Chapter 2

Seeing Julian walk back into the room, Stella immediately put on a pitiful, fragile expression.

I asked him calmly.

"Julian, aren't you curious where our baby is?"

It was only then that he seemed to remember he hadn't seen a child since he arrived.

"Right, where is the baby?"

I gave a bitter smile.

"I had a difficult birth, a major hemorrhage. The baby was..."

"Oh. Babies from difficult births are always in incubators."

He cut me off, answering dismissively.

He then pulled out a box of fried chicken and lowered his voice.

"Here. You always said eating fried chicken was the happiest thing. I bought some for you. You seem fine enough to eat it yourself."

"Stella is still sick and can't stand for long. I'm going to take her back to her room."

"She can't be without me, or her condition will get worse."

I didn't say a word, just quietly took the box of now-cold fried chicken.

I remember back in college, Julian once climbed over the school wall late at night just to buy me fried chicken to cheer me up.

He got locked out of the dorm and froze all night.

Back then, I told him it was the happiest fried chicken I had ever eaten.

After that, whenever I was upset, he would always use fried chicken to make me happy.

But now, his love, just like this chicken, had become cheap and cold.

Leaning on a crutch, one hand on my lower back, I struggled to make my way to the bathroom.

Not far ahead of me, Stella suddenly stumbled, her body going limp as she fell into Julian's arms.

Julian immediately tensed, catching her swiftly.

He held her gently in his arms as if she were a fragile treasure.

Stella looked up and met my gaze. She wrapped her arms around Julian's neck and kissed his cheek passionately.

Julian responded tenderly, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

The affection between them was so thick it was like they were a deeply in love couple.

Stella shot me a provocative look, her eyes filled with triumph, as if she were showing off her happiness.

I took a deep breath and continued my painstaking walk to the restroom.

The hallway was filled with the whispers of nurses.

"That poor Ms. Vance. She's the real wife, and the director won't even stay with her after she lost the baby. If it were me, I would have raised hell."

"I know, right? I heard Ms. Vance comes from a good family, too. I can't believe she puts up with this."

I tried my best to ignore the gossip, shutting the restroom door behind me to escape the piercing voices.

I stood in front of the mirror, staring at my own pale face.

Was my persistence, all this time, really the right thing?