Chapter 8

Daniel had always looked down on Sarah, that angelic-faced bitch, ever since three years ago. Just the thought of William wanting to divorce his wife for that woman made him furious.

"You scumbag, you don't deserve my wine. Ava is such a sweet girl; anyone can see she's easy to push around. How did she end up with a piece of shit like you?"

William sneered.

"Easy to push around? Do you know how much money she's asking for? Ten million dollars. She wants ten million dollars for the divorce, and she can't wait to get the papers done."

"Oh? That's actually too little,” Daniel muttered.

The two of them drank through most of their stash. By the end, their tongues were thick and their words slurred, but William kept mumbling, "Ten o'clock tomorrow morning. Whoever doesn't show up is a dog."

William disappeared for the entire night. Everyone at the Morgan Mansion assumed he hadn't come home, but only Ava knew he had stormed out in anger at midnight. He had most likely gone back to JadeDragon Bay Residences.

At breakfast the next morning, Howard was cursing again.

"That bastard! Just wait till he gets back—I’ll deal with him myself."

The atmosphere at the table was unbearably tense. No one dared to speak.

Emily kept sneaking curious glances at Ava, wondering how she had managed to get out of the situation yesterday.

Ava had important matters to handle today and wanted no trouble, so she ignored her.

After breakfast, she bid Howard goodbye and left the mansion alone, not even using the driver.

She first stopped at a roadside pharmacy and bought several pregnancy test strips, then found a public restroom.

Following the instructions carefully, she took the test. Less than five minutes later, two bright red lines appeared. She opened the other two tests and repeated the process—still two clear lines.

Ava sat on the toilet seat and broke down in tears. She had once looked forward so desperately to having a baby with William. Now that she was finally pregnant, they were getting a divorce. What was she supposed to do?

Every time William had been intimate with her, no matter how urgent the moment, he had always stopped to use protection. This baby had been incredibly difficult to conceive.

Yet his attitude had always made it crystal clear he didn't want to have children with her. Otherwise, why would he insist on protection every single time?

After crying for a long time, she heard someone coming outside, so she collected herself and came out.

Her ID was still in the suitcase that she'd left in Lucas's car yesterday. She needed to retrieve it.

Unsure whether Lucas was home, she called him first. After two rings, someone answered.

"Lucas, are you home?"

"Don't even ask. My dad had acute appendicitis and needed emergency surgery. I rushed back in the middle of the night to stay with him. I probably won’t be back in Emerald City for a few days. Did William do anything to you yesterday?"

"I'm fine.” Ava replied quietly. “I just need to get my suitcase. My ID is in it. William and I agreed to finalize the divorce today."

"Ah… then I'm afraid you'll have to wait a few days. Your suitcase is still in my car trunk, I forgot to take it out yesterday. But the door code hasn't changed. You can go stay at my place, anytime. The guest room on the second floor is always yours."

Ava was touched for a while. After hanging up, she walked aimlessly down the street. Passing by a bank, she checked her card and was surprised to find it active again. At least William had some conscience.

There were tens of thousands of dollars in the account—enough to sustain her for a while.

She planned to rent a small place first and restart the design skills she had set aside for the past three years.

The stolen ruby pendant design was a piece she'd drawn for a luxury jewelry company called Swan in Lumaria. Her contract required one design every six months.

Now that her work had been plagiarized, she needed to create a new design to fulfill her obligation.

Time passed quickly. By ten o’clock, Ava grew anxious. She had no idea how to shamelessly explain to William that her ID wasn't with her.

After thinking it over, she found a quiet corner and called him.

At the penthouse suite of ImperialLux Club, the phone rang several times with no answer.

William was jolted awake by punches and kicks. Before he could even open his eyes, he heard Daniel cursing furiously.

"You bastard, hugging me is one thing, but what's with all the groping on my chest?"

William sobered up instantly. When he saw who was lying beside him, he kicked out in disgust, nearly shoving Daniel off the bed.

He only remembered getting drunk last night. How had they ended up in the same bed?

Daniel was about to lose it, yelling that he was no longer clean.

"Scumbag, you're such a scumbag! You've got a wife at home, a mistress on the side, and now you won’t even spare your own buddy? Are two kidneys not enough for you? Did you just mistake me for Sarah?"

The thought of being groped all night while being mistaken for that woman made Daniel break out in goosebumps.

William frowned in annoyance.

"Stop talking nonsense. I never touched Sarah."

Daniel looked at him suspiciously. "You expect me to believe that?"

"Believe it or not, I don't need to explain myself to you. I have my moral boundaries. I won't touch her before the divorce is finalized. Besides, Sarah is such a pure girl; she wouldn't be that casual."

Seeing William’s serious expression, Daniel reluctantly believed him for now, though he still felt disgusted hearing him call Sarah “pure.”

“Haven’t you heard? Most women consider emotional cheating even harder to forgive than physical cheating.”"

A name suddenly popped into William's head. He sneered and said nothing more.

Who was the one emotionally cheating, even calling out someone else's name even in their dreams?

Just then, the phone rang again.

William glanced at his watch. It was already quarter past ten.

He wondered if Ava was getting impatient waiting for him. When he finally answered, he felt strangely nervous.

"Mr. Morgan, are you there yet?"

That "Mr. Morgan" almost killed him. She used to call him William in such a soft, gentle voice—especially sweet in the dark.

William maintained his composure on the surface and lied casually, "Not yet, almost there."

After a few seconds of silence on the other end, Ava spoke again.

"My ID is in Lucas's car. He won't be back in Emerald City for a few days, so I'm afraid we'll have to wait a few days to do the paperwork."

William raised an eyebrow,

"If you don't want to divorce, just say so. It's not embarrassing."

The call ended with a busy tone.

Daniel, who had been listening nearby, almost burst out laughing at how shameless William sounded.

After explaining the situation to him, Ava felt slightly relieved.

She didn't know if it was because of yesterday's cold, but her lower abdomen had begun to ache with a dull dragging pain, and her head was a bit dizzy.

She hailed a taxi on the street and headed straight to the hospital, registering for gynecology.

The gynecology and obstetrics departments shared the same floor. Most of the women coming for prenatal checkups were accompanied by their husbands. The men waited in the hall while their wives went in for examinations.

Watching couple after couple—husbands carefully supporting their pregnant wives—Ava felt a sharp pang of envy.

After completing a series of tests, Ava took the ultrasound report to see the doctor.

"The baby's implantation position is very low. In your condition, you need to rest in bed, avoid strenuous activity, and come for regular prenatal checkups."

Ava looked panicked. "Doctor, what are the risks of low implantation?"

The doctor reassured her,

"It increases the chance of miscarriage. Don’t worry too much—just follow my instructions. Avoid fatigue, avoid stress, and it should move up naturally later. Pay close attention during this period, and there won't be problems. Also, you have mild anemia, so focus on improving your diet for now.."

The doctor gave her many more instructions: no intercourse for the first few months, avoid emotional excitement, eat plenty of seasonal vegetables and fruits, etc.

She came out of the consultation room with a pile of test results and sat in the waiting area to organize the lab reports.

A kind-hearted woman sitting nearby noticed she was alone and offered to help.

"Did you come for the prenatal checkup alone? Where's your husband?"

Ava's heart clenched sharply,

"My husband is busy with work."

The woman looked at her with pity and sighed.

"Men should be put to use when needed. If he can’t even accompany you during pregnancy, what's the point of having him? He should come with you for prenatal checkups. Otherwise, he won't understand how hard it is for women when pregnant. When you're throwing up your guts, he doesn't see it. Then after the baby is born, he'll say, 'It's just having a baby—every woman does it. Why are you being so dramatic?'"

Suddenly, the woman patted Ava’s arm excitedly. "Hey, hey, look. That's the kind of man you should find, handsome and caring to his wife. Look how careful he is; you can tell he really dotes on his wife."

Ava looked up and followed where the woman was pointing. When she saw clearly who it was, her carefully managed emotions collapsed like a falling building, her heart twisting in pain.