I'd stayed home like a good wife, focused on the pregnancy, hoping the baby would bring us closer together.

The thought burned behind my eyes.

Every ounce of love I'd given Ervin Stephens had meant nothing to him.

The crew members nearby were starting to notice. I could feel their sidelong glances, the quiet curiosity sharpening into something worse.

I wiped my tears in a hurry, but there was no hiding how wrecked I looked.

I turned to leave, but Rose Sullivan's delighted voice rang out behind me：【Renata! You came to check up on him?】

【Don't worry, I've been keeping an eye on him for you. Nobody's getting any ideas about your man on my watch.】

Rose grabbed my arm, took the container of chicken soup right out of my hands, and waved it at Ervin across the set, calling out loud enough for everyone to hear：

【Look at this! Our Ervin is so lucky. His wife drags herself here while pregnant just to bring him homemade soup.】

【Meanwhile, my guy would never be this thoughtful. I'm so jealous.】

She shot Ervin a playful look, eyebrows raised, nudging him to come over and play the grateful husband.

But the first words out of Ervin's mouth when he walked over weren't for me. They were for Rose：

【If you want some, just say so. I'll have Renata make a batch for you next time. It's not like she has anything else to do at home.】

The cold sank through me like ice water, but I forced a smile for the sake of the baby.

【I'm a little tired. I'll let you two get back to work.】

Ervin noticed my swollen eyes and something guarded crept into his voice as he stopped me：【How long have you been here? Why didn't you text me? I would've come out to meet you myself.】

A stone lodged itself in my chest.

He was afraid I'd seen who he really was, yet every word came out sounding like the perfect, attentive husband.

So I looked him straight in the eye and asked, my voice flat：【If I'd texted ahead, you wouldn't have let me come at all, would you?】

Rose picked up on my mood instantly and turned on Ervin, her tone half-scolding, half-playful：【All talk and no action with you. Honestly.】

【She obviously missed you. That's why she came all this way.】

【But pregnant women tire out so easily. Why don't we have Renata stay and join me for a quick parenting segment on my livestream?】

Anything Rose asked for, Ervin delivered. Every single time.

He walked over to me, patient and composed, as if he were doing me a favor：【Well, you're already here. Might as well stay.】

【Be good. Go sit with Rose in the livestream room and chat for a bit. It'll help boost her numbers.】

Since the pregnancy, my body had ballooned beyond recognition, swollen and shapeless like rising dough.

For the baby's sake, I'd stopped using every cream, every serum, every product I owned, and the dark patches had spread freely across my face.

Even without a camera pointed at me, I knew.

I looked awful.

I kept my voice low, but clear enough for Ervin to hear：【I'm tired. I just want to go home.】

Rose let go of my arm with an awkward little laugh and immediately launched into an apology：【This is all my fault. I got so excited seeing Renata that I totally forgot pregnant women need their rest.】

Ervin couldn't bear to see Rose feel even a second of guilt.

His patience with me evaporated on the spot. His voice went clipped：【You insisted on coming, and now you insist on leaving.】

He caught the disappointment in my eyes and seemed to realize he'd gone too far. His tone softened, shifting back into something coaxing：

【Rose and I just don't want you running back and forth in your condition.】

【Come on, you've got nothing else going on. Go keep Rose company for one livestream segment.】

【Once I wrap up here, we'll head home together.】

And hearing that, it finally hit me. Ervin had always, instinctively, taken Rose's side.

Back when Rose stole my fiancé, she was afraid I'd keep making a scene and ruin the wholesome image she'd built online, so she showed up at my door with a fake apology.

I hadn't planned to go after her, but I hadn't planned to forgive her either.

We'd all known each other for eight years. She knew exactly how deep things ran between Brent and me.

Yet she married him anyway, hiding behind the excuse that her fans were begging for it and she simply couldn't say no.

After that, I wanted nothing to do with Rose Sullivan.

But all she had to do was stand outside my door and squeeze out a couple of tears, and Ervin would come find me on his own to lecture me：【You're a grown woman. Why are you still acting like a child?】

【Don't tell me you're still hung up on Brent. Is that why you hold it against her?】

At the time, those words actually made me wonder if I really was being too petty.

My thoughts snapped back to the present, and I suddenly asked Ervin the oldest question in the book：【If Rose and I both fell in the water and you could only save one of us, who would you pick?】

Ervin froze. Clearly my reaction was the last thing he'd expected.

But his grip on my wrist didn't loosen.

【Renata, don't start with me right now.】

【Rose is the company's top influencer.】

【Building her up doubles our revenue. That's paving the way for our child's future too.】

I laughed before I could stop myself.

A question that simple, and he still couldn't bring himself to answer. That silence was an answer all on its own.

There was no point pushing it. If I didn't back down, he'd only force me into an even bigger concession to Rose.

And with this belly, I couldn't afford another fight.

The moment the studio lights flicked on, the photographers huddled together, frowning and whispering.

Finally, one of them worked up the nerve to approach：

【Ms. Simmons, we still have a few minutes before we go live. Maybe you could put on some makeup first?】

【It's just……showing up like this might not look great on camera. Could scare viewers off marriage entirely.】

Every pair of eyes in the room was on me. There was nowhere to hide.

I looked to Ervin without thinking, but he just gave an impatient nod toward the makeup artist, signaling her to get started.

I turned my face away and managed an apologetic refusal：

【I'm sorry, my doctor said the pregnancy's unstable. I'm not supposed to use any cosmetics.】

Right on cue, Rose had her assistant pass over her bag and put on her concerned-big-sister voice：

【Renata, all my products are completely natural. Totally safe for expecting mothers.】

【How about I just do a light touch-up for you?】

I knew Rose didn't mean well.

But we were about to go live, and the entire crew was standing there with their equipment, waiting on me.

Even Ervin's patience was visibly wearing thin.

I swallowed the tears rising in my throat, rested a hand on my belly, and gave in：【Fine. Go ahead.】

Just as I'd expected, Rose made a show of carefully doing my makeup.

In reality, she deliberately used a foundation two shades too light and paired it with the most garish hot-pink lipstick she had, making my already exhausted face look like a bad joke.

Rose stepped back with a satisfied grin, turning me toward the room like a finished product, fishing for compliments.

Everyone covered their mouths, barely holding it together.

But I still heard the whispers：

【She looks worse than before. Once we're live, the birth rate's gonna drop by half……】

【Mr. Stephens is such a good-looking guy. How'd he end up with that?】

【Right? Put her next to Rose and it's night and day.】

I told myself not to care what they thought.

I gritted my teeth through another round of mockery in the livestream chat, and when they finally called a break, I went straight to find Ervin.

I was exhausted. I told him I wanted to go home and rest.

Ervin pointed at Rose, who was touching up her makeup nearby, his tone laced with mockery：【When Rose was pregnant, she still managed to work eighteen-hour days without a single break.】

【Renata, I'm starting to wonder if I've been spoiling you too much.】

【Turning you into this much of a drama queen.】

Every other word out of his mouth was about Rose. The resentment sat heavy in my chest.

【If you think Rose is so great, why did you marry me instead of her?】

【You think I didn't want to……】

Ervin's face twisted with fury, but the words died on his tongue.

In the end, a mocking edge settled over his expression, and he switched back to patient persuasion：

【Honestly, when you showed up on the livestream just now, the analytics spiked. You brought Rose a ton of new followers.】

【I've told you over and over, I'm going to make Rose a star.】

【If you leave now, you're cutting her stream short in the middle of a live broadcast. It'll tank her numbers.】

Ervin would never understand how agonizing it had been for me in that livestream.

That hideous makeup hadn't just wrecked my appearance. It had shattered my dignity.

But Ervin never noticed any of that. All he saw was me being difficult.

I was exhausted. I just wanted to find somewhere quiet to collect myself.

Ervin thought I was leaving. He grabbed my arm and yanked me back.

I lost my balance, and my stomach slammed into the corner of the table.

Pain tore through me, so sharp it stole my breath.

The floor director jogged over：【Mr. Stephens, your wife needs to get ready. We're going live any second.】

I sucked in a ragged breath, clutching Ervin's hand so hard my knuckles went white：

【I think something's wrong with the baby. Please, take me to the hospital……】

Ervin hesitated for one second.

But the sight of Rose's follower count climbing won out.

He took my hand, his voice terrifyingly calm：

【I'll call an ambulance, but you'll have to wait for it anyway. You might as well finish the second half of the stream while you wait.】

Then he signaled his assistant to walk me back in front of the camera.

I had no choice. I swallowed the pain and forced the thinnest sliver of a smile.

Sharp-eyed viewers in the chat picked up on it immediately.

【The pregnant woman next to her looks really pale. Is she okay?】

The pain was so bad I couldn't speak. All I could do was press both hands against my stomach and pray my baby was safe.

Rose saw the chat shifting and jumped in with a laugh to smooth things over：

【Don't worry, everyone! Renata lost her parents young and her family went bankrupt, so she's been under a lot of stress. She just doesn't have the energy to keep up her appearance. Her color's always a little off.】

The comments poured in the moment she finished：

【That explains it. Looking like that, she probably couldn't marry into anything decent, right?】

【Definitely not as well as our Rose did!】

Rose caught those comments and read them aloud in a drawn-out, sing-song voice, one hand covering her smile：

【You're all wrong, actually! Renata is our boss's wife. She has a perfectly happy family.】

I barely registered Rose's poisonous little performance. All I could feel was a warm, steady gush soaking through beneath me.

I looked at Ervin, begging him with my eyes.

But by the time I blacked out, the person I needed most still hadn't come.

Rose shot to her feet in shock. The chat exploded：

【Oh my God, is that blood under the pregnant woman?】

【Is she having a miscarriage?? That's terrifying.】

【Didn't Rose just say she only looked pale? Why is she bleeding?】

The livestream cut to black. I collapsed into Ervin's arms.

For the first time since we'd arrived, something close to worry flickered in his eyes.

He barked at his assistant to get the ambulance there now.