Chapter 3
The three of us stood there for a moment, staring at each other. When I looked at Bradley, my chest tightened with pain. “Didn’t you say you had an important meeting today?”
He clearly hadn’t expected to see me here. His expression flickered with panic before he quickly explained, “Don’t misunderstand, Alice. Maisy was discharged today, but Zachary is out of town. She had no one to pick her up, so I went to get her.”
Maisy leaned against him, smirking slightly. “Yeah, if Zac weren’t busy, I wouldn’t have troubled Brad. Brad is just too kind. I called him, and he was at the hospital in less than 15 minutes.”
15 minutes? My chest tightened at those words. The drive from his office to the hospital took at least 40 minutes. Just how desperate was he to see the woman he truly loved?
Once inside, Dad and Keira fussed over Maisy, showering her with concern.
Me? Ever since Dad remarried, he had nothing but cold indifference for me.
“What are you doing here? And empty-handed, no less! Don’t you know Maisy just got discharged from the hospital? You should’ve at least brought some supplements!”
I didn’t respond. Ever since Mom passed, he was no longer my family.
Ignoring his reprimand, I went upstairs to retrieve my ID and was about to leave when Dad suddenly stopped me.
“Keira and I are going on a trip tomorrow. Maisy just got discharged, and Zac is still away, so she’ll be staying at your place.”
I let out a cold laugh and frowned. “Aren’t there maids here? Why does she have to stay with me? I’m eight months pregnant. How am I supposed to take care of her?”
Dad’s face darkened instantly. He couldn’t stand being defied, especially in front of others, and he certainly wouldn’t tolerate me mistreating Maisy.
“You ungrateful brat! It’s just for a few days, and you’re making such a fuss? She’s your sister! I don’t care if you refuse. This is not up for discussion!”
“Sister? My mom only gave birth to me. I don’t have a sister!”
Before our argument could escalate, Bradley quickly stepped in, trying to smooth things over. “Alice, don’t get mad. You’re pregnant. You shouldn’t be stressing yourself. It’s no big deal if Maisy stays over. I’ll just hire more maids to help out.”
He acted like he was comforting me, but the truth was he just wanted Maisy to stay with us.
I didn’t argue anymore. There was no point.
On the way home, I mentioned needing to run an errand. Maisy, however, claimed she was tired and wanted to go straight home.
Bradley hesitated for only a second before deciding to drop her off first.
His excuse was that she was a guest, after all. It wouldn’t be right to have her go home alone.
Fine by me. This way, he wouldn’t know that I was applying for my passport and leaving the country soon.
I walked into the office alone and submitted my documents. The staff told me the passport would be ready in two weeks.
I nodded. My eyes tinged red as I gazed at the sky outside.
Just two more weeks, and Bradley would never have the chance to see me again.
For the next few days, Bradley was completely preoccupied with Maisy. Ever since she moved in, his concern for her had been impossible to hide.
He started skipping work—something he never did before.
He claimed it was to spend more time with me before the baby came, but I knew better. He just wanted to be near Maisy.
Once, he planted an entire garden of roses for me. But when Maisy pricked her finger on a thorn, he had them ripped out overnight.
Later, he lied to me, saying the maid had accidentally burned them down. He even promised to plant something even more beautiful for me.
I watched as he loved Maisy while carefully hiding his feelings. But he was unaware that his eyes had already given him away.
One morning, as I was heading downstairs, I ran into Maisy coming out of her room.
When she saw me, she smirked and blocked my way. “Alice, you’ve known all along that Brad’s in love with me, haven’t you? It’s so obvious that even I could feel it.”
I didn’t want to talk to her and moved to step past her, but she grabbed my wrist.
“Don’t go, Alice. Is it because no one has ever truly loved you that you’ve become so cold and withdrawn? I haven’t even told you the best part yet.”
As she said that, she glanced at my stomach with a smile.
“You’ve had two miscarriages before, haven’t you? You thought it was because of your health. But actually, Brad gave you abortion pills. He never loved you, so of course, he didn’t want you to have his child.
“You must be wondering why this pregnancy has been fine, right? That’s because I can’t have kids. And I told him that I wanted a baby. So Brad plans to give this child you’re carrying to me. Isn’t that just hilarious, my dear sister?”
