Chapter 2

After my meeting with Lucille that day, it took me three whole days before I finally calmed down.

For three days, I couldn't help feeling disgusted whenever I saw Patrick showing concern and being attentive toward me. The inward repulsion affected my physical well-being, and I came down with a fever that lasted three days.

I usually recovered from ailments within a day, but Patrick played the role of a doting husband and waited on me hand and foot the entire time. It took everything I had to hold back the nauseousness that threatened to consume me whenever I saw him.

During that time, he answered five calls behind my back and left the house once with an excuse about having issues with a client's contract. I had never been concerned about such things in the past, but now I paid attention to them. As expected, they were all somehow related to Lucille.

There were multiple times when I had the urge to ask him why he had betrayed me. But I swallowed the words each time. Arguing was detrimental to one's well-being, and I would be wrecking my own health. What I needed to do was secretly harm them without leaving a trace.

Patrick only went back to work after my fever broke three days later. He worked in a local state-owned enterprise, and because he was favored by my father—who happened to be his supervisor—he had climbed through the ranks and become a department manager at the age of 32.

Oh, what an accomplished young man he was!

He had just been a youth from out of town who had married the daughter of a high-ranking local official. From then on, his career had been smooth sailing.

Was he really so confident he thought he was more capable than others?

Had it not been for me and my family's background, he would never have been able to find a foothold in his career, much less mess around behind my back!

My parents hadn't liked him much back then. Thinking about how I had insisted on marrying him, I was sorely tempted to give myself a slap.

I vowed not to let my parents find out Patrick had cheated on me. It was enough that I was repulsed by his actions; there was no need to get my parents involved in this and have it affect them too.

But I couldn't be sure if I would be able to execute my plans perfectly if I acted on my own. After some careful consideration, I decided to get some help from my best friend, Shania Rhodes.

Shania was outstation for work when I called her. I told her everything about what had happened.

When she returned, she didn't even bother going back to her own house before barging straight into mine with her luggage.

She was absolutely fuming and out for blood—she wanted to make Patrick and Lucille pay for their actions.

"What have you got in mind?" She looked at me, both infuriated and heartbroken.

"I'll abort the baby first," I answered, caressing my tummy, which hadn't even begun to show.

"You'll abort your baby and allow Lucille to keep hers? What are you even thinking? This is the greatest joke mankind has ever heard!" Shania was so angry that she gave me a light punch.

"Well, should I give birth to the cheater's baby and be bound to him for life, then?" I raised my brow and held her hand.

Perhaps Shania realized the logic behind my words; she fell silent for a brief moment.

"They say one should never encourage a married couple to go separate ways, but I simply can't bring myself to advise you to stay with him. I'm not saying that you should get a divorce, but I'll support you no matter what you decide to do."

With that, she pulled me into a hug. The moment she hugged me, all my grievances, resentment, and remorse welled up within me in an instant. I broke down and wept miserably.

It took quite some time before I managed to rein in my emotions and tell Shania all about how Lucille had reached out to me, the conversation we'd had, and my tentative plan for the future.

After she heard my plan, Shania's indignation was replaced by shock.

She gave me a thumbs-up and exclaimed, "I shouldn't have expected any less from you, Penny! You've got a sharp mind and an even stronger heart to boot! Just thinking about it is exhilarating! The shameless couple will get what they deserve!"

"I'll need your help to find me a house. It needs to be some distance away from here and Patrick's company, but not so far that we can't keep an eye on her."

"Sure thing! Don't you worry. I haven't got much to my name except properties. We'll just choose one and get Lucille settled in. She won't be able to pull anything funny under our noses."