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Vivian’s POV

“Your mother’s condition is worse. We need to transfer her to a higher care room.”

That message consumed my thoughts throughout the night. Despite the hospital's reassurance that my mother was stable, worry gnawed at me, especially considering the high cost of advanced care. 

As Nate’s wife, I could easily cover it now, but what if that changed? My hand instinctively went to my belly.

Nate and I had been avoiding each other since our last encounter. It didn’t bother me much; we were never cheerful buddies before, and even though we worked at the same place, I could easily evade him as I was his secretary.

I placed my hands on my head. The office was unusually noisy today, or maybe I was just easily irritated, secretly pregnant and reeling from a text that threatened my fragile sense of security. 

My eyes glanced at the stack of colour coded folders that contained my data preparation for tomorrow’s presentation with the board, I just needed to make a few adjustments and I was good to go.

"Sleeping on the job?" A voice I instantly recognized made me snap my head up. 

Her eyes held disgust, and her hands clutched a luxury bag that matched her red nail polish. That’s Eve. 

Normally, her sexy appearance would fill me with jealousy and uncertainty, but today, I was deeply irritated.

This was Nate’s place of work. What was she even doing here? I looked around, and the office gossip was already whispering to each other.

"Buzz me in. Nate is expecting me," she said dryly, glaring at me.

"Are you deaf?" she snapped when I didn't respond immediately. I sighed with annoyance. 

As Nate’s secretary, I knew when he had appointments and when one of his lovers was faking an appointment to gain access to him.

"I'm sorry to inform you that Mr. Stuart's appointments were cancelled due to an impromptu meeting. You’ll need to schedule a real appointment, ma'am," I coldly said while trying to maintain composure as professionally as I could, hearing snickers of laughter from the office.

"Don't be stupid. What do you take me for, huh?" she hissed, and my own anger boiled with every minute she stood there. Normally, I was great at controlling my emotions, but I was pregnant.

Suddenly, she corked her head to the left as she squinted at me, her eyes finally taking me in and something about the way her eyes finally widened in shock made me feel that something had changed.

“Wait. Don't I know you?” she asked, her voice carrying an air of mockery and I swallowed while my body froze and she suddenly gave a sharp unwelcoming laugh.

“Vivi the delulu dropout?” she loudly asked and I wanted to shrink into my shell. 

It has been so long since anybody from highschool called me that name, Nate didn’t even use that in our petty quarrels. The office deteriorated into harsh whispers and the seat I occupied burned through me.

I shook my head, refusing to allow her words get to me and looked at her square in the face, my confidence and previous irritation disappearing.

"Mr. Stuart is in a business meeting, and I cannot let you see him," I said, my voice faltering as I finished. Eve scoffed, placing her hand on her stomach before leaning in dramatically.

“We can do this, the easy way or the hard way. It's not as if you are valuable to him or the company. Don’t act all righteous okay? I already told you he was expecting me. Just stop pretending that you enjoy what you’re doing.” she sneered.

I frowned, the urge to grab a handful of her hair growing stronger with each word. The irritation was nearly unbearable, but instead of lashing out, I gave her the silent treatment. I could see the effect immediately—she leaned back, her eyes narrowing to slits, clearly hating my lack of response.

"You’ll regret this after Nate hears of your little stunt," she threatened and left.

My co-workers whispered, but their words were drowned out by my own thoughts and I tried to stop myself from falling victim to tears triggered by a gold digger’s words.

I was finally done with work and started gathering my things when I noticed Eve in the distance, her hands on her luxury bag as she appeared to be waiting for someone. I already knew who it was and I badly wanted to roll my eyes at her attitude.

“Vivian?” The sound of Nate’s voice made me whip my head around in shock. He stood by his office door, his suit tailored perfectly to his broad shoulders and muscular arms. 

For a moment, I felt my heart racing faster and cursed the pregnancy hormones.

“A word?” he asked politely.

I looked at Eve who looked out of it and I glanced back at Nate who gave a nod into his office and then walked away, holding the door out for me. 

Ignoring Eve, I hurried towards his office. 

“Tomorrow is the presentation,” he reminded, his lean frame relaxed as he placed his glasses on the bridge of his nose and rolled up his sleeves, exposing his veiny arms.

“Yes, I know,” I replied, trying to stay focused. “I have the data you gave me yesterday. It’s all in my bag.”

“Good,I know you’ll do great,” he said, his voice softer now, “I trust you.”

What’s that? His words seemed to carry an…unspoken apology? 

I nodded curtly, trying to ignore the awkwardness from our recent quarrel that still hung between us.

“Thank you. If there’s nothing else, I’ll go.”

Nate’s expression shifted, a hint of irritation flashing across his face, but he quickly masked it. He opened his mouth as if to say something more, then closed it, clearly holding back. 

“Alright then,” he said finally, his eyes returning to the desk—a signal that our conversation was over.

Outside, Eve was already at the door, her lips curved into a smile that I could only term as evil.

“You’ll see me tomorrow, good luck.” she whispered as she walked past me, shutting the door with a bang. The sound felt ominous, but not as much as Nate’s words lingered in my mind.

I trust you… The irony of the three words when I saw him with Eve a few days ago and we had our confrontation the same day… Did he even know what the word really meant? Or was I overthinking things? 

I sighed, heading home, my mind preoccupied with the upcoming presentation. It wasn’t until I arrived home that I noticed my bag had been slightly open, a detail that slipped my mind in the day’s chaos.