Irina knew exactly what Sophie and her mother, Beth White, meant to Uriah.

Uriah's parents always worked late when he was a kid, so he would often eat dinner at Beth's house.

Beth was a single mom who raised Sophie on her own. Since they were kids, Uriah and Sophie were everyone's idea of the perfect golden couple. Everyone assumed they would go from being childhood sweethearts straight to walking down the aisle together.

During Uriah's senior year of high school, Sophie and Beth moved abroad, and they stayed gone for eight years. Three months ago, Sophie returned with Beth, who had pancreatic cancer, and they came to find Uriah.

From the moment they returned, Uriah started coming home less and less frequently.

Whenever Irina asked, his answer was always the same: he was at the hospital. Since she understood Uriah's relationship with Sophie and Beth, Irina never complained once, firmly believing that their relationship was solid enough that it would not crack just because his childhood friend had come back.

At first, Irina even volunteered to help connect them with specialist doctors. However, her involvement gradually seemed to make both Uriah and Sophie uncomfortable. Things escalated to the point where Sophie would burst into tears the moment Irina showed up.

Eventually, Uriah told Irina to stop coming to the hospital altogether.

Irina had no idea what she had done wrong, especially since she had not fought or made a scene. She had simply waited patiently for it all to be over, for Uriah to finish dealing with everything, so they could return to the way things used to be.

However, this ectopic pregnancy surgery and Uriah's attitude were starting to shake her faith.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Irina texted Uriah and attached a photo of her medical records.

At the same hospital, Uriah frowned at the message on his phone.

Sophie, sitting beside him, leaned over to look too. Before Uriah could say anything, Sophie's eyes immediately reddened, and tears fell one after another as her voice began to choke.

"I'm so sorry, Uriah. I shouldn't have come to you... I know Irina's scared I'll steal you away, so she made up this ridiculous story. Mom and I have ruined what you and Irina had. I'm so sorry."

For just a split second, Uriah had felt a flicker of panic. Then, he thought about how in these past three months, he had barely been home at all because of Beth's illness, and he and Irina had not been intimate in ages. He also knew Irina well enough to know she would never cheat.

This had to be another one of her desperate attempts to get his attention, to make him prove he still loved her.

Uriah tenderly ruffled Sophie's hair, his voice incredibly gentle. "This has nothing to do with you. I've just been spoiling her too much, that's why she'd make up lies like this."

"Thank you, Uriah. Without you, I really don't know what I'd do." Still crying, Sophie threw herself into Uriah's arms.

Uriah gently patted Sophie's back, offering her comfort.

After spending a while consoling Sophie, Uriah finally found time to text Irina back. His message read, [Irina, Ms. White doesn't have much time left. You know how much she took care of me when I was little, so please be mature about this and stop making a scene. Also, you shouldn't say such vicious things about yourself and our future child. Once things settle down, I promise I'll make it up to you.]

After being disappointed too many times, that one final disappointment becomes the ending of the whole story.

Wiping away her tears, Irina sent Uriah a single-word reply, [Okay.]

She had decided, too.

...

Three days later, Irina was discharged from the hospital. During that time, Uriah had not sent a single message, and Irina had not reached out to him either.

Anne reminded Irina kindly, "Ms. Charlton, even though it was an ectopic pregnancy, you still need to treat this like a recovery period. When you get home, make sure to keep yourself warm, eat nutritious food, and get plenty of rest, okay?"

Irina thanked her with a heavy heart. "Thank you, I'll take good care of myself."

After saying goodbye to Anne, Irina walked out alone. However, she had only taken a few steps when she heard someone calling her name from behind.

"Irina?"

Irina turned around to see her heavily pregnant best friend, Mia.

Mia asked, "What are you doing at the hospital? You look awful."

"I-I was pregnant." Irina's expression was blank; her tone was as calm as if she were discussing the weather.

Mia was just about to congratulate her, but she could keenly tell something was wrong.

Irina continued, "But it was an ectopic pregnancy. I already had the surgery, and I'm being discharged today."

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Mia was upset, but she quickly softened and grabbed Irina's hand with concern. "Wait, where's Uriah?"

To all their friends, Uriah was a devoted husband. He normally could not stand to see Irina suffer even the slightest inconvenience, the epitome of a doting husband.

Not seeing him here shocked Mia.

Irina mumbled, "He's at the hospital with Sophie's mom. He doesn't have time for me."

Mia had heard a little about Uriah and Sophie, but no matter what, he should show up for something this serious.

Then, Irina asked, "It's fine... It's all over now. Why are you here alone, too?"

Mia replied, "I'm here for my final prenatal checkup. James is just paying the bill."

Mia wanted to ask more about Irina and Uriah. However, seeing how terrible Irina looked, she held back.

Irina's ride was about to arrive, and Mia insisted on walking her downstairs. However, as soon as they stepped out of the elevator, they saw Sophie clinging to Uriah's arm, standing right there in the lobby.

All four of them froze.

The next second, Uriah pushed Sophie's hand off his arm, though his expression darkened.

"Irina, I already explained everything clearly in my message. What's the point of stalking and spying on me? When did you become so unreasonable?"

"Irina, please, just stop."

Right there in the crowded hospital lobby, Sophie dropped to her knees in front of Irina, crying her eyes out.

"Sophie, get up! What are you doing?" Uriah immediately tried to pull Sophie up.

"Uriah, don't stop me. My mom and I are the ones who hurt Irina... But Irina, my mom is dying. Please, have some mercy and let me have Uriah for this little while."

As she spoke, Sophie even tried to bow her head toward Irina.

Uriah could not stop Sophie, so he turned his anger on Irina instead. "Irina, Sophie and Ms. White have never done anything to hurt you. They never said a single bad word about you. How can you act like this? Where's your conscience? You make me sick."

Before long, more people gathered around to watch. Everyone was starting to point their fingers at Irina and whispering among themselves.

Without a second thought, Mia stepped forward and slapped Uriah across the face.

She growled, "Uriah, have you lost your mind?"

Uriah had never been hit by anyone in his entire life. He glared at Irina with fury and hissed, "Impressive. You even dragged a pregnant woman here to make a scene with me. Irina, you're supposed to be a big-shot designer. Where are your manners?"

Mia was ready to hit Uriah again, but Irina stopped her. "Let's go, my ride is here."

Irina did not even glance at Uriah or the drama queen kneeling on the floor, pulling Mia toward the exit.

Uriah had never been ignored by Irina like this before, so he furiously grabbed her wrist and barked at her. "Stop right there and apologize to Sophie!"

When Irina did not respond, Uriah tightened his grip. "I told you to apologize to Sophie!"

The pain in her wrist was nothing compared to the pain in her heart. Irina took a deep breath and turned to look at Uriah.

She argued, "Why should I apologize? Did I say anything? Did I do anything? Also, is this your hospital? Are you the only one who's allowed to be here? Prof. Parker, what happened to your basic decency?"

Irina's eyes were ice-cold, as if she were looking at a complete stranger.

As Uriah stared at her, something inexplicably chilling crept into his heart, and his grip loosened.

Not wanting to waste any more time on Uriah, Irina pulled Mia along and headed for the hospital doors.

Noticing Uriah's uneasy expression, Sophie timidly tugged at his hand. "Uriah, did I cause trouble again?"

Uriah snapped back to reality and patted Sophie's hand reassuringly. "It's not your fault. I've just been neglecting her lately."

Yes, that was it. He had simply been too busy recently, and that was why Irina felt upset and made such a big deal out of things. Once he went home and coaxed her properly, everything would be fine. After all, she had always been the most understanding and easiest to talk to.

After giving himself this pep talk, Uriah pushed aside the fleeting unease in his heart and led Sophie into the elevator. That evening, he headed home, stopping on the way to buy Irina's favorite pink tulips.

When he opened the door, Irina was on the phone.

"Okay, once you have the agreement ready, just send it to me. Yeah, as soon as possible."

With that, Irina hung up.

"What agreement?" Uriah asked, trying to act like everything was normal, as if the argument at the hospital had never happened.

"It's just work stuff," Irina replied, not even looking at Uriah before turning to leave.

Uriah hurried forward and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Honey, I'm home."

In the past, Irina would have turned around, gently touched his face, and given him a kiss with a smile. At this point, though, he did not even want to speak to him.

She forcefully pushed away the arms wrapped around her and walked straight into the bedroom, then shut the door.

Uriah stood there in a daze, completely at a loss. He could not understand why Irina was still giving him the cold shoulder when he had already come home.

Over the past three days in the hospital, Irina had barely slept. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw scenes of Uriah defending Sophie and Beth.

Before long, Uriah, fresh from the shower, entered the bedroom. He lifted the covers and lay down beside her. His long arm wrapped around Irina's waist from behind, and his face nestled against the hollow of her neck.

"Irina, I know I've neglected you these past few months. You missed me, didn't you?"

As he spoke, Uriah moved to kiss her, and his hand under the covers started wandering.

Irina felt nothing but disgust, so she dodged the kiss and pushed his hand away with revulsion. "Don't touch me."