After my meeting with Lucille that day, it took me three whole days before I finally calmed down.

For three days, I couldn't help feeling disgusted whenever I saw Patrick showing concern and being attentive toward me. The inward repulsion affected my physical well-being, and I came down with a fever that lasted three days.

I usually recovered from ailments within a day, but Patrick played the role of a doting husband and waited on me hand and foot the entire time. It took everything I had to hold back the nauseousness that threatened to consume me whenever I saw him.

During that time, he answered five calls behind my back and left the house once with an excuse about having issues with a client's contract. I had never been concerned about such things in the past, but now I paid attention to them. As expected, they were all somehow related to Lucille.

There were multiple times when I had the urge to ask him why he had betrayed me. But I swallowed the words each time. Arguing was detrimental to one's well-being, and I would be wrecking my own health. What I needed to do was secretly harm them without leaving a trace.

Patrick only went back to work after my fever broke three days later. He worked in a local state-owned enterprise, and because he was favored by my father—who happened to be his supervisor—he had climbed through the ranks and become a department manager at the age of 32.

Oh, what an accomplished young man he was!

He had just been a youth from out of town who had married the daughter of a high-ranking local official. From then on, his career had been smooth sailing.

Was he really so confident he thought he was more capable than others?

Had it not been for me and my family's background, he would never have been able to find a foothold in his career, much less mess around behind my back!

My parents hadn't liked him much back then. Thinking about how I had insisted on marrying him, I was sorely tempted to give myself a slap.

I vowed not to let my parents find out Patrick had cheated on me. It was enough that I was repulsed by his actions; there was no need to get my parents involved in this and have it affect them too.

But I couldn't be sure if I would be able to execute my plans perfectly if I acted on my own. After some careful consideration, I decided to get some help from my best friend, Shania Rhodes.

Shania was outstation for work when I called her. I told her everything about what had happened.

When she returned, she didn't even bother going back to her own house before barging straight into mine with her luggage.

She was absolutely fuming and out for blood—she wanted to make Patrick and Lucille pay for their actions.

"What have you got in mind?" She looked at me, both infuriated and heartbroken.

"I'll abort the baby first," I answered, caressing my tummy, which hadn't even begun to show.

"You'll abort your baby and allow Lucille to keep hers? What are you even thinking? This is the greatest joke mankind has ever heard!" Shania was so angry that she gave me a light punch.

"Well, should I give birth to the cheater's baby and be bound to him for life, then?" I raised my brow and held her hand.

Perhaps Shania realized the logic behind my words; she fell silent for a brief moment.

"They say one should never encourage a married couple to go separate ways, but I simply can't bring myself to advise you to stay with him. I'm not saying that you should get a divorce, but I'll support you no matter what you decide to do."

With that, she pulled me into a hug. The moment she hugged me, all my grievances, resentment, and remorse welled up within me in an instant. I broke down and wept miserably.

It took quite some time before I managed to rein in my emotions and tell Shania all about how Lucille had reached out to me, the conversation we'd had, and my tentative plan for the future.

After she heard my plan, Shania's indignation was replaced by shock.

She gave me a thumbs-up and exclaimed, "I shouldn't have expected any less from you, Penny! You've got a sharp mind and an even stronger heart to boot! Just thinking about it is exhilarating! The shameless couple will get what they deserve!"

"I'll need your help to find me a house. It needs to be some distance away from here and Patrick's company, but not so far that we can't keep an eye on her."

"Sure thing! Don't you worry. I haven't got much to my name except properties. We'll just choose one and get Lucille settled in. She won't be able to pull anything funny under our noses."

After Shania found a house and furnished it, I took Lucille there and gave her a bank card.

I told her that going forward, I would deposit a fixed amount of money into the bank account to cover her living expenses, and I would also arrange for someone to accompany her for her prenatal checkups.

My only condition was that the baby would be mine after she delivered it.

She seemed to have no doubt that I wanted a baby but had never been able to conceive, so she had no qualms about moving into the place I had found for her.

…

In the days that Patrick hadn't been able to contact Lucille, he was visibly distraught and moody. He appeared weak and lifeless, like someone who was suffering from a hangover.

It seemed like I had been too certain of his love for me in the past. When I saw him having such fervent feelings for another person, I couldn't control the jealousy that bubbled within and the pain that ate away at me.

I held back the bitterness within me and probed, "Honey, has Lucy contacted you recently?"

Patrick, who had been peeling an apple, faltered in his actions, and his expression stiffened. "Why would she contact me out of the blue?"

I took the peeled apple from him and took a quick look at him. "That's weird. Your birthday is coming up this week, so I wanted to invite her to celebrate it together. But I just can't seem to reach her on her phone. She didn't reply to my messages either."

Then, I tapped on his phone, which he had left on the coffee table. "You should send her a message to invite her."

He reflexively snatched his phone away the moment I touched it.

I shot him a glance and caught the flustered look in his eyes. I smiled and arched a brow. "Honey, is there something you're hiding from me?"

Though I despised his betrayal, the fact remained that we had been in love for ten years. He had been a part of the best years of my youth and was in all of the best memories I had made.

I thought if he truly repented and stopped lying to me, I would let him off and end things between us peacefully.

But apparently, Patrick didn't appreciate the opportunity. His expression quickly returned to normal, and he replied, "I'm having some trouble at work. Maybe that's why I'm not behaving like my usual self."

Ha! More like he wasn't behaving like his usual self because he had lost his lover!

I took a bite of the apple and began gagging violently. I couldn't be sure if it was because of my disgust for Patrick or if it was because of the pregnancy.

But Patrick was delighted when he saw that. "Honey, are you pregnant?"

"It's just the stomach flu," I answered curtly.

His reaction made me realize why Lucille was so confident. Patrick's parents had a deeply ingrained belief in carrying on the family lineage, and that had no doubt had a strong impact on him.

A look of disappointment came over him when he heard my reply. He put his arms around me and stroked my tummy. "How I wish we could have a child of our own soon."

He rested his chin on my head and was as gentle as always. His hands were also as warm as they used to be.

I froze in his embrace and recollected every sweet and tender moment from the past. But when I thought of how they had all been just an act, sadness washed over me and tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.

When Patrick saw my tears, he thought I was feeling sensitive because I hadn't been able to conceive after so long. So, he kept his arms around me and consoled me.

For a moment, I reveled in his tenderness. I couldn't bring myself to abort the baby I was carrying. However, the thought that another woman out there was also carrying his baby made my blood boil.

Since I was starting to get pregnancy symptoms, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep things under wraps for long.

In the end, I decided to give my cousin, Kevin Hall, a call and requested for him to send Patrick to work outstation as soon as possible.

Unexpectedly, Kevin agreed to it even before I came up with an excuse for my request. He sent Patrick out of town the very next day.

It was clear from his actions that he was aware something was amiss. Perhaps there were already a lot of people around me who knew that I was being cheated on. That thought left me feeling all sorts of wretched and embarrassed.

Patrick had barely left when I hurried to get the abortion done. I didn't waste any time during my recovery period either. Instead, I got Shania to find me a suitable candidate to be Lucille's caregiver right away.