I didnt love Julian when we got engaged eight years ago.
He didnt care. He just smiled.
Lets see where this goes.
For seven years of marriage, he was all in. Everyone knew it. He wouldve done anything for me.
I finally believed it too.
Then she showed upa shy girl holding onto Julians arm.
Im carrying his baby. Since you dont love him, let me.
When I looked at her, I was stunned. She looked just like me eight years ago.
Outside, the rain drizzled softly. My husband of seven years stood right there in front of me.
“Seraphina, Isabelle was just being foolish today.”
“She’s young, cut her some slack. This kind of thing won’t happen again.”
I looked up at Isabelle Shaw.
Long hair cascaded over her shoulders, her skin looked flawless, and her cheeks carried the unique blush of youth.
She was indeed young. Even without a trace of makeup, she looked far more vibrant than thirty-year-old me.
Now, she stood beside Julian, her face etched with hurt, as if she hadn’t been the one to confront me.
Julian looked at me, sighing softly.
“Seraphina, Isabelle is pregnant and her emotions are unstable. What happened today was just her losing her cool.”
“Don’t worry, she won’t affect your position as Mrs. Davies. Besides, there’s no real affection between us, so you don’t need to look at me like that.”
I heard my own voice, hoarse.
“No affection?”
I didn’t get an answer from Julian, but I saw a flicker of triumph in Isabelle’s eyes.
“I’m not like you. I love Julian.”
I shot Isabelle a cold glance.
Startled by my look, Isabelle cowered and leaned closer to Julian.
Julian instinctively raised a hand to shield her, turning an irritated gaze on me.
“Isabelle is still young, she just says whatever comes to mind.”
“Don’t scare her. She’s not as tough as you.”
I hadn’t said anything, hadn’t done anything.
Just one look from me, and he was already taking her side.
It felt like a giant fist had clamped around my heart, squeezing all the air from my lungs.
Through my blurring vision, the man’s face before me slowly merged with the face from eight years ago.
Eight years ago, the Davies and Thorne families were arranging a marriage alliance. Julian came to my house with his Grandpa Davies.
When we were finally alone, I looked at Julian.
“If you don’t agree to this marriage, I’m prepared to call off the engagement.”
Since childhood, I’d been raised to believe my existence was to pave the way for the Thorne family and my younger brother.
My future husband would only ever come from one of the city’s influential families.
If not the Davies family, then it would be the Smiths, the Browns, the Millers.
So, I didn’t care who my husband was. If he loved someone else, I was willing to step aside.
Julian looked at me intently, then, after a moment, he let out a soft laugh.
“Today’s visit was my suggestion to my father.”
“Seraphina Thorne, I’ve liked you for a long time. Let’s give it a try.”
In that moment, I think I heard my heart beat clearly for the first time.
In the year after our engagement, no matter how cold or distant I was.
Julian seemed to ignore it all, his eyes full only of me.
Gradually, I began to accept and grow accustomed to the idea that Julian was the man I would spend my life with.
But now, that man stood beside another woman, overtly protective, as if I were the enemy tearing them apart.
Seeing that I remained silent, Julian leaned down and whispered something into Isabelle’s ear.
Isabelle looked reluctant, but after giving Julian a deep look, she turned and left the room.
Only when Isabelle’s figure disappeared did Julian withdraw his gaze.
My throat tightened, and I fought back the stinging in my nose before speaking.
“Julian, I’m letting you go.”
“Let’s get a divorce.”
Julian stiffened, his eyes focusing on me.
“Seraphina, you know better than anyone why our marriage began.
“Since it’s a business alliance, why are you demanding so much? If we divorce, the stock prices of the Davies and Thorne families will inevitably be affected.”
“Seraphina, you know, this isn’t a smart business move.”
I tried desperately to find a hint of the familiar Julian in his voice.
But the man before me now felt terrifyingly strange.
On our wedding day, Julian held my hand, his palm sweaty with nerves, yet his voice was shockingly firm.
“You might think ours is a business arrangement.”
“But at your eighteenth birthday party, I fell in love with you at first sight.”
“Seraphina Thorne, what we have isn’t business. It’s because I love you.”
But now, the same face, the same voice, told me,
“This isn’t a smart business move.”
Julian stood up and walked towards the door.
“Isabelle is waiting for me. I’ll take her home first.”
“Seraphina, I still stand by what I said. Isabelle won’t affect your position as Mrs. Davies. You don’t need to be so defensive about her.”
From standing up to walking out the door, Julian didn’t spare me a single glance.
The heavy sound of the door closing was the signal for my tears to finally stream down.
I had never spoken the words “I love you.”
But the meals I cooked myself instead of the housekeeper, the light always left on late at night, my sleepless nights caring for him when he drank too much…
I thought Julian knew it all.
Perhaps Julian did understand, but he simply pretended not to know.
I sat numbly on the sofa. I didn’t move until Julian came home in the early hours of the morning.
Julian arrived home completely wasted, his secretary having escorted him inside.
Looking at Julian lying on the bed, I sighed deeply, but still got up and went to the bathroom to prepare a warm towel.
Julian lay on the bed, eyes closed. The warm towel had barely touched him when I heard him mumble softly.
“Stop, it hurts.”
I didn’t stop.
“Wipe yourself off before you sleep.”
Julian grabbed my hand.
“Good girl, Isabelle, my sweet Isabelle, let me sleep a little longer.”
I froze, stopping my actions, and turned to walk out of the bedroom.
After that day, Julian didn’t come home for several consecutive days.
Perhaps because I already knew about Isabelle’s existence, Julian no longer bothered to hide their relationship.
Soon, their affair spread throughout the entire city.
Everyone said that Mr. Davies had fallen for a young woman, even more deeply than he had loved me.
He put aside work to take her to amusement parks, he scoured for rare and precious trinkets for her, and even spent a fortune at auctions just for her.
Hearing those rumors, I simply smiled, but tears welled in my eyes.
It seemed Julian truly liked her.
She’d probably only have to ask for the moon, and he’d find a way to pluck it for her.
Julian once told me,
“Seraphina, I want to lay the world at your feet.”
And now, he treated her no less.
A week later, Julian came home.
He carelessly tossed his jacket onto the sofa, and a small receipt fluttered from his pocket, unnoticed by him.
It was a reservation slip from a bakery on the west side of town.
The name of that bakery was exceptionally familiar to me; it was my favorite place, and their cakes always required advance booking.
Though I had already decided on divorce, seeing that receipt, a flicker of warmth still bloomed in my chest.
No matter why he’d ordered a cake.
After all these years, he still remembered my favorite bakery.
I quietly tucked the receipt back into his pocket, pretending not to have noticed it.
The next day, at the city’s top business gala, I accompanied Julian.
We weren’t divorced yet.
Officially, I was still Mrs. Davies.
Whether for the Davies family or the Thorne family, I had no choice but to be there.
But I never expected to see Isabelle again at such an event.
Among the shrewd and calculating businessmen, she was like a lone splash of color, unconsciously drawing everyone’s gaze.
Including Julian’s, right beside me.
He probably didn’t even realize it himself, but the moment he walked in, his eyes landed on Isabelle.
Isabelle saw him too, and ignoring everyone else, she bounced over to him.
“I got your cake.”
“But I didn’t like it. That bakery’s cake isn’t sweet at all.”
My gaze snapped to Julian, disbelief warring with a sick dread, but he avoided my eyes.
That bakery’s cake held a special place in my heart.
When we were first engaged, I was always distant with Julian.
I’d always eaten little since childhood, especially breakfast, which I rarely touched.
To get me to eat even a few bites, Julian, then the sole heir of the Davies family, would drive two hours to that bakery on the west side of town every day before dawn, just to stand in line. He’d only heard my father mention once that I liked their cakes.
Isabelle noticed the tense atmosphere between us and spoke up with a smile.
“Seraphina,, don’t be upset. Julian only bought me the cake because I was feeling down a few days ago.”
“Julian always spoils me like a child, but I’m already twenty-three, and I graduated college last year.”
“Though compared to you, Seraphina, I suppose I really am just a child.”
Listening to Isabelle’s taunting words, I only felt ridiculous.
So, my favorite cake, the cake that once moved my heart.
Was disliked by Isabelle.
I looked directly at Isabelle.
“I am Mr. Davies’s wife. You should address me properly.”
“Mrs. Davies.”
Isabelle choked, and Julian flushed with awkwardness.
“Come on, let’s go greet everyone.”
Midway through the banquet, I had already exchanged pleasantries with most of the people I knew.
My chest felt too heavy, so I left the dining area midway, seeking some fresh air in a private seating area on the balcony.
But just as I reached the balcony, Isabelle called out to me.
“Wait!”
I turned to look at her.
“Is there something you need? I don’t think we’re close enough for a private chat.”
Isabelle chuckled softly.
“You don’t look very happy today. I wonder if it’s because of me.”
“But whatever the reason, please forgive me, and please don’t take it out on Julian. He’s already working so hard taking care of me and the baby right now.”
As Isabelle spoke, she brushed back her hair, and a bracelet on her wrist caught my eye.
It was a keepsake Julian’s late mother had left him, something he treasured immensely. Not even I was allowed to touch it.
But he had given that bracelet to Isabelle.
I withdrew my gaze.
“That’s a matter between my husband and me. It has nothing to do with you.”
“As long as we’re not divorced, the child in your belly will always be illegitimate. You don’t need to gloat in front of me.”
Isabelle, however, paid no mind to my words, stepping closer to me.
“Seraphina, you probably don’t know this, do you?”
“She hasn’t gotten pregnant in all these years; there have been quite a few rumors circulating in the city.”
“They say that she was involved with those kidnappers…”
I raised my hand and slapped Isabelle hard.
“Shut up!”
I put every ounce of my strength into that slap.
Isabelle was knocked to the ground by the impact, clutching her stomach and crying out in pain.
The guests in the hall began to stir. Julian rushed over to Isabelle and me.
He saw Isabelle on the ground but ignored her, pulling me into his arms and checking me over.
As if he was terrified I might be hurt.
The worry and urgency in his eyes were so real; if it weren’t for everything that had happened recently, I might have believed his concern was genuine.
Isabelle clutched her stomach.
“Julian, I…”
Julian, only concerned with me, pretended not to hear Isabelle’s voice.
Isabelle’s face went white instantly, and she stood up with difficulty, aided by a waiter, looking mortified.
I laughed coldly to myself.
It seemed Isabelle still hadn’t understood that no matter how much Julian doted on her.
In our circle, in public, she could never get the upper hand on me.
Even for the sake of Davies Corp.’s stock, Julian would always side with me.
Julian held my hand, breathing into my palm.
“What’s wrong? What happened? Why are you so angry?”
I didn’t answer, just stood there.
Seeing my silence, he turned to the waiter standing nearby, his voice dangerously low.
“Speak! What happened?”
“Who was foolish enough to upset my wife, Mrs. Davies?”
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