Chapter 2 Knox

"In the end, the brooch is still mine, isn't it?"

I pushed down the irritation and anger in my heart.

And reached out to take the brooch.

As long as I got the brooch back, it would fulfill one of my wishes.

I saw Ruby's face stiffen for a moment, but when I looked closer, it had already disappeared.

Then I saw her smile, holding the brooch and unwilling to let go.

"Weren't you going to return my brooch?"

I pulled hard, trying to grab the brooch, and deliberately raised my voice.

Ruby also held on provocatively, tugging with me.

Hearing my voice, Nathaniel looked up toward us.

The next moment.

I saw a flash of light in Ruby's eyes.

Feeling uneasy, I had a bad feeling.

Suddenly, Ruby let go, crying out in surprise while stumbling backward several steps.

Because of the force from her sudden release, I also stumbled backward.

Panic showed on my face.

The baby!

I still had the baby in my belly that I'd worked so hard to conceive.

Fortunately, I managed to grab the table in time and didn't fall.

But I accidentally knocked over the hot water that had just been poured on the table. The hot water was scalding, splashing onto the tender skin on the back of my hand, immediately causing a burning pain.

At the same time, a dark figure flashed past me like lightning, reaching Ruby's side and steadying her as she was about to fall.

My eyes were immediately drawn to the hand on Ruby's waist.

The scene from the video I received last night flashed through my mind.

That hand was Nathaniel's hand.

And that waist was very slim.

Just like the waistline of the faceless woman in the video, very similar!

A shocking thought came to my mind.

Was the woman in that video Ruby?

"Ruby, how are you feeling?"

Nathaniel asked nervously.

He was always calm and composed. In all our years of marriage, I'd never seen him so panicked and nervous.

This further confirmed my suspicion.

"Nathaniel, don't blame Seraphina. I shouldn't have been so willful and taken the brooch just because I thought it was pretty. Even though it's been returned to its rightful owner, it still made Seraphina uncomfortable. She's unhappy and blames me, which is only right. I just feel a bit unwell."

Ruby held her hand to her waist, as if she'd really hurt it just now.

Nathaniel looked at me with deep eyes.

I even saw blame in them.

"Nathaniel, I didn't. Ruby offered to return the brooch to me, but then..."

"Yes, Nathaniel, I offered to return it. Seraphina didn't push me. The brooch has been returned to Seraphina, so you can't say I'm willful anymore."

Ruby interrupted my explanation and said coquettishly, "I'm in pain!"

Nathaniel immediately picked her up nervously. "I'll take you to the hospital right now."

As he picked up Ruby, his eyes fell meaningfully on the brooch in my palm.

At that moment, I knew he had chosen to believe Ruby.

He didn't look at me again after that, carrying Ruby away without looking back.

From start to finish, Nathaniel never noticed my scalded hand or my pale face from the stomach pain caused by the stumbling.

Nathaniel came back two hours later.

Because my stomach was uncomfortable, I was resting in bed.

Half asleep, I was woken by a kiss.

I smelled Nathaniel's unique scent and instinctively dodged his approach.

Nathaniel explained helplessly and gently, "What? Are you really angry? Didn't you already get the brooch back?"

The brooch was one reason I was angry.

But what I really cared about was something else.

However, clearly, Nathaniel hadn't realized that.

"Didn't you say it was for a client at the auction? Since when did Ruby become your client?" I couldn't help but ask sarcastically.

"She just came back to the country. We happened to meet, so we went together."

Nathaniel spoke calmly, without any guilt, and habitually grabbed my hand to play with it.

I gasped in pain.

"What's wrong?" Only then did he notice my hand was red.

It was where I'd been scalded. Although I'd applied medicine, it still hurt terribly.

"When you were so worried about Ruby being uncomfortable, I grabbed the table to keep from falling and accidentally knocked over the hot water on it."

My heart ached. Even though I tried to act strong, my voice still choked with grievance when I spoke.

Guilt appeared on Nathaniel's face. He immediately went to get medicine to apply to my wound, even though I said I'd already done it.

When applying the medicine, his movements were gentle and soft, and he kept blowing on it lightly, as if really afraid of hurting me.

Looking at his profile as he looked down, I felt a bit dazed and moved.

In the years before Ruby appeared, he'd actually been quite good to me.

We treated each other with respect, and he agreed to almost all my requests.

People said he doted on me.

Countless people envied me, an orphan girl, for winning the affection of the Rivers family heir.

Before, I thought so too, which is why I endured four years of painful fertility treatments, wanting to have children for him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't notice."

"Didn't notice, or just didn't care? I'm not as important as Ruby." I smiled mockingly.

Nathaniel frowned. He suddenly leaned close, kissing my lips urgently and fiercely, as if wanting to meld me into his bones.

I was almost suffocated by his kiss, and the discomfort in my stomach made me push him away forcefully.

Just now, he looked like he was afraid of losing me.

I couldn't help but wildly guess - could he have really done something to betray me?

Nathaniel's chest was still heaving violently, but he held me gently, his tone sincere.

"Don't overthink it. Ruby is just my sister. I was just worried she couldn't handle the stress."

"What?" I emerged from his embrace, looking at him in confusion.

"She had some unpleasant experiences abroad. Now she's a bit depressed and sensitive, can't handle stress. You know I owe her."

Nathaniel's eyes darkened.

I knew he must be thinking of some past events.

I did know something about Ruby.

Ruby's father was the Rivers family's driver. In a car accident, he died saving Nathaniel, so the Rivers family adopted Ruby.

"Do you really only see her as a sister?"

I should understand him, but somehow, my heart was still uneasy.

Nathaniel ruffled my hair. "Of course! So, can you be more patient with her for my sake?"

"Okay." Meeting his hopeful eyes and thinking of the baby in my belly, I chose to agree.

After that, our life returned to calm.

As if that day's events had never happened.

I also focused my attention on my busy work.

I'd recently had inspiration to incorporate embroidery into my designs and finally managed to contact the design master Knox Pemberton.

But I received a last-minute call saying he had other arrangements and brushed me off.

"I thought it was a done deal. Why would Knox do this? The Rivers Group was considering working with us because of this design concept. No way, I'm going to find Knox!"

My best friend Aria Lynn's personality was as fiery as her figure. She was ready to rush off to find him.

Thinking of her personality, I decided it would be better if I went myself.

I didn't expect that when I found the place, I'd see Nathaniel and Ruby about to leave.

Ruby smiled brightly and boldly, holding Knox's hand. "Mr. Pemberton, I'll have to trouble you to teach me everything you know in the upcoming embroidery training."

At that moment, my eyes shot sharply toward Nathaniel.

My heart hurt as if pierced by countless needles.