The baby kicked violently, causing me to gag continuously.
The food in my stomach felt like molten lava, rising and falling in my throat. I couldn't vomit, nor could I swallow.
The whole night felt like something stuck in my throat.
As the sky gradually lightened,
Gregory finally returned downstairs, carrying the familiar scent of my favorite body wash. When he didn't find me in the master bedroom, his body stiffened in surprise.
Turning around, he saw me holding the toilet bowl in the bathroom, vomiting uncontrollably, tears streaming down my face. He immediately rushed to me, pulling me into his arms.
"Darling, why didn't you call me if you were feeling unwell? You've sweated so much, should I take you to the hospital?" The concern in Gregory's eyes seemed genuine.
Our gazes met.
I asked Gregory, "If I called you, would you have come back?"
Gregory hesitated for a brief moment but then nodded emphatically. "Of course. Darling, you're the most important person to me."
I couldn't tell if Gregory was being sincere or not.
After a quick wash, I crawled into bed alone.
For the next two weeks, I kept a close watch on Gregory.
Every morning, Gregory would give me a good morning kiss.
When he came home from work, he'd bring me fresh fruit and cake.
The night before Christmas Eve, it was my birthday.
Gregory spent a fortune renting three buildings and arranging a light show, all to celebrate my last birthday before becoming a mother.
My best friend, Clarissa Walker, and her second husband were dining nearby when they saw the grand spectacle and recorded a video for me. She smiled kindly in the video background.
"Kasey, Gregory is so old-fashioned. Every time it's your birthday, he uses the same exact tricks."
"Why not kick him to the curb and join me? I know some directors who could make you famous."
---
Earlier this year, after my best friend Clarissa Walker divorced her first husband, she quickly remarried a younger man. After she sold her wedding house, I asked her, "Aren't you going to miss it? " Clarissa had loved her first husband deeply, and as her best friend, I knew it well. She had broken ties with her family for him.
She had moved far away to a port city for him.
She had given up being a high-class lady and worked tirelessly for him. She had sacrificed so much, only to end up with a divorce certificate. I felt for her, but it didn't seem fair.
Clarissa paused, and when she spoke again, her eyes were red.
"I used to think that Dominic Farrington was the kind of man who couldn't form emotional attachments, so he would never sleep with someone he didn't care about."
"But then I realized he actually is."
"So, there's nothing I can do about it, even if I'm unwilling."
Clarissa's voice had been light when she said it, but I remembered it for a long time.
But Gregory's display of love for me made me just feel sorry for her, without suspecting Gregory. Now, the same question was playing out in front of me. I wasn't as resolute as Clarissa.
If Gregory had changed, I was willing to continue for the sake of our child.
But I hadn't even gotten to blow out the candles on my birthday cake when Jasmine sent Gregory a photo.
The photo showed a white knife blade pressed to a woman's delicate wrist.
She sent Gregory a voice message, choking on her words.
"Gregory, I left everything behind for you, even my family in the city."
"If you don't come to be with me tonight, I might as well die!"
When Gregory saw this message, he was cutting fruit for me.
The doctor had said I was iron-deficient and needed to be observed in the hospital.
Gregory had turned the hospital room into a home, with cakes, Spring Festival couplets, and my favorite bedding all set up. When he saw the message, my feigned calmness disappeared.
I reminded Gregory coldly, "Your secretary is going to kill herself, aren't you going to check on her?"
Gregory smiled lightly.
"She's probably drunk and sent it to the wrong person."
"Darling, today's a good day. Don't be jealous for no reason."
Gregory said it beautifully, but his fingers trembled as he held the fruit plate. The nurse notified me to go downstairs for a blood test.
Because my veins were too thin, the sharp needle kept stabbing into me like a stapler, repeatedly piercing my body. I bit my lip and endured the pain. Beside me, Gregory seemed to have remembered something and directly dialed Jasmine Montague's number.
"Which client insists on having the proposal today?"
"I know it's not a holiday abroad... Alright... I'll return to the office now." Gregory said, hanging up the phone and looking apologetically at me.
"Sorry, darling, you heard it, I have to leave for a bit..."
He was about to leave.
I paused for a second and asked, "Gregory, what if I asked you to stay?"
