Chapter 3

To show his loyalty to me, Alexander had always left his phone unlocked.

But what I didn't know was that he had set up a dual system.

The password to switch between systems? Sophia's birthday.

As soon as the system switched, the wallpaper changed to a college photo of him and Sophia.

And there, in his Snapchat contacts, was only Sophia. I opened their chat, and a photo of her holding a baby hit me like a punch in the gut.

"Alex, look how handsome our baby is. He's going to be as good-looking as you when he grows up."

The baby in the picture looked exactly like the one Alexander had brought to me earlier.

I scrolled up through their conversation, and with each message, my heart grew colder.

During the eight months of my pregnancy, Alexander was always on business trips. The few days he spent with me could be counted on one hand.

I didn't want to get in the way of his work, so I silently endured the morning sickness and went to all the prenatal checkups alone.

Now I knew those so-called business trips weren't about work at all. They were just excuses to be with Sophia during her pregnancy.

In thousands of photos, every single moment of Sophia's pregnancy and childbirth had been documented.

He made her nutritious meals every day, went on walks and shopping trips with her, even held her hair when she was sick in the mornings.

He was there for every prenatal checkup, gazing at her as though she were the most precious thing in the world.

I'd asked him so many times to help choose a name for our baby.

But his responses were always slow, like it was a burden:

"Olivia, a name is just a label. Any name will do. We'll talk about it after the baby is born. I'm busy."

But when Sophia got pregnant? He'd already thought of a hundred names for her baby.

"Sophia, how about we name the baby Zack? It means 'future hope.'"

"Or maybe Ethan? It means 'strong and long-lived.'"

"Actually, let's go with Andy. I don't need him to be outstanding, I just want him to be safe and healthy, living a long life."

After every prenatal checkup, he'd give Sophia a gift, luxurious jewelry or a limited-edition sports car.

"Our Sophia has safely completed another checkup. We need to celebrate."

And all I ever got was:

"Olivia, thank you for your hard work. I have to go to a meeting now."

This, right here, was the difference between love and indifference.

I set the phone down, feeling numb, and bought a plane ticket to leave the country in three days.

Back in bed, I stared at the ceiling, overwhelmed by the sorrow. I couldn't sleep all night.

The next day, Alexander, as usual, had his assistant bring me a nutritious meal.

In the past, I'd always been touched by his thoughtfulness, how he cared about my diet even when he wasn't around.

But after seeing him fuss over Sophia last night, I realized it was all just a performance.

Money means nothing in the face of true love.

When I didn't eat, Alexander grew concerned:

"Olivia, why aren't you eating? Is the food not to your liking?"

"It's nothing. I just miss the baby."

Alexander smiled warmly:

"Oh, you miss Andy. I miss him too. I never understood it before, but now that I'm a father, I don't want to be apart from him for even a second. Our Andy is truly the most adorable child in the world."

"Mom's overjoyed to have a grandson. She's celebrating at the old house. We'll go pick up Andy later."

I didn't say anything. I'd already decided to leave, so I just let him talk.

When we arrived at the old house, the first thing I saw was Mrs. Carter and Sophia cooing over Andy.

Sophia was glowing, dressed in high-end designer clothes with no sign of post-childbirth fatigue.

Mrs. Carter was fawning over the baby while feeding Sophia bird's nest soup.

What royal treatment.

Sophia noticed me and, with a hint of sarcasm, said to Mrs. Carter:

"Mother, don't spoil me too much. People might think I'm your real daughter-in-law. Olivia might get jealous. She's in a delicate condition, you should give her the bird's nest soup instead."

Mrs. Carter followed Sophia's gaze and looked me up and down with a look of disdain:

"Is my son not taking care of you? Wearing such unlucky clothes, are you trying to embarrass our family? Look at Sophia, she just gave birth, and she looks so much better than you. You're just being dramatic."

"You couldn't even take care of yourself while pregnant, running around and falling. It's a miracle you didn't die from the fall. Thankfully, my grandson is fine. Otherwise, Alexander would've divorced you immediately."

"You knew you had to breastfeed the baby, yet you still dared to take medication. If it weren't for Sophia helping with breastfeeding, you would've starved my grandson to death. You're truly unlucky. I'm officially adopting Sophia as my goddaughter from now on. She'll call me 'Mom,' just like Alexander does."

I'd always known Mrs. Carter didn't like me. She thought I wasn't good enough for Alexander, far inferior to his childhood sweetheart, Sophia, who was beautiful and charming.

It wasn't until Sophia moved abroad and I got pregnant that she reluctantly accepted me as her daughter-in-law for the sake of the child.

But every time we met, she never failed to mock and belittle me.

In the past, Alexander would defend me. Like that day at the mall when he insisted on buying gifts for our soon-to-be-born baby.

But now? His gaze was fixed on Sophia, filled with unmistakable tenderness.