Chapter 8

"Winifred, how about you choose something else?"

I didn't actually care about the jewelry, but I couldn't stand the thought of Caleb giving gifts to another woman using our joint assets.

Falling silent, I looked down at my lap.

Charles, unlike Caleb, immediately noticed my displeasure. However, he also wanted to maintain his relationship with Maura.

"Cheer up. I can get you something better," he negotiated with me.

I shook my head, remaining quiet.

Charles quickly shot Caleb a glance, signaling him to come and coax me.

Caleb clearly couldn't comprehend my feelings. He repeated, "Dad promised to get you something better, didn't he?"

I squeezed tears out from my tightly shut eyelids, and I looked up at Caleb with a hurt expression. "I have no objection to you giving gifts to Maura, but Caleb, you've never given me a gift."

Sometimes, tears could be more lethal than any weapon.

Charles immediately shot Caleb a glare. As a loving husband, he cared deeply for Viola and was good to Maura as well. After he married Maura, he spent a considerable amount on cars and houses for her family. How could he stand by and watch his son be so stingy with his wife?

"I'll make the call here. Maura, bring that necklace out. Let Caleb give it to Winifred."

Then, Charles began berating Caleb. "How can you neglect your own wife for your stepmother? Do I look dead to you?"

Maura, however, didn't budge. "Charles, I really like the necklace."

I knew she was subtly competing with me, trying to see who Charles would choose.

She continued, "Caleb may not have given Winifred any gifts, but she has plenty of jewelry. Why must she take this one from me?"

Seeing his usually obedient and gentle newlywed wife suddenly become so stubborn, Charles began to cough violently.

Caleb rushed over to pat Charles's back. "Dad, are you alright? Don't get too upset. It's my fault. I thought that since Winifred and I were like an old married couple, we didn't need to worry about things like this.

"Maura just joined our family and needs something nice for herself. I know what I did wrong."

Although Maura was unhappy with me, she could only follow Caleb in attending to Charles.

"Charles, calm down. I'll get the necklace right now. You mustn't get too worked up!"

I hurried to the next room to call for a doctor. After the commotion, fearing it would affect Charles' health, I didn't engage in any further conflict with Maura, and our family spent the day rather harmoniously.

The elderly rested relatively early. After dinner, we all returned to our respective rooms.

It was at this point that Caleb, who had worn a gentle facade all day, finally took off his mask and confronted me with a cold expression.

The sound of him unbuttoning his shirt was noticeably louder than usual. He was clearly angry.

"When did you find out?" he demanded.

"What do you mean?" I pretended not to understand.

"When did you find out about the gift I gave Maura? Winifred, she's just a regular woman from an ordinary family. She has nothing to her name. Why do you have to bully her?"

So, to him, my desire to reclaim the gift my husband had bought for another woman was considered bullying.

I scoffed, grabbed the gift box Maura had sent over from the table, and hurled it at him.

"Do you think I care about this dumb necklace? Caleb, ask yourself this. In these three years of marriage, have you treated me even half as well as you've treated Maura these past few months?"

Caleb was left speechless.

Men knew exactly how they treated others.

He set the gift box aside and sat down beside me. "I was negligent, but I've never been stingy with money toward you. I thought you would buy these things for yourself. If you need anything, I can buy it for you in the future."

I hadn't expected him to soften his tone and try to make amends.

While I wasn't an unreasonable person, I no longer needed his soothing words. "No, thanks, Caleb. Just consider that I've suffered for the past few years, and I'm throwing a small tantrum today. We don't have a future together."

He didn't take my words seriously. Removing his clothes, he replied, "Your ovulation period isn't over yet, is it? Even if it has, it's not impossible to conceive if we're a day or two late."

I knew what he was getting at and immediately took several steps back.

"Don't come any closer."

As he took off his clothes and watch, he stalked toward me.

"You promised Dad today that you would carry on the Goode family line, Winifred. I think we should work on mending our relationship."

I had backed myself into a corner with no way out.

My emotions were strange at this moment. Despite my determination to divorce Caleb, I still found myself tempted by his face and body. I was even a bit afraid that if he sweet-talked me, I wouldn't be able to resist him.

"I don't want to fix our relationship. Stay away from me."

"The Leverton family has a certain reputation in the business world. Don't you know how to keep your word?" As he asked me that, he suddenly grabbed me and flipped me onto the bed.

The weight of his body pressed down on me, followed by the heavy sound of his breathing in my ear. "Be obedient. Relax a bit."

His kiss was gentle, like a feather, carrying a hint of persuasion.

I gritted my teeth in an attempt to reject his intimacy, but his kisses wandered elsewhere.

He kissed me, sending shivers through my body, then lifted my ankle and kissed the bruise from yesterday.

"It looks much better now. Does it still hurt?"

Feeling a bit overwhelmed, I covered my face. "Don't pretend to care about me at a time like this," I snapped.

"What can I do to make you believe me?" He leaned down again, pulled my hands away, and looked me in the eyes.

Those eyes didn't seem to be lying. Could it be that he felt guilty and intended to treat me better?

My heart wavered, but my mind didn't believe him at all.

Caleb buried his head and leaned in for another kiss. Just then, his phone rang. He had placed it on the bedside while taking off his clothes.

I turned to the side and saw they were messages from Maura.

"Are you asleep?

"Your dad is sleeping soundly, but I can't sleep."

The next message was an image.

"Do you think this necklace matches my wedding dress? I thought about it. It doesn't have to be real for the wedding. A fake is fine, too."

I suspected that Maura had planted some signal receiver on Caleb. The moment he saw her message, he went from being passionate to scrambling off the bed.

"Forget it if you don't want to do it," he stated.

It was clear that he was going to see his old flame. And yet, he was pushing the blame onto me! I had already said I didn't want to do this, yet he had never let me off the hook at that time.

He put on his clothes and grabbed the box for the necklace as well. "Since you don't care for it, I'll take it to Maura."

I felt a pang of disappointment as he casually walked out.

Good riddance! He might as well not come back.

Once I regained my composure and went to sleep, I noticed that Caleb hadn't taken his phone with him.

There was so much evidence of their love on Maura's phone. What about Caleb's phone?