Clifford helped Janet up with aching tenderness, his expression darkening.

"Hailey, what do you think you're doing? Bullying my Janet on purpose, right in front of me?"

I couldn't stop sneezing, tears streaming down my face, barely able to get out a full sentence.

The postpartum nurse rushed over, frantic.

"Mrs. Sanchez, let me get your allergy medicine right away!"

She shot Clifford a reproachful look and quickly threw the flowers out.

Clifford blinked, only then remembering that I was severely allergic to lilies.

He'd just started toward me when Janet burst into tears and ran for the door.

"This is all my fault. Since I'm not welcome here, I'll go!"

He hesitated, but in the end he still went after her.

"Sweetheart, she's young and headstrong, I can't just leave her be. I'll come see you once I've calmed her down."

I stared at his back and shook my head with a bitter smile.

Clifford, I don't need your concern anymore.

Once the medicine kicked in, my symptoms eased a lot.

Janet sent me a photo of Clifford buried against her collarbone, her tone taunting.

【Hehe, so what if I made you break out on purpose? Mr. Sanchez couldn't even bring himself to scold me once.】

Calmly, I pressed the phone dark and didn't respond.

In the past, whenever I caught Clifford cheating, he'd cut it off clean with the other woman immediately.

But this time, the patience and tenderness he showed his little secretary Janet had crossed every line he'd ever kept before.

I gathered up my daughter, soft as a lump of dough, my voice very quiet.

"Baby, from now on, we don't want him anymore."

After that, I refused to see Clifford when he came to visit, and wouldn't even pick up his video calls.

Under the nurse's care, my body recovered quickly.

The day I went home, Clifford canceled an international meeting and came to pick me up himself.

Janet wasn't with him.

Clifford smiled and pinched my cheek.

"Sweetheart, your temper's really grown. You actually gave me the silent treatment for over twenty days."

"Last time really was my fault. From now on I'll be more attentive, put you first."

"Don't freeze me out anymore, okay? When I can't see you and our daughter, I can't even sleep."

Our daughter watched Clifford, waving her little hands with delight.

Clifford's gaze went even softer.

But I carried our daughter past him and got straight into the car.

The whole way, I stared quietly out the window and didn't say a word more to him.

When we got home, I walked into the living room. Gail Lambert, the housekeeper, had just come forward to greet me when Janet's simpering voice rang out.

"Sis, welcome home to you and the baby!"

She was wearing a camisole and shorts, sitting on the sofa binge-watching a show and snacking.

Everything about the way she settled in, easy and practiced, as though she were the lady of this house.

She giggled and picked up a piece of fruit.

"Sis, no need to look around. I've been living here this whole time, keeping Mr. Sanchez company."

"He's a full-blooded man, after all. How could he go night after night with no one to warm the bed?"

"But don't worry, I wore Mr. Sanchez out all by myself. He hasn't had time to go looking for anyone else."

"Sis, shouldn't you be thanking me?"

I turned around and looked steadily at Clifford.

"So this is what you meant by not being able to sleep without me and our daughter?"

Clifford's eyes landed on Janet, and he curved his lips with a helpless little smile.

"The girl's so clingy, I couldn't chase her off no matter what, so I just let her stay."

"Honestly, she really is quite endearing."

My chest seized all at once, and in silence I carried our daughter into the nursery.

The moment I stepped in, I froze where I stood.

In the corner of the room sat a brand-new piano, and beside it stood the photo Clifford and I had taken abroad ten years ago.

Younger, softer, I stood in front of the camera holding Clifford Sanchez's hand tight, my eyes crinkling with a smile.

Then a warm embrace closed around me from behind, and Clifford lazily tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"I knew you'd love it."

"From now on, you can play the piano for our daughter in this room, all right? Maybe we'll raise a musical genius."

In an instant, my mind was dragged back into the past.

Ten years ago, I met Clifford for the first time in France.

It had been pouring rain that day. I'd just failed an exam and gotten word that my father had died back home, and while I was still reeling, someone snatched my backpack right off me.

I couldn't catch the stranger who'd stolen it. In my panic I forgot every word of French I knew, and I broke down sobbing alone in the downpour.

Clifford, a stranger then, appeared like a god descending from heaven, holding an umbrella over me and asking in that lovely, easy Mandarin what had happened.

I lifted my head, dazed, and a handsome Eastern face filled my vision before I was ready for it.

He took out tissues and wiped the rain and tears from my face, stayed with me through the whole police report, and comforted me for a long time afterward.

After that, we slowly grew closer, and that was where our story began.

Remembering the Clifford of those days, something in my heart went soft.

I was about to say something when Janet Sullivan sidled over and let out a mocking little laugh.

"You know, Hailey, Mr. Sanchez actually bent me over this piano quite a few times."

"But honestly? The experience was pretty forgettable."

A wave of nausea rose in me all at once, and the arms holding my daughter trembled.

"Clifford, this is the nursery we designed together. You and Janet fooled around in here?"

He let go of me, his tone light as air.

"Sweetheart, the girl just wanted a little novelty. Is this really worth such a big reaction?"

He made a show of pinning Janet in place, his voice dripping with indulgence.

"You little troublemaker, deliberately picking the things my wife hates to hear just to needle her. Tonight I'm going to have to deal with you properly."

Janet dodged with a giggle, cooing, "Hailey, save me."

Watching the two of them flirt and tease, my footing wavered.

Clifford reached out to steady me and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"Sweetheart, thank you for always loving me. I won't cheat again to test how you feel about me."

"I really do like Janet. Once I've gotten tired of playing around, I'll come back to your side, all right?"

"After that, I'll devote myself only to you and our daughter, and we'll live a good life."

His voice sounded utterly solemn.

But it moved me not in the slightest. Swallowing down the nausea in my chest, I slammed the door shut.

My mother messaged to say everything in Southaven was arranged. I booked a flight for the next morning.

Clifford had miscalculated. This time, I truly would not stay for him.

That evening, I took my daughter to the old estate to have dinner with my mother-in-law.

Moira Sanchez was cheerfully teasing the baby with a rattle drum.

I picked quietly at the food and said nothing about leaving.

Then, abruptly, she spoke.

"Hailey, I know Clifford's been doting on that secretary of his lately. There's a lot of talk going around the company."

"I've used certain measures to force her out of the company, and from now on she's not to show her face in Kingsport."

"That woman means nothing but harm. She waved a pregnancy report in my face to pressure me into helping her climb, but I recognize only one daughter-in-law, and that's you."

There was a decisiveness in Moira's voice, the cold, cutting edge of the boardroom. Her tone was calm, and yet it sent a chill through you.

I shook my head with a bitter smile.

I was afraid her actions would only stir up Clifford's resentment and resistance.

Sure enough, when I got home, there was Clifford, holding a tearful, sobbing Janet, waiting for me.

He gave me an icy smile.

"Hailey, I never would have guessed you'd stoop to egging on my stepmother to fight your battles."

"I already promised I'd come back to the family, so why can't you make room for Janet?"

"How is a woman like you fit to be a mother? How could you raise my child right?"

Clifford stood up, reaching to snatch our daughter out of my arms.

I shoved him away with everything I had.

"Clifford, what right do you have to interrogate me? You're the one who cheated first. If anything, our daughter doesn't want a father as filthy as you!"

"Your mother teaching Janet a lesson wasn't my idea. That has nothing to do with me either!"

"I don't care whether you come back to the family or not. I'm completely done hoping for anything from you!"

Clifford's eyes went bloodshot, and he suddenly raised his hand and struck me across the face.

"Hailey, you've gone too far."

"Janet is carrying my child. And out there, plenty of women would fall over themselves to be the next Mrs. Sanchez."

"What makes you think I'll dote on you forever, no matter what?"

The slap left my head spinning. I stumbled a few steps before I caught my balance.

Our daughter, terrified by Clifford, burst into shrill, wailing sobs.

Clifford let out a cold laugh and pulled Janet toward the door.

"Hailey, don't be ungrateful."

"Go after Janet again, and I won't be so gentle with you."

Numbly, I touched my swollen cheek and held my daughter tighter.

All I could see in my mind was our wedding day, Clifford solemnly, reverently sliding the ring onto my finger.

"Hailey, I'll love you forever, protect you, never let anyone hurt you."

Yet the one who had hurt me and our child with his own hands was Clifford himself.

After a quick round of packing, I sat awake through the whole night, watching my sleeping baby.

The next morning, the moment the sky turned pale, I wheeled my suitcase out the door.

As the plane lifted off the ground, I said a quiet goodbye in my heart.

Clifford, we will never meet again.