Claude ignored Mabel's request. "If you want to eat it, peel it yourself. I only peel shrimp for my wife."

I swallowed down the wave of nausea rising in my throat. "Give them all to her. I don't want any."

That was when Alicia set down her fork with a sullen face.

"Angelina, you've failed IVF six times, haven't you? Since Mabel's here, why don't you learn from her?"

Mabel lowered her head shyly.

"I don't really have any experience. My boyfriend and I did it for the first time, and I got pregnant. Maybe we're just healthier."

Alicia smirked. "Of course. Angelina's five years older than you, and her body can't compare to yours.

"I'm thinking of having Mabel move in. She's pregnant now, but her family is not around. The housekeeper could look after her, too."

The moment she finished, Claude refused outright. "No!"

Alicia's eyes turned even colder toward me, making veiled jabs with her words.

"What's the matter? Is someone jealous seeing other people being pregnant while she's infertile herself?"

The tension at the table was thick. Mabel stood up with teary eyes.

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault. Please don't fight because of me. I'll just leave."

Claude instinctively got up to follow her, then caught himself and stopped.

"She doesn't need to go. I'll go." I looked at the scene with icy detachment and walked out.

Just as I stepped through the door, I received a friend request from Mabel.

"May 12th was our first time. Claude kept me in bed all day."

That day was when my fifth IVF attempt had failed.

I'd spent the whole night locked in my room, crying without eating or drinking. When I finally composed myself and opened the door, I found Claude sitting there, looking haggard.

I'd thought he was heartbroken for me, but it turned out that he had just come back from Mabel's bed.

What a joke.

All those injections I'd endured for IVF didn't hurt as much as my chest did at that moment.

"Why are you crying?" Claude had followed me out and pulled me into his arms.

"Don't be mad at my mom. She just wants a grandchild very badly."

On the drive home, his phone kept buzzing with messages, and every time we hit a red light, he'd be busy texting back.

When we reached the house, he patted my head. "Something came up at work. Wait for me at home, I'll be back early."

I didn't call him out on it. After he left, I accepted Mabel's friend request.

Her latest post was a photo of a sea of roses with the caption. "My love planted my favorite roses with his own hands."

My chest tightened. So, even the roses weren't planted for me.

Before we got married, he had promised to give me a field of roses all my own. But he was always busy, and I'd never brought it up again.

He suddenly prepared a sea of roses because someone else wanted it.

I hailed a car to the estate.

From a distance, I saw Claude standing with his back to me in front of the roses. And Mabel was in front of him.

"If it weren't for Angelina not being able to get pregnant, I never would've gone to you. She's my line in the sand. Don't ever show your face in front of her again."

Mabel's eyes brimmed with tears. "There's no need for you to care about me or the baby anymore!"

He softened his tone. "Don't cry. As long as you stay away from Angelina, I'll take care of you for the rest of your life."

She broke into a smile through her tears and threw herself into his arms. "I was told by the doctor that being intimate in moderation now will help with delivery later."

His voice grew hoarse with desire as he swept her up in his arms and carried her toward the estate.

Mabel looked over her shoulder at me with a provocative smile. She'd seen me all along.

Soon, the sound of her pleasure floated out from the window.

The estate he had promised me was where he was now sleeping with another woman.

I forced myself to watch it all and recorded every second.

Everything he was doing now was only pushing me away faster.

Six more days, and I'd be gone.

I left Wildrose Estate and returned home.

Claude didn't come back until the middle of the night.

I felt him wrap his arms around me while I was half-asleep. The air was thick with an unfamiliar perfume, mingled with the scent of roses.

The smell made me nauseous, and I started feeling a dull ache in my stomach. I pressed my hands to my belly, and when Claude saw it, he moved closer, trying to rub it for me.

My tone was sharp as I slapped his hand away. "You smell awful."

His expression shifted. He lowered his head, sniffed himself, then chuckled.

"It's the roses. I've been thinking about our anniversary, so I went to the rose garden again today. I'll go take a shower."

I couldn't be bothered to expose his lie. After all, he'd said he was going to the office earlier.

When he got out of the shower, he lay down beside me. But just as I was drifting off, the sound of his phone woke me.

"Did I wake you? I've still got some work to finish. You should go back to sleep."

I turned my back to him and pretended to sleep.

After a moment, his voice came, testing the waters. "Angelina?"

I stayed silent, and he eagerly slipped out of the room.

"Are you trying to seduce me by sending me pictures like that? I'll make sure you can't get out of bed tomorrow."

After he left, I got a message from Mabel.

"Aren't you feeling old and washed-up? Claude had me all afternoon, and now he's coming back for more. We're going to try some new positions tonight.

"By the way, I got pregnant with Claude after just one night together. It's pathetic that you have to rely on cold, sterile machines and still can't conceive."

A chill spread through me. I took screenshots and saved them, then lay back down.

For the past eight years, I'd always thought I'd met Claude too late, that life was too short. But with just one week left, it suddenly felt unbearably long.

The next morning, as I stepped out of the bedroom, Claude happened to be coming in from outside. "I bought you your favorite cheesecake."

Like a child showing off, he pulled a neatly wrapped cake from behind his back.

In the past, whenever he messed up and made me mad, he'd bring me cheesecake to win me over. And in the past, I'd always softened and forgiven him, simply because I loved him.

But today, what was this sudden cheesecake for?

Because he'd spent the night with another woman and felt guilty?

I picked up a fork and ate it. I wouldn't deprive myself just to spite him.

When he saw my calm expression, he finally relaxed. "I'll be right beside you working. Take your time."

I scrolled through my phone and saw Mabel posting an update.

"He's so good to me. I casually mentioned wanting cheesecake, and my boyfriend immediately bought it for me."

The attached photo showed cheesecake from the same shop as the one in my hand.

Seconds later, a comment from Claude appeared below. "As long as you know."

Not long after, Alicia commented, too. "He has to be good to you. You're carrying his baby. Unlike someone else who can't have kids."

Claude could see this comment.

I looked up to catch his reaction, but he was smiling faintly, completely unbothered.

I let out a short laugh and blocked Alicia's number. I'd been wanting to do that for a long time.

Before breakfast was even over, Alicia called him.

Her sharp voice rang through the phone. "What's wrong with Angelina? She actually blocked me!"

Claude frowned. "Angelina, Mom wanted to bring you food that helps with fertility, but she found out that you blocked her. Is that the case?"

I asked, "Food? What is it this time? Wild rabbit uterus? Or their balls? Those aren't even things humans should be eating!"

Alicia loved sending me strange and disgusting folk remedies, none of which ever worked. Over the years, I'd forced myself to eat a lot of them, only to still be scolded by her for not being able to have children.

Claude said, "I know it's been hard on you, but you shouldn't have blocked my mom."

I didn't want to talk to him anymore, so I showed him the chat history between me and Alicia.

"A woman who can't have kids isn't a real woman. And when you finally did get pregnant, you couldn't even keep it. How pathetic."

When Claude and I had just gotten married, I had naturally gotten pregnant once.

But when I was seven months pregnant, the baby's heartbeat suddenly stopped. I had no choice but to have an induction.

She'd said those words of blame to me countless times since then. I'd never told Claude before because I didn't want to put him in a difficult spot.

But now, he frowned. "She's my mom. You should try to be more understanding of her."

"If I have to understand her, then who's been understanding me all these years? You know losing our first child was the most painful thing I've ever been through!"

He sighed. "Fetal demise always has a cause. Did you maybe eat something you shouldn't have? Or maybe it was your cosmetics…"

Tears instantly filled my eyes.

Seeing that, he suddenly seemed to realize what he'd said and quickly apologized.

When I was pregnant the first time, I'd been more careful than anyone. After the baby was gone, I even fell into depression for a while.

Back then, he had stayed by my side every moment.

But now I finally knew that he'd always believed it was my fault we lost the baby. He wanted to push all the blame for losing the child onto me, so he could justify his cheating.

For the next three days, he stayed home with me.

When he saw me packing, he grew anxious. "Where are you going? Why are you packing clothes?"

I said calmly, "I don't like them anymore. I'm just packing them up to switch to new ones."

He relaxed.

During those three days, Mabel kept posting updates about the baby supplies, top-tier postpartum care, and specialized pregnancy meals Claude had arranged.

He liked every single post, while I quietly saved the evidence.

There were only two days left before I left.

To cheer me up, he invited my younger brother, Brandon Scott, to have dinner with us.

Brandon and I had relied on each other since we were kids. When our parents died in an accident, I was only 14.

I went to school while working multiple jobs to support him, taking on every dirty and exhausting task just for him.

He had always been the closest to me. If anyone ever bullied me, he'd be the first to step in.

On my wedding day, he'd walked me down the aisle, crying so hard he could barely breathe. He told me, "Angelina, if Claude ever makes you upset, just divorce him. I'll take care of you forever."

When I found out Claude was cheating, my first instinct was to tell Brandon. But I didn't want him to act recklessly, so I kept it from him.

I couldn't say no to my only brother. With just two days left before I was leaving, I didn't know when I'd see him again.

We ended up deciding to have a barbecue outside a rarely used but beautifully located villa.

Even after some time apart, Brandon and I were just as close as ever. He and Claude competed to grill meat for me and bring it to my mouth.

I finally smiled.

Claude let out a breath. "Angelina finally smiled."

Brandon snorted. "If you ever make her upset again, I'll take her away so you'll never find her."

Claude said helplessly, "I'd never want to upset her. We're out of wine. Come with me to the wine cellar to grab some more."

Brandon followed Claude to get the wine.

That was when Mabel sent me a location, showing that she was here, too.

My heart instantly tightened. I was worried Brandon might lose his temper and do something irreversible, so I got up and followed them.

But when I got there, the tense scene I'd imagined wasn't there.

The three of them were standing together, laughing and chatting.

Mabel had her arm around Claude's neck, and Brandon wasn't angry at all. Instead, he gave a teasing smile.

"Claude, you two go ahead. I'll go get the wine."

It felt like the blood in my body turned to ice.

The two people I loved most had teamed up to stab me in the back.

Thinking of Brandon's warning to Claude just moments ago, I couldn't help but find it ironic. This time, he wouldn't have to take me away. After tomorrow, neither of them would ever be able to find me again.