I hung my head and stirred my coffee listlessly, a bitter smile playing on my lips.

"No. Nothing happened, actually. You're also in very good health.

"We got married as soon as we graduated from college. At first, we had a very close relationship with each other, and life was very blissful. We loved each other as deeply as we had for the past decade or so.

"However, everything changed as soon as Bianca appeared."

Bianca had begun working at Robert's company in its fifth year, and that was also the year when our marriage entered its "seven-year itch".

I had been busy working and getting promoted as the youngest attending physician at the hospital, while Robert's career was also experiencing exponential growth.

Gradually, his social engagements and obligations increased, having to attend countless balls, galas, banquets, and business meetings.

After rejecting his invitation to accompany him to a couple of such social events, Robert lost his temper with me for the first time ever.

"Everyone else always has a female companion with them except for me! So what if I'm married? I always have to attend them alone anyway!

"All my business partners keep laughing at me, calling me a henpecked husband or accusing me of not earning enough money that you were too embarrassed to show up and support me in my career!"

This was the first time he'd accused me of such things, and I felt lost, wronged, and aggrieved.

After all, he'd always doted on me and never said a harsh word to me before, let alone openly criticizing me like this.

However, no matter how much I loved him, I couldn't possibly give up a decade of my hard work in medicine and all of my results that I'd painstakingly accumulated just to keep him company and boost his ego.

Neither one of us was willing to admit fault and apologize first, and thus, a cold war began between us.

Robert moved out of the home we shared together and went to live in his own private apartment in Lakeview Suites, which was closer to his company.

He barely came back to our home, and I could count the number of times he actually did with the fingers on one hand.

Once, I missed him so much that I decided to show up unannounced at his apartment on his birthday.

I never thought that Bianca would be the one answering the door in her mini strap dress when I knocked on his door.

"Mr. Bowen had a bit too much to drink tonight, and he can't see anyone right now."

She didn't seem to recognize me. She just kept her head hung low, shyly and subtly showing off the faint red marks on her neck that were peeking through her long hair.

"Maybe you'd like to leave him a message? I'll make sure to pass it to him when he wakes up later."

I suppressed the tears welling in my eyes and handed her the gift bag in my hands, making every word I said clear.

"My name is Kaitlyn Hudson. Ask him to call me as soon as he wakes up. I have something to tell him."

Bianca just hummed softly and closed the door on me in a polite manner.

However, two weeks passed, and I never got any response from Robert.

When the 18-year-old Robert heard that, he could no longer hold back his fury and smashed a wine glass on the floor.

"How is that possible? How could I have possibly just slept with another woman like that! This can't be real, can it? There has to be a mistake! A misunderstanding!"

I wiped away the tears on my face and shook my head in silence.

I was the one who wished that it had been nothing more than a misunderstanding the most. However, it wasn't too long after that when Bianca found out that she was pregnant.

The 30-year-old Robert was incredibly attentive to her, whether in public or in private, even bringing her for her prenatal checkup at the hospital where I worked at, using my employee card.

No matter how much I tried to deceive myself, I just couldn't convince myself that it wasn't the truth.

Also, it seemed that the 18-year-old Robert was even less able to accept his betrayal and infidelity toward me than I was.

He began downing glass after glass of alcohol like a wounded, heartbroken little puppy as he curled up on the couch and sobbed with tears flowing down his cheeks.

"How could it be, Kitty? How could I ever bear to hurt you like this…"

I sighed and crouched over to pull a blanket over his body.

Before I could even straighten up, the door behind me was suddenly pushed open.

When I turned around, I was instantly met with the 30-year-old Robert's gaze.

"You sure know how to surprise me, Kaitlyn," the older Robert said, his face dark and thunderous as he witnessed my seemingly intimate actions with the 18-year-old Robert.

"So, it wasn't enough that you messed around with him at the office—you even had to bring him back to continue where you left off.

"Judging from how hard it is for you guys to separate from each other, it's no wonder that you're suddenly so eagerly pushing for the divorce now."

I frowned instinctively when Robert began raising his voice at me.

"Keep your voice down. You're going to wake him," I said.

Given the 18-year-old Robert's short fuse, if he realized that his 30-year-old self was now standing in front of him, there was no telling what he would do.

I just didn't want to bring on any unnecessary trouble for myself. However, Robert clearly interpreted my words very differently.

He chuckled with a hint of tears welling in his eyes.

"Do I even need to remind you, Kaitlyn, that this is our home?

"How dare you bring home your boytoy and demand that I, your husband, keep my voice down for his sake! Who do you even think I am to you anymore!"

Seeing that the 18-year-old Robert was stirring and about to wake up from the noise, I immediately went up to the older Robert and grabbed his hand.

"Let's not talk here and go down to the cafe nearby instead."

I was worried that he would shake me off forcefully, so I gripped him as tightly as I could. However, to my surprise, he didn't struggle in my hold. In fact, he gripped me back equally as tightly, probably out of instinct.

He still didn't let go even though we'd already stepped out of the elevator a few minutes later.

I found it a little embarrassing and tried shaking him off and withdrawing my hand, but he just held me even tighter.

"What? A boytoy can touch you, but I can't? How could you betray me so easily like this yet act like a purist with him instead?"

I couldn't put up with the sarcasm in his voice anymore and flung his hand off forcefully.

"Don't you dare judge me with those filthy thoughts of yours, especially since you're the one who wasn't clean to begin with!"

I shook him off so hard that he just took a step back and looked at me with a hurt expression.

Before he could say another word, however, the phone in his pocket suddenly began to ring.

I could see his expression change when he looked at the caller ID on the screen. He turned around and walked off slightly to answer the call.

I didn't even have to guess to know that it was a call from Bianca.

I hadn't wanted to eavesdrop on his call at first, but the building entrance was far too quiet, and I could still hear him clearly despite being a short distance away from him.

"What's wrong? You're bleeding? Wait, don't cry. Lie down on the couch and wait for me to come for you!"

Robert then hung up and left. He was already at least half a block away from me when he suddenly stopped, turned around, stormed back to me, and pulled me along.

"You're coming with me!"

I lost my balance and stumbled for a few steps as I was dragged after him. I couldn't shake him off no matter how much I tried.

"Are you crazy, Robert Bowen? Why should I come with you?" I shouted.

"Because you're the top gynecologist at the biggest hospital in the city and the youngest attending physician in its history!"

Without further ado, Robert then stuffed me into his Maybach and personally fastened my seatbelt for me.

"This is a matter of life and death, after all. You're not going to break our Hippocratic Oath, are you?"

I felt like killing myself when the car began driving off. I would rather that we got into a fatal accident on the way there than be forced to deliver my husband's mistress' baby.

The Maybach didn't turn into Lakeview Suites. Instead, it turned into a slightly smaller apartment complex next to it, Velvet Heights.

I was only confused for a very short while before it all clicked for me.

It was around the time that Robert's company was about to be listed as a public company. And, at a crucial time like this, he obviously didn't want to allow anyone to use his private life against him. That would explain why he had his mistress live in a separate apartment complex from him.

As expected, after turning into Velvet Heights and getting out of the car, Robert made his way to the elevators, pressed on the correct floor, and went to the right unit like he'd been here a thousand times before.

He even fished out a spare key from his pocket and easily unlocked the door before rushing inside in a hurry.

A short while later, a soft and slightly resentful female voice could be heard from inside the apartment.

"You're finally here, Robbie! I nearly had a heart attack just now…"

Robbie.

I used to think that I was the only one who ever referred to him by that very intimate nickname of his.

A bitter feeling welled up inside my chest. I paused at the door without going in.

A few minutes later, Robert walked out of the door with Bianca in his arms.

I quickly checked Bianca's condition and confirmed that she was in the first stages of labor after her water broke, but no further medical intervention was required as all her vitals were still normal. I just instructed Robert to carry her into the ambulance that I'd called while we were on the way there.

Before entering the delivery room, Bianca suddenly grabbed my hand.

"Dr. Hudson, you're the top gynae in the city. Can you please come in and deliver my baby?"

The nurses and medical staff nearby knew a bit about my current family situation and quickly stepped forward to intervene when they heard that.

"Ms. Strickland, Dr. Hudson hasn't performed any of your prenatal checks before and isn't familiar with your specific situation. It would be better if another gynecologist handled it instead. All of the doctors in our obstetrics department are very professional…"

However, no matter how much they tried to talk Bianca out of it, she still grabbed tightly onto my hand and refused to let go.

"I'd been looking forward to this baby for a very long time. Robbie and I haven't had it easy, and we put in so much effort into this.

"I don't trust anyone else with this. Please, Dr. Hudson, can't you help me just this once?"

She then looked at Robert with tear-streaked eyes, a pleading, beseeching expression on her face.

Robert looked at me after a moment of hesitation.

"Kitty, can you please…"

He probably never even realized that he'd just called me "Kitty".

I hadn't heard that nickname from his mouth in the past two years because of our cold war. Yet, thanks to Bianca, I finally got to hear it again today.

I lowered my gaze and tried my best to stop my tears from falling down.

"What if I said I didn't want to?"

Robert went silent for a while. Then, he withdrew a crumpled-up piece of paper from his suit pocket.

It was a "make-a-wish" coupon that I'd given him when we first started dating while we were in our teens.

On it, written in my somewhat childish handwriting, were the words, "This coupon entitles Robert Bowen to one (1) unconditional wish from Kaitlyn Hudson, valid for one-time use only."

Robert then said, "What if I used this to wish for it?"

In the past, no matter how fierce our arguments were, or how much we fought and I threatened to divorce each other, I had never once felt afraid that our relationship would really end just like that.

The reason was that I knew Robert still had this "wish coupon" he could use as his "get-out-of-jail" card to fight to keep our marriage and prevent our relationship from actually ending.

But now, he had used his final chance to save Bianca instead.

"Fine, Robert Bowen. But you had better not regret this!"

I snatched the coupon from him and walked straight into the delivery room without looking back at him, worried that my tears would immediately start falling if I were to stay with him for just a split second more.

Bianca's delivery was indeed a very dangerous and risky one. She had to switch from natural birth to a Caesarean delivery halfway through, and she also had a velamentous placenta, making its removal extremely difficult.

After 16 hours of non-stop surgery on the delivery table, I finally managed to succeed in keeping both Bianca and her baby safe and alive.

I stepped away from the table and immediately felt dizzy and unsteady on my feet.

While walking past the break room, I overheard a few nurses whispering to each other.

"Dr. Hudson is too pathetic for words! To think that she actually helped her husband's mistress deliver their baby. How could she even put up with that?"

"Maybe she just can't bear to part with her husband's wealth and assets. It's just that the mistress has already given him a child, while Dr. Hudson hasn't… I guess she's going to have to step aside now."

"Did you see the baby's features? It really looked a lot like Dr. Hudson's husband. No wonder he loves his mistress so much…"

I stopped walking.

Looking through the glass windows, I could see Robert cradling the newborn baby in his arms while sitting next to Bianca's bed in the ward, laughing and chatting casually with her.

They looked so wonderfully harmonious together that they looked more like they were an actual family of three.

A sharp, piercing pain shot through my chest, and suddenly, the world went black for me. I lost control of my senses and collapsed toward the floor.

A series of cries of alarm rang out around me, and Robert finally looked in my direction.

However, as he rushed toward me in panic, I found myself already in a familiar embrace.

Robert suddenly froze in his steps at that very moment, his face turning a deathly pale color.