Chapter 6 Chapter 6

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. Her act of turning away was not merely a departure but a severance after three years of living in the farce of a marriage, a place where she once believed herself to be the heroine, only to realize in the end that she was nothing more than a pitiful supporting role.

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. That moment laid bare a harsh truth, that he still cared about Catherine. Yet, perhaps it was not love, but possession, a selfish emotion that refused to let her belong to anyone else, even when he was the one who had betrayed her.

"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. All the strength she had left was now devoted to protecting the small life growing inside her, a fragile little being that Gabriel neither knew about nor deserved to know.

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 Juliet than they had to pull over because Catherine couldn’t hold it in and began vomiting.

Emily tended to Catherine until they reached her residential area. The young man, feeling it was inappropriate to enter the house, left, casting a sympathetic glance at Catherine before he went. That gaze held a quiet understanding, as if he had somehow grasped the heartbreaking story hidden behind the young woman’s resilient façade.

After resting for a while, Catherine felt somewhat better and asked:

"Is the guy who drove us your boyfriend?"

Emily had never mentioned having a boyfriend, so this sudden appearance naturally piqued Catherine’s curiosity.

Emily shook her head and replied, "That’s my cousin, Michael. He just got back from abroad. I didn’t know who else to ask, so I called him."

Catherine nodded, not pressing further. Honestly, if Emily hadn’t called Michael, she might not have made it home. Running into Gabriel was just a stroke of bad luck handed down from generations past.

Catherine gently touched her small belly, a faint smile tugging at her lips.

Inside was her child. In nine months, it would come into the world, though she didn’t know yet whether it would be a boy or a girl. The feeling of a life growing inside her day by day was the only source of strength that carried her through the darkest days, a promise of a brighter future that she was determined to hold on to.

Catherine had graduated from a fashion design academy, topping the entrance exam, and had excelled upon graduation as well. A few years ago, many major corporations had offered her jobs, but she chose to marry Gabriel instead, putting her dreams on hold to fully dedicate herself to being the eldest daughter-in-law of the Sterling family. And now, this was the pain she got in return.

That sacrifice had now become a costly lesson: a woman should never give up her career and dreams for a man, because even love can betray, but talent and knowledge will always belong to her.

Now that she had escaped that misery, she should return to her old profession. She would sew a few beautiful outfits for her child and earn enough money to ensure her child wouldn’t be looked down upon by anyone. Her determination to rebuild her career was not merely a matter of survival, but a way to reaffirm her own worth, to prove to herself and to the world that she could stand on her own, and become a role model for her child in the years to come.

Ting tong...

The doorbell suddenly rang, cutting off Catherine's daydreams of a better future. Emily, who was cooking porridge in the kitchen, rushed out to open the door.

Standing outside was a man in his thirties, wearing glasses and a suit, looking very gentlemanly.

Emily frowned and asked, "Who are you?"

The man replied, "I am the assistant to Mr. Gabriel."

Upon hearing his name, Emily quickly tried to shut the door, but the assistant managed to wedge his foot in just in time, coming face to face with Catherine as she walked out.

Seeing the assistant, Catherine's expression turned to one of disgust as she asked, "What are you doing here?"

The assistant, unfazed by her reaction, smiled and said, "I’ve come to deliver Mr. Gabriel’s engagement invitation. The ceremony will take place at the beginning of next month. He hopes Ms. Catherine will attend."

Catherine clenched the invitation in her hand, barely able to contain her rising anger. The crimson invitation card was like a deep gash in her already wounded heart, a deliberate humiliation from the man she had once called her husband.

What were those two trying to do? Show off? Or humiliate her?

"The world has certainly changed. Betrayers and mistresses now deliver engagement invitations to the legitimate wife. Only thick-skinned people like them would dare. Go back and tell him I won’t be going."

With that, she threw the invitation on the floor and walked back into her room, leaving the flustered assistant standing in the living room.

"Miss Catherine, could you reconsider?"

The assistant called out, making Catherine stop in her tracks. As she turned her head, still disoriented, a large figure rushed at her, pinning her down onto the long sofa in the living room.

"What are you doing?" Emily hurried over to rescue her friend from Gabriel's grasp, but the assistant pulled her back, saying:

"The boss and Ms. Caldwell have private matters to discuss. Let's wait outside."

It wasn't a request but a direct order. Before Emily could react, she was dragged out by the assistant, and the door slammed shut.

Now, only Gabriel and Catherine remained in the room.

She struggled to free herself from his grip, anxious that he was pressing down on her stomach. She feared he might hurt the baby, but to him, it seemed like she was merely expressing her dissatisfaction with him.

"Why are you always so stubborn? Why can't you be as obedient as Juliet?"

If she were just a bit more compliant, he could have given her a life of luxury no less than what she had as the eldest daughter-in-law of the Sterling family. But instead, she was always defiant, always provoking his anger, which made her behavior, compared to Juliet’s constant efforts to please him, utterly exhausting for him.

Frustrated by his persistence, Catherine finally snapped and shouted, "Will you stop already? It's not enough that you cheated while we were still married, now you want me to witness your wedding to the other woman? You may not have any shame, but I do."

"Shut up! Who gave you the right to speak to me like that?"

Gabriel, the eldest son of the Sterling family, had always been treated with respect and flattery wherever he went. Never had anyone dared to speak to him the way she did, again and again. If he didn’t love her, he would have crushed her long ago.