Chapter 1 Not Today

I’m Hope Royston. On our third wedding anniversary, my husband, Christopher Valence, surprise me with a necklace that I had long desired. Everyone said he loved me deeply, which touched me deeply. That night, I was flooded with joy and prepared a candlelit dinner. However, later, I received a video.

In it, Christopher was putting the necklace on another woman. “Congratulations on your new life,” he said gently.

It turned out this day was not just our anniversary.

It was also a divorced day for the woman he loved.

I never imagined such a thing that would happen to me.

Although my marriage to Christopher wasn’t born out of love, he always cherished me well in public.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

I sat at the table, looking at the now cold steak and the headline still trending. “Christopher spent two million dollars to please his wife.”

It all felt like a silent mockery.

At 2 a.m., a black Maybach finally pulled into the courtyard.

Through the French windows, I saw Christopher getting out of the car. He was in a custom-tailored dark suit, his figure tall, and his demeanor elegant and graceful. “Why are you still up?”

Christopher turned on the light and saw me in the dining room. He was somewhat surprised.

I tried to stand up, but my legs were numb, and I fell back into the chair. “I was waiting for you.”

“Missing me?” Christopher asked with a thoughtless smile. He came over to pour himself a glass of water and was surprised to see the pristine dinner on the table.

He was willing to pretend. Me too! I suppressed my dissatisfaction and reached out to him, saying, “Happy third anniversary. Where’s my gift?”

“Sorry. I was too busy to prepare one.” Christopher paused, then realized it was our wedding anniversary. He reached out and wanna ruffle my hair, but I instinctively dodged.  ‘Who knows where else his hand has been tonight.’

I looked at him with a fake smile. “You still want to deceive me. You clearly bought me that necklace. It’s all over the news! Give it to me.”

“Hope…” Christopher was taken aback.

Christopher withdrew his hand, expressionless, and said in a cold voice, “I bought that necklace for Ivan.” Ivan Garcia was his best friend and also a college classmate of mine.

I knew people often used their friends as excuses.

I could barely maintain my smile. “Is it?”

“Yes. You know, Ivan has many admirers.” Christopher’s tone and expression revealed no flaws.

I looked at his flawless features in the light and suddenly felt that I might have never truly understood him. I even began to wonder if this was really the first time he had lied to me or if I had been too trusting in the past. If I hadn’t received that anonymous video, I wouldn’t have doubted Christopher’s explanation at all.

Seeing me silent, he patiently coaxed me. “I shouldn’t have forgotten such an important day. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.”

“I only want that necklace.” I still wanted to give Christopher a chance.

From the video, I couldn’t see the woman’s face. Perhaps they didn’t have an affair.

Christopher hesitated, and I looked at him in confusion. “Can’t I have it? It shouldn’t be a problem for Ivan to ask his girlfriend for the necklace for you, right?”

He fell silent for a moment. Seeing my insistence, he could only say, “I’ll ask him tomorrow. It’s not good to forcibly take something that someone else likes.”

Was he going to ask “him” or “her”? I couldn’t inquire further.

“Alright.” That is my answer.

“Have you been waiting for me without eating anything?” Christopher began to clean the table. His distinct fingers landed gracefully on the porcelain tableware.

I nodded. “Yes, it’s our anniversary.” I wanted to help Christopher, but he held me back and said in a gentle voice, “Just sit and wait. I’ll cook pasta for you.”

“Okay.” Seeing Christopher’s behavior, doubts in my heart faded a bit. ‘Can a cheating man be so calm and considerate? It’s strange.’

Christopher was born with a silver spoon, but he was good at cooking. He cooked quickly and deliciously. However, he rarely cooked on ordinary days.

In about ten minutes, a delicious tomato pasta was served.

“Yummy!” I took a bite and praised generously, “Where did you learn to cook? It is even better than the food in restaurants.”

Christopher breathed as if he were trapped in a memory. After about half a minute, he said in a low voice, “I wasn’t used to the food abroad during my two years of studying, so I learned to cook.”

I just asked casually, and I didn’t think much about it.

I went upstairs to take a shower, and it was already past three in the morning when I lay in bed. Christopher’s hot body pressed against mine. His chin rested in the hollow of my neck, gently rubbing.

“Do you want it?” Christopher’s deep voice seemed to have been polished by sandpaper.

His warm breath sprayed on my skin, making me shiver.

Before I could answer, he leaned over, and his hand slipped under the hem of my silk nightgown.

He had always been so dominant in bed that I couldn’t resist.

But this time, I had to refuse, “Honey, not today.” My voice was as soft as my body.

“What’s wrong?” Christopher kissed my neck gently, and his hand went down, saying something that made me blush, ” Your body can’t wait any longer. Are you really not in the mood for me?”

“I, I have a stomachache today,” I said.

Hearing this, Christopher finally stopped and kissed my earlobe gently, pulling me into his arms. “I forgot; your period is coming soon. Rest well”, he said.

Just as I relaxed, I tensed up again. I turned to Chris and stared at him intently. “My period was at the beginning of the month. It has passed long ago.”

“Is that so?” Christopher performed calmly and asked absentmindedly, “I must have remembered wrong. Is it serious? Should I ask Donna to accompany you to the hospital tomorrow?”

“I already went to the hospital in the morning.”

“What did the doctor say?”

“The doctor said…” I lowered my eyelashes, hesitating briefly.

The doctor said I was five weeks pregnant. I had stomach pain due to a threatened miscarriage and needed to take progesterone to support the pregnancy. After two weeks, I had to go back for a follow-up to check the baby’s heartbeat

I found out I was pregnant on our wedding anniversary, which was undoubtedly the best gift. I put the pregnancy test report in a small glass jar and hid it in the middle of the cake that I made by myself. I wanted to surprise Christopher during the candlelit dinner. But now, that cake was still in the fridge, pristine and untouched.

“The doctor said I’m fine. Probably because I’ve been drinking too many cold drinks recently.” I chose to conceal it temporarily. If the necklace could come back tomorrow, everyone would naturally be happy. If not, our marriage would be harder to sustain because of the presence of a third person. Even if I tell Christopher about the child, it will lose its original meaning.

I couldn’t fall asleep that night. I was afraid no woman can calmly accept the fact that her husband might be cheating.

Unexpectedly, the matter that weighed on my mind soon had a follow-up. The next day, while Christopher was still getting ready, someone knocked on the door. I had just changed my clothes and opened the door to see Donna pointing downstairs. “Mrs. Valence, Ms. Evelyn is here. She said she’s returning something.”

Evelyn Valence was Christopher’s stepmother’s daughter. Their parents were different. Evelyn was two years older than him. She was also a member of the Valence family. Donna was the maid arranged by the Valence family to take care of us, and she habitually called Evelyn “Ms. Evelyn.”

I was a little puzzled. I had only met Evelyn when I returned to the Valence Manor for family banquets. Normally, we had little contact, let alone borrowing things. “Is she coming to return something?”

“Yes, it’s in a delicate jewelry box. It should be something like jewelry,” Donna replied.