Catherine was dumbfounded. She genuinely didn’t remember texting Emily.
Seeing her blank face, Emily clicked her tongue and said:
"Stop babbling, let’s go shopping."
Without waiting for Catherine to respond, Emily dragged her out of the house, not caring that she hadn’t even brushed her teeth or changed clothes.
At first, Catherine thought shopping might lift her spirits, but had she known she would run into Gabriel and Juliet, she would have preferred to stay locked inside, never showing her face outside again.
But in this world, when has “if” ever mattered?
Not wanting to face the two of them, Catherine quickly tugged Emily in the opposite direction. But her friend resisted, saying:
"Where are you going? There are some really nice dresses over here."
Catherine hastily replied, "There are new designs over there, let's go check them out."
Emily clicked her tongue, clearly reluctant, "New designs or not, we should be buying clothes that suit us."
While talking, Emily absentmindedly glanced around the store, and then, suddenly, her eyes widened.
"Isn't that Gabriel, your husband? Who’s that girl next to him?"
Emily nudged Catherine, calling her name, but there was no response. When she looked over, she saw that Catherine was staring at the couple with teary eyes.
Gabriel was holding Juliet tightly in his arms, patiently helping her choose beautiful clothes, every gesture as tender and gentle as possible.
He used to look at her with that same deep affection, but that was a long time ago. Back then, he had said that in this lifetime, he would only be gentle to her. Yet now, everything had changed, and all the tenderness that once belonged to her was now directed toward her foster sister.
While Catherine was lost in her own sorrow, Emily beside her fiercely dragged her toward Gabriel and Juliet.
As they walked, she gritted her teeth and said, "I used to praise him as the perfect husband, but in the end, he's just a scoundrel. Come on, let's confront him."
"Wait... wait, Emily, I don't want to, I don't want to see him," Catherine tried to resist, but Emily was too strong, quickly pulling her to the nearby store.
Emily stormed up to Gabriel and shouted, "How dare you openly hold another woman when you already have a wife!"
Gabriel, who had been smiling, suddenly turned sour when he heard the insult.
At that moment, Catherine rushed over and said hastily, "My friend doesn't know about us yet. Please don't take it personally; I'll take her away immediately."
Upon seeing Catherine, the anger in Gabriel's eyes gradually faded, but Emily, unaware of the danger she was in, fearlessly continued:
"Are you even human? How can you still hold that wicked woman in front of Catherine?"
Catherine tugged at her friend's hand, signaling her to stop talking, but she ignored it and kept yelling, "Catherine, divorce him! Don't be afraid, I'll help you hire the best lawyer to sue him for adultery."
As she finished, Emily even raised her phone to take pictures for evidence, all the while cursing, "A scumbag matches perfectly with a shameless witch. You're so young yet you're stealing someone's husband. Someone like you deserves to be struck by lightning or hit by a car with no place to be buried..."
"We're already divorced."
Emily, who was in the middle of her tirade, was suddenly silenced by Gabriel's words.
He glanced at Catherine, who was still tugging at Emily's sleeve, and asked, "You haven't told your friends and family that we're divorced yet?"
Then he moved closer, raising one hand to grip her chin tightly and whispered, "Or do you think you can still win me back, which is why you haven't said anything?"
This action cornered Catherine, making her feel incredibly trapped. She finally turned her head away from his piercing gaze without saying a word.
However, Gabriel didn't let her off, continuing to sneer, "Cartherine, even delusions have limits, don't they?"
Catherine pushed him away, trying to remain strong as she said, "You're the one who's delusional."
Gabriel didn't like what he heard, but outwardly, he smirked and said, "It’s best if you stop bothering me."
Catherine stood there, suppressing the excruciating pain tearing through her heart, and finally grabbed Emily to pull her away.
"Wait."
Juliet, who had been clinging tightly to Gabriel, suddenly spoke up, calling the two back. With teary eyes and a trembling voice, she said to her:
"Your friend just insulted me like that. Aren’t you going to apologize?"
Then she nestled into Gabriel's chest, her tears flowing like a river, looking utterly pitiful.
"Brother Gabriel, just now Catherine's friend called me a flirt and cursed me to have an accident. I'm so scared... Could it be that Catherine misunderstood me, which is why her friend treated me like this?"
Gabriel held the girl tightly in his arms, then looked at Catherine with anger in his eyes. He shouted:
"Apologize to Juliet right now!"
Catherine had no intention of being involved with the Sterling family anymore, but she never expected him to disregard their past like this.
She sneered, "Apologize for what? Was my friend wrong? Less than a month after our divorce, you're already all cozy with my adopted sister. If that’s not shameless, then what is?"
Slap!
Gabriel raised his hand and slapped Catherine across the face. She widened her eyes in shock, unable to believe it. He hit her?
The burning sensation on her cheek reminded Catherine that the man who once swore to love her for a lifetime had now struck her for another woman.
"You despicable pair of scum!"
Slap!
Gabriel slapped her again.
"Sooner or later, you two will face karma!"
Slap!
Three powerful slaps from a man caused Catherine's face to swell and bleed. Gabriel grabbed her by the shoulder, gritting his teeth as he said, "Apologize to Juliet."
Ha, look at him standing up for his new love, willing to hurt his ex-wife. What a awful joke.
Seeing Catherine still stubbornly refusing to apologize, Gabriel raised his hand again to strike her. Emily quickly rushed forward, hugging Catherine tightly, shielding her with her body.Looking at her friend’s now swollen face, Emily’s eyes welled up, and she turned back to Gabriel and said:"This is my fault. I spoke without knowing the full story and insulted someone. I apologize to both of you. Please don't hit Catherine anymore."Emily bowed to Gabriel and Juliet, while Juliet looked at Catherine with a triumphant gleam in her eyes.See, your friend has humiliated herself for you now.Even so, Juliet wasn't ready to let Catherine off the hook. She sobbed, "Brother Gabriel, let's just stop here. Years ago, Catherine saved me, so I can endure her scolding."Upon hearing that, Gabriel angrily stepped forward, grabbed Catherine by the hair, and dragged her toward Juliet, forcefully pushing her head down."Juliet owes you nothing. If you don’t know where you’ve gone wrong, I’ll help
The doctor frowned. Normally, if someone dared to question his expertise, he would be furious. But looking at this pitiful young woman, he couldn’t muster any anger and instead said gently:"Alright, here's what we’ll do. Go to the obstetrics department and have another examination, then bring the results back to me."Catherine nodded, still in a daze, and got up to leave the room. As soon as Emily saw her, she immediately supported her, saying:"Are you done with the check-up? Let’s go home."Unexpectedly, Catherine shook her head and said, "Can... can you take me to the obstetrics department for a test?"Emily was stunned, but under Catherine's urging, she complied.While waiting for the results, Catherine's entire body trembled, cold sweat covering her pale forehead."Patient Cartherine, please come for your test results." A nurse called loudly from the hallway.Both Catherine and Emily stood up quickly to receive them. As soon as Emily read the contents, she exclaimed, "Pregnant?
Catherine laughed bitterly, pointing to her own face and said:"What? You want to hit me again? Look, this is your masterpiece."Seeing the bruised, swollen redness on Catherine’s cheek, Gabriel's body stiffened. He had hit her in a moment of anger yesterday, but he hadn't expected the damage to be this severe."Does it hurt?"As he asked, Gabriel reached out to touch her cheek, but she quickly avoided his hand. His face darkened, his eyebrows furrowed, and he sneered:"If you'd listened to me, I wouldn't have had to hit you."Obedient?Obedient, to him, meant enduring insults from her in-laws, tolerating her foster sister stealing her husband, and leaving empty-handed with nothing. Was that what he expected?Ridiculous! How could he be so authoritarian?No wonder he liked someone like Juliet, a woman who was inherently selfish and vengeful but outwardly seemed docile and understanding. From her mother-in-law to the household staff, everyone in the Sterling family adored her sweet and
Catherine smirked, shaking off her hand, and mockingly said, "Oh really? Then I wish you both a hundred years of happiness, may you grow old together."With that, and under Juliet’s stunned gaze, Catherine coolly turned and got into the car. Gabriel rushed over to block her, shouting, "Didn’t you hear me? You’re not allowed to get involved with that guy!"Emily, seeing that her friend wouldn’t be able to rest if they stayed here any longer, spoke up:"Mr. Sterling, actually, that’s my boyfriend. Catherine wasn’t feeling well, so I had her sit in the front seat."Gabriel froze for a moment upon hearing this, feeling a brief moment of joy, quickly replaced by anger."Cartherine, are you daring to mock me?"But Catherine didn’t care. At this point, her entire body was glued to the seat, utterly drained of energy to deal with the shameless couple.Emily and the young man, seeing that the situation had calmed down, quickly drove off. However, no sooner had they lost sight of Gabriel and Ju
Gabriel took a deep breath. Fine, she was the woman he loved, after all. He’d give her some leeway."Catherine, listen to me. I'm the eldest son of the Sterling family. My responsibility is to have an heir. The doctor says Juliet is very healthy. Once she gives me a son, I'll bring you back to be my wife again. How about that?"His tone softened. He had never been this gentle with any woman before. As he caressed her bruised cheek, still swollen from the slap he had given her, his heart ached. He had acted out of anger that day, but he would make it up to her in the future.Gabriel fully expected Catherine to cry tears of joy after hearing his words, but instead, she coldly looked at him and said, "Sorry, I have no intention of being a stepmother, nor do I want to raise someone else's child. Gabriel, what did you expect from me by dragging me to your engagement? To see me cry in pain? Don’t fool yourself. I don’t have any feelings left for you.""What did you say? You have no feelings
Juliet hated the dirty kitchen, and if it weren’t for trying to please Gabriel, she wouldn’t have set foot in there. She recalled how Catherine used to be the perfect wife, always cooking delicious meals for him, yet in the end, she was still abandoned.It goes to show that winning a man's heart wasn’t about satisfying his stomach but rather appealing to his vanity.Juliet looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with admiration, the kind of adoration a girl feels for her man."Brother Gabriel, I really want to be your wife."This move hit directly at Gabriel’s patriarchal nature, and sure enough, his expression softened further, and his eyes showed a hint of tenderness."For now, let’s get engaged first. Once you're pregnant, we’ll get married right away. In the meantime, take good care of your health, and after you give me a chubby son, I promise you’ll live a life of luxury and no one will compare."Hearing this, Juliet’s heart fluttered with joy. She didn’t mind if Gabriel saw her as
When Catherine found out that Gabriel had given her designs to Juliet, she confronted him.His response was to tell her to be generous, not to be petty or selfish, as it didn’t suit the role of the eldest daughter-in-law.Hearing what Gabriel said, what could Catherine do but swallow her frustration?After establishing her brand, Juliet no longer used Catherine’s designs, instead building her fame by following Catherine’s style. Meanwhile, Gabriel forced Catherine to quit her job and stay at home as a housewife.Looking back now, it was all part of a premeditated plan. Gabriel probably feared that if Catherine continued designing, someone might eventually notice the similarities between her style and Juliet’s, exposing the latter as a fraud with mediocre talent.Catherine closed her eyes tightly. In the end, had she always been the most foolish one?Sensing her sinking mood, Emily refrained from saying anything provocative, instead hugging her gently and comforting her in a soft voice
After resting for about two weeks, Catherine finally no longer felt unwell. Seeing her savings dwindling in her bank account, she decided it was time to find a job.Being pregnant now made it difficult to apply to any company. No one would willingly invite trouble by hiring a pregnant woman. So, she could only do online work, such as designing pet clothes or other miscellaneous tasks, to earn some money.During this time, Gabriel didn’t come around to bother her. She guessed he was probably busy preparing for his engagement to Juliet, leaving him no time to pay attention to his ex-wife. That was fine by her, as it spared her from unnecessary anger that might affect the baby.However, her peaceful days didn’t last long. A month passed, and on the day of Gabriel and Juliet’s engagement, a group of his tall, muscular bodyguards barged into Catherine’s home, delivering a message that he wanted her to attend their happy occasion.Catherine looked at the scene unfolding before her, feeling