Chapter 2

Brenda ended the call, tears welling up in her eyes. She took my hand and said, "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have forced you to stay with him. It's because of me that you've suffered so much." Brenda was the one who had arranged my marriage to Shawn. After I had graduated from college, she had told Shawn that she would only accept me as her daughter-in-law. He had resisted and fought against that, but he couldn't change her mind. In the end, he had reluctantly agreed to marry me. During the first years of our marriage, I had believed that I had found myself a family I could call my own. I had been filled with hope for the future. I had devoted myself to being a good wife, taking care of Shawn in every way possible and always putting him first. When my colleagues had invited me out for gatherings, I had declined, worried that he wouldn't eat properly if he had been home alone. Over time, they had stopped asking me out. I had poured my heart out for him, cutting myself off from the outside world. I had thought that my sincerity would one day be reciprocated. But I had been wrong. Not long after our wedding, Shawn had started staying out all night. I thought he had just been busy, so I had often cooked nutritious meals and taken them to his office myself, reminding him to take care of himself. Then one night, when I had attended a banquet with him, an elegantly dressed woman had come up to me with an arrogant smirk. "Mrs. Hallow, I heard that you were an orphan. No wonder you're such a good cook. You must've worked at a restaurant before just to make ends meet, right?" That had been when I found that all those carefully prepared meals I had made for him had ended up being eaten by another woman. That night, for the first time, I had argued with him—or rather, I had vented my anger out. He had remained indifferent throughout, looking composed and detached, watching me like I were a madwoman. When I had finished, he had said calmly and slowly, "Yvonne Sawyer, one-sided devotion is creepy. Don't you think so?" That simple statement had completely shattered me. He had never cared for anything I had done for him. He had simply watched like an uninterested spectator before giving his indifferent judgment—that it was all one-sided devotion on my part. How ridiculous. I hadn't known how I could live with him or how we could move on from there. So I had chosen to avoid it altogether. I had distanced myself from him and stopped putting so much care into his life. After that, his scandals had begun cropping up all over the place. He had watched fashion shows with young models, had dinner with flight attendants, and had even been seen entering hotels with his business partners. Every new headline had chipped at my sanity. I had long wanted a divorce. But Brenda had told me, "This is all just for show, Yvonne. Don't take it seriously. He actually likes you. He just doesn't know how to show it. Please, for my sake, give him another chance. Alright?" Brenda had been financially supporting me since I had been five. Thanks to her, I had never really suffered at the orphanage. Keeping in mind her past kindness, I had endured. Shawn's affairs had broken my heart, but over time, I had slowly become numb to them. Then last year, Brenda had discovered that I couldn't sleep without relying on sleeping pills. She had finally relented. "Once you give Shawn a child, you can divorce him." To secure my freedom, I had forced myself to pull it together. I had taken medication and supplements to nourish my body back to optimal health. However, Shawn had refused to touch me. He would rather sleep at his office overnight than come home. So, I had resorted to other means—I had gotten my hands on his sperm and gone through IVF. It had been successful. I had gotten pregnant, and now, I had given birth to the baby. I was finally about to be free. Not long after receiving Brenda's call, Shawn arrived at the hospital with a cold expression.