It was very easy to convince Eloise and Mary. As long as it might endanger the baby, they would not proceed with it despite their curiosity. After they chatted for a while, Eloise and Mary left happily. They told me to get some good rest and that I should be even more careful since I might be having twins. They were already so confident about it even though it was just a speculation. I was furious when they left. Zach looked too at ease as if it had nothing to do with him. I questioned him, “Are you happy now that you’ve made things worse?” “I only see you enjoying yourself, so I might as well double your ‘happiness.’”We were staring at each other. He had a playful look in his eyes. I knew that he did not like to be forced into a corner. He had expected me to fully cooperate with him on faking the pregnancy and undoing the lie. I refused to follow his plan, and it angered him. However, he might not be the biggest winner in the end. In the end, I took a shower and la
The auction had begun. To my surprise, Levine’s paintings were not the last to be auctioned. Was there something even more expensive than that? Levine was great at painting scenery and portraits. The painting that was being auctioned this time had both elements in it. I had been wanting to collect this painting for a long time, but it was not cheap. We were mandated to increase the price by a hundred thousand dollars every time we bid for it. Actually, an auction was just a psychological game. If you played the game right, you would be able to get what you wanted at a cheaper price. Hence, I would not raise my sign for the things I wanted at first. Levine’s painting was usually quite popular. A few buyers were trying to outbid one another. With the increasing price, some people dropped out of the bid. It was currently at three million dollars. Some people raised the price on purpose, one of them being a fat man sitting opposite me. He kept raising his sign, and I met his
Cecilia was slowly washing her hands next to me. “Congrats, Cassia. You got the painting you wanted at such a high price. That’s almost double its three-million-dollar market price,” she said emotionlessly. However, I could tell that she was a bit jealous. She was also delighted because she thought that I had suffered a loss. I shook my hands dry and happily said, “I had no choice. Mary dotes on me.” The water got onto her, and she took a few steps back. “Cassia, you’re so rude.” “No, I’m not.” I wiped my hands with a paper towel as I smiled. “You and Zach are divorced!” “Yes, but I’m pregnant.” I caressed my lower abdomen. She did not even look at my tummy when she sneered. “Don’t forget you’re just faking it. That will never happen!” “You might be wrong.” I walked past her and bumped into her shoulder. She was furious as she followed closely behind. “Cassia, I can tear your lie apart at any given moment. Do you know how immoral you are? You’re playing with their fee
The second half of the auction started, and the first item was an antique that I did not care about. I kept looking at the picture that I had taken of the painting by Levine. The more I looked at it, the more I liked it.Zach noticed and casually said, “You’ll be taking it home soon. Isn’t it better to see the real thing?”“I could look at something I like a thousand times and still want more.”When they began auctioning the crown, I finally looked up. The host spoke excitedly about the history of this rare treasure.His voice was annoying, so I covered one ear with my finger and muttered, “Whose is it? The wife of Henry II? Isn’t that the one who got executed? That thing is bad luck.”“The one who got executed was Louis XVI,” Zach corrected me.“Isn’t Louis XVI a type of brandy?”“That’s Louis XIII.” He looked at me like I was stupid.“Wait, which Henry is he talking about? Why is he suddenly talking about Charles IX? Isn’t that guy from a children’s sci-fi novel?” That book w
“It’s time to raise the paddle,” Zach reminded me.No. It was time to pull back.I suddenly frowned and held on to his wrist tightly. He looked at me in confusion. “What’s wrong?”“My stomach hurts.” I leaned against him and used this opportunity to press down the paddle in his hand.The host then announced, “Eighty-two million, going twice!”Mary noticed that something was off and turned to me. “Cassia? What’s wrong?”Amid the chaos, the host hit the gavel and declared, “Congratulations to the gentleman in seat 17 for winning this rare crown for eighty-two million!”I readjusted my posture and sighed. “I’m fine, Mary. My leg just cramped up all of a sudden. It’s better now.”Mary relaxed a little. “That’s good. Pregnant women often get leg cramps. I’ll ask the nutritionist to adjust your meals and add more calcium. That should help.”“Thanks, Mary.”Mary straightened up and realized that someone had bought the crown. Her expression changed. “What happened?”Zach glanced at
There was a big party after the auction, and my stomach was already growling. Since I was feeling great, I planned on eating a lot.However, the venue was a little stuffy, so I took some food to the terrace outside.It could have been due to my good mood, but I thought that the food tasted amazing. While I enjoyed my meal, I suddenly heard some muffled voices from the garden.It sounded like an upset woman was arguing with someone. “What’s wrong with you? Is this how you do your job? Don’t you have any sense? I never told you to bid on that!”Oh, it was Cecilia talking to the skinny guy. It looked like she did not want to accept responsibility for what had happened.This was too interesting to miss!I sneaked off the terrace with my plate and followed their voices. Then, I found Cecilia and the skinny guy deep in the garden.She was trying to keep her cool, but she appeared worried and frustrated. She also sounded desperate. “I don’t care. You need to figure this out!”“How am
Suddenly, his phone rang and startled him. He quickly answered it and warned Cecilia softly, “You’d better behave. I’ll be back soon.”He took her phone and walked away as he answered the call.Once he left, I approached Cecilia. When she saw me, her eyes lit up, and her whimpering got even louder.“Shh. Keep it down,” I whispered. “He’ll be back any minute.”“Mmph, mmph.”“What did you say?”“Mmph, mmph.” She was a mess, and she looked afraid.I could not help but laugh at her situation. She had brought this upon herself.“What did you say?” I was not going to take the cloth out of her mouth because I found it funny.“Mmph, mmph.”“Are you asking the beautiful and generous Cassia to save you? I’ll think about it.”“Mmph, mmph.” She looked at me as tears and sweat rolled down her cheeks.Okay, enough joking. It would be bad if that guy came back.So, I decided to untie her first. We could deal with the cloth in her mouth later.While I focused on untying Cecilia, she sudd
I must have been out of my mind to help Cecilia. Why did I care about her?I should have realized that she would be ungrateful.The man bent down to look for his rope, but I had cut it to free Cecilia earlier. He was frustrated as he held the two broken pieces of rope. I was worried that his anger toward Cecilia might make him snap.“Call Cecilia! Tell that b*tch to come back with the money! If she doesn’t, I’ll kill you!” he shouted.I pulled the cloth out of my mouth. He was so furious that he forgot to tie me up. It was useless to merely gag me.“She won’t come back,” I told him.The man was stunned, and sweat dripped from his forehead. I was telling the truth. No one knew Cecilia better than I did.“I’ll kill you if she doesn’t come back!” He was livid.“If you kill me, you’ll be doing exactly what she wants. Think about it. She asked you to raise your paddle so that my family would have to pay a fortune for the item. We’re enemies. If you kill me, you’ll be playing r
Sophie knocked on my door the next day around 7 a.m.I only managed to fall asleep at about 2 a.m., so I had a bad headache. I sat on the bed as she ran over excitedly and asked, “Are you busy this morning?” “Go away.” I lay down again. “Come to the city hall with me. I’m getting married!”“Why do you need me there? Am I going to breastfeed you?”“You don’t have milk right now.” I was disgusted by our conversation. Rachel sat up from the bed and asked, “Why are you going to the city hall?”“To get married.”“Shouldn’t you be going to a church for that? There’s supposed to be a priest with a bible that asks if you’re willing to marry this person next to you regardless of… something?”“That’s a religious wedding. Besides, it has to be lawful. What we’re doing today is the legal side of things.” Sophie carried Rachel up from the bed. “Do you want to be a witness to our marriage?” “Yay, sure!” Rachel immediately beamed and agreed. “I want to be the priest who holds the bibl
Cecilia had no shame at all. I would be speechless if this worked on Zach. After a while, she walked out dejectedly with her flowers. It seemed like she did not even manage to enter his office. She stood there in annoyance for a while before she suddenly looked over in my direction. I could see her, but she might not be able to see me. I was on a high floor, and the sun was blinding. Right then, Hailey gave me a call. I knew that she wanted to rant about Cecilia. Sure enough, Hailey started to complain, “Ms. Freeman, Cecilia is really shameless. I’ve never seen such a shameless woman. When Mr. Gordon was cut off from Gordon Corporation, she abandoned him immediately. Now that she knows he’s going to be Gordon Corporation’s acting CEO, she instantly starts visiting him again. I really can’t stand her.” “Hasn’t she always been like this?” I was unfazed. “Fortunately, Mr. Gordon is not willing to see her.” Hailey sounded relieved. “Do you really think he won’t see her fo
I looked at Austin’s pale face, and I was at a loss for words. His argument was reasonable, and I had no way to refute it. I was upset, but I could not cry. I felt a heavy feeling in my chest, and I found it hard to breathe. He looked at me and suddenly smiled. “Look at your face. Have I ever said that I liked Sophie? I don’t like girls like her. I prefer girls like you who are smart, beautiful, and decisive. Why don’t you marry me after you give birth to your babies?”I did not want to joke around with him. It was not funny.After that, Lucy exited the bridal shop and got into the backseat of the car. I stood in front of the bridal shop and watched as his car disappeared into the corner. “Cassia,” Sophie called out to me. I turned around. “What?”“Whose side are you on? I realize you’ve been extra nice to Austin recently. Have you forgotten that he’s a jerk?”“Watch your mouth.”I got into my car unhappily. “I’ll make a move first.”“Aren’t we having dinner together to
I knew that he was looking at the photos of him and Sophie in her wedding gown. Perhaps this would be the only time in his entire life that he could stand next to Sophie while she was dressed in a wedding gown. I felt the waterworks coming. When I tried to look for tissue papers in my bag, Zach called me. He sounded a bit excited. “Cassia, there’s this person overseas who has the same blood type as Austin. He has ALS, which is a fatal motor neuron disease. His family has already signed an organ donation form for him, and his condition recently worsened. He may pass in a month’s time, so I got in contact with them. His family has agreed to donate his heart to Austin.” “Really?” It was good news, and I almost leaped in joy. I glanced at Austin excitedly. He was staring intently at his phone, so he did not notice me. “Does Austin have to leave immediately?”“It’s still early. We can leave when the donor’s condition worsens.” I estimated the time. Zach said that it would ta
Sophie could easily start a fight wherever she went. I immediately went over and saw that Austin’s forehead had turned red. It seemed to be getting swollen. I kicked Sophie in anger. “Is there something wrong with you? What are you doing?” “Why did you kick me? Didn’t you hear what he just said?”Austin bent down and picked up Sophie’s phone for her. “Luckily, your phone screen isn’t cracked. It’s fine if my skull is cracked; it can heal.” Sophie took her phone, and it immediately unlocked due to face ID. Her wallpaper was a photo of Kingston and her. She had just changed the wallpaper yesterday. It used to be a photo of me and her. Austin was the one who had taken that photo. Even though Austin was not directly in the photo, it felt like it was a photo of the three of us. He must have noticed it. He smiled and said, “I’ll make a move. Tell Lucy I’ll be waiting for her in the car.” Austin walked out of the bridal shop, and Sophie looked dispirited. “I was quite happy, bu
“You’re getting married too?”“I’ll be your best man or maid of honor. What? You’re too cheap to pay for the outfits?”“You, my best man?”“Look around you. Are there any single people left?”Sophie rolled her eyes. “Hah, I wasn’t planning on inviting you.”Kingston tried to shake Austin’s hand, but Austin ignored him. Sophie got mad and pulled Kingston away. “Don’t pay attention to him. He thinks he’s too good for anyone. He’s crazy.”“Sophie,” I warned.“What? He’s always acting crazy!” she yelled.I was not sure if Austin really wanted to be Sophie’s best man, or if it was just an excuse to come here.Anyway, Austin went to change too. I could not tell the difference between the best man’s and groom’s outfits. However, the difference between the bridesmaid and bride was clear.While Sophie was posing in front of the mirror in her wedding dress, Austin came out of the fitting room.Austin was very thin, and the suit hung loosely on him, but it still looked good.He had a
Sophie’s wedding preparations were progressing quickly. She limped to work in the mornings and dragged me along in the afternoons to buy wedding stuff.I felt like the wedding was just an excuse for her to go shopping.“This afternoon, Kingston and I are trying on our wedding outfits. You should come too.”“It’s your wedding. Why should I come?”“To help me choose! I look good in everything, so it’s hard to pick.”“If it’s that hard, just buy them all. Aren’t you rich?”“Why are you so grouchy?” She leaned closer and observed me. “Cassia, are your hormones off balance?”“I’m pregnant, so everything’s a mess right now.”After some thought, I called Austin and told him, “Sophie’s trying on wedding dresses this afternoon.”“Okay,” he replied in his usual lifeless tone.“Aren’t you going to say anything to her?”“Don’t eat too much. The wedding dress will be a pain to alter.”I was so angry that I hung up. He was so stubborn. I was sure that he would regret it and cry later.M
Austin was the weakest among us when we were kids. He could not climb trees, run, or do anything physically demanding. Instead, he would play board games and puzzles with us.Sophie always thought that he was smart, and she admired him.I never imagined that someone I grew up with might die so soon.“You should leave,” he said weakly. “She should be done by now.”“Austin.” I wanted to say something more, but he turned his back to me.He did not want to listen, so I had no choice but to leave.As I reached the door, I heard him say, “Actually, this is a good thing.”Was he saying that Sophie marrying Kingston was a good thing?What was good about it?I felt like grabbing Sophie over. I wanted to point at the dying man in bed and say, “This guy loves you more than you know. He helped you test Kingston’s character. He thinks about you all the time. He comes to see you every night using his half-sister as an excuse, but he’s dying. He doesn’t want you to be sad, so he plans to die
“I just went for a checkup.” Austin walked over to me. “Why are you sweating so much?”He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and gave it to me. Honestly, only Austin would still carry a handkerchief in his condition.I wiped my sweat. “I came with Sophie to get her cast off, and I thought I’d stop by to see you.”“Get her cast off? I thought that wasn’t until next month?”“She insisted on getting it off today. The doctor checked, and her bone is healing well, so it’s fine for her to take it off.”“When did she start caring so much about her looks?” Austin walked back to his room, and I followed him.He sat down and seemed a little out of breath. I had already asked the doctor about him. Austin could not engage in any physical activity; he could not even walk fast.I was about to pour him some water, but he waved me off. “Don’t bother. I’m not thirsty. How could I let you take care of me? I might be a patient, but you’re pregnant.”At least, he could still joke. If I were him