up her face? Aren’t you ruining her future?!”

Adrian looked at me, proudly said, “And also—”

“Your show, how good can it be?”

“Next to Amira’s dance, it’s only average.”

At that second, I heard this, and I felt like my whole self dropped into water.

The one who once listened closely as I spoke about ideas, helped me fix drafts line by line, praised my clear thoughts and smooth speech, at that second, fully faded away.

I suddenly didn’t want to ask anymore, calm to the limit.

“Alright.”

“Then you go tell the leaders yourself, go tell the partners.”

As for who Adrian wants to push, he should start an entertainment company by himself.

From now on, he couldn’t step into the Pearson family’s film and TV department at all!

Even though I wanted to just walk away, the work of the Wilkinson family and the Pearson family was still tied together.

If this issue spreads, it would also ruin the name of the Pearson family.

I could only call the partners one by one.

Adrian and I stayed at the company all night, but neither of us wanted to look for the other.

Late at night, I went to the break room to make coffee, just as I picked up the mug, the door got pushed open from outside.

Amira stood at the doorway.

Her face looked red in a strange way, her hair a bit messy, the lipstick on her lips slightly smeared, as she had just come from something intimate.

She looked toward me and gave a proud smile.

“President Pearson, it’s pretty late, still busy?”

I didn’t reply.

She didn’t need any answer, going on by herself, “And now, work’s all you’ve got left.”

“Honestly, I feel a bit sorry for you.”

“You tried so hard for so many years, only had a daughter, and now you’re still not liked by your husband.”

She gave a small smile.

“If you still have some pride, don’t want me to throw you out myself one day, you might as well leave Adrian sooner on your own.”

I looked at her pretty face, lifted my hand, and poured the full cup of very hot coffee over her.

“Ah!”

Amira shouted, stepping back at once.

Coffee ran down through her hair, her carefully kept look fully messed up.

I set the used cup down, my tone cold with no warmth at all.

“What are you, that you think you can talk to me?”

“A mistress should know her place.”

“Don’t make people sick everywhere like garbage.”

Amira shook with anger, her eyes red, looking at me with teeth clenched.

“Eloise, you’ll regret this!”

I didn’t care to look at her again, turned around, and hadn’t taken a few steps.

All of a sudden, there was a sound of something heavy dropping behind me.

I quickly turned around.

A cold feeling I couldn’t explain rose up from my back.

Amira tumbled down the steps!

My head went empty, I didn’t think someone could be this harsh even to herself.

Before I could respond, quick steps already sounded from behind.

Adrian ran over and even shoved me aside hard.

The push was so strong that my whole body slammed into the coffee maker, my waist and stomach hurt badly, and my breath got cut off for a second.

He didn’t even look at me.

He ran down the steps right away and lifted Amira into his arms.

“Amira!”

I held onto the counter, bearing the pain, and still fell.

Down below, Amira lay in his arms, her face pale, tears falling one by one.

And Adrian looked up at me, his eyes full of coldness. “Eloise, do you think you’ve gone mad?!”

“When did you turn into this?!”

“So ugly, so mean, just because you’re jealous of Amira, you pushed her down the steps?!”

He held her tighter in his arms, saying in a harsh voice, “Do you know she does ballet?!”

“If her leg gets hurt, her whole life will be ruined!”

“What are you even thinking? Go outside and see which wife from any family acts this unreasonably and jealously like you! You don’t look like a Mrs. Wilkinson at all!”

Each line Adrian said felt like knives stabbing into me.

My chest felt tight, my nose burned.

I asked him back, full of hurt, “Then what about you, Adrian?”

“You say I’ve changed, haven’t you changed too? You doubt me just because of a mistress?”

“There are cameras in the company, you didn’t even check, you just decided it was me who pushed her down.”

I laughed, but tears were already falling.

“In your mind, am I this kind of person who would hurt others?”

“Do you think I should get pointed at by a mistress and still keep quiet….”

“That’s called being kind?”

“That matches what you think your wife should be?”

Adrian’s face shifted.

He was shaken by my red eyes; his throat moved, as if he wanted to speak.

But before Adrian could say anything, Amira suddenly grabbed his clothes, her voice weak.

“Adrian… my stomach hurts…”

Only then did he notice the blood slowly coming out from under Amira.

Adrian’s face changed at once, and he lifted her up and ran out fast.

When he passed me, he only left one line that felt very cold, “If anything happens to Amira, don’t blame me if I stop caring about our marriage!”

I stayed there for a long while, finally unable to hold myself, sliding down to sit on the floor.

Tears dropped one by one.

It felt like the last small part in my heart also slipped away.

The next day, I sat on the couch at home holding the baby, feeding her milk.

She didn’t have much hunger these past two days; her small face had grown thinner, drinking on and off.

Liliana called me, and right when she spoke, “…Amira is pregnant.”

She stopped for two seconds, like it was hard to say, “The doctor said, the one in her belly is very likely a boy.”

I paused, looking at the child in my arms. “Hmm, I get it.”

Only then did Liliana’s voice carry pain she couldn’t hold back, full of anger that came from care.

“Adrian, this kid has really lost his mind! He even ignored me, stopping him and insisting on keeping the baby, like he’s been controlled!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t ignore this, what he did is too much—”

I softly cut her off, “Mom.”

“Are the divorce steps finished?”

The voice on the other side dropped lower, “…there’s still a bit left.”

“I’ve already split the assets for you. What’s yours, not even a little will be missing.”

“Don’t worry.”

I smiled. “Alright, thanks, mom.”

The call ended.

The baby finished drinking milk and slowly fell asleep in my arms, her small face leaning against me, breathing softly.

I lowered my head to look at her, a bit of wetness in my eyes.

But soon, I held it back.

Today was the day to take the baby to the hospital for a check-up.

She had taken bad milk powder and snacks, and for these two days she hadn’t felt well, so I couldn’t wait any longer.

I held her and went out, told the driver to drive.

The car had just left the area for a short while.

A sharp brake sound came, with a bang, and everything flipped at once.

I almost by instinct held the baby tight, keeping her safe in my arms.

The strong hit threw my whole body out, my forehead slammed into the car glass, and my sight went dark.

Someone pulled open the car door and dragged us out.

When I woke up again, I was inside a strange car.

The baby cried softly in my arms.

Fear rushed up like waves.

I quickly took out my phone, pressing the emergency contact Adrian again and again.

Before, he had told me, “If something happens, press this, I’ll come right away.”

But now, the call went through again and again.

No one picked up.

“Adrian, answer the phone, please answer the phone!”

“Please, save the baby……”

I begged quietly in my heart.

Hoping Adrian would remember a little of the past.

But on the other side of the call, there was only a cold ringing sound.

In the end, the call got cut off right away.

When I tried again, it wouldn’t connect anymore.

At that moment, the last piece of hope in my chest broke.

The car stopped at a deserted park, and the child and I were pulled out.

The kidnapper grabbed my phone and smirked, “Still trying to reach President Wilkinson?”

“You didn’t know, did you, Mrs. Wilkinson, all of this was set up by President Wilkinson.”