Chapter 1

I'm Pregnant, But All I Got Was "Aria Collins? I Despise Such Commodities with a Price Tag."

After he got drunk, I found lipstick marks on his shirt collar that weren't mine. My heart turned to ashes.

I terminated our child.

On the day of our divorce, I threw down the agreement: "Mr. Bennett, we're done."

I left everything in our marital home, including his photos.

He asked me with reddened eyes: "What about me? Are you leaving me behind too?"

Later, Lucas Bennett stopped me in the pouring rain like a madman, pulling out a crumpled prenatal check-up form: "We clearly had a child..."

I stood at the hospital entrance, clutching the test results tightly.

The late spring breeze, carrying the scent of hospital disinfectant, rushed into my collar. The ultrasound image burned hot in my palm.

Three months. It seemed that reckless, drunken night had truly left me with a gift.

As the digital lock beeped, the entryway mirror reflected my upturned lips. In my mind, I rehearsed countless times how I should break the news.

"Lucas, I'm pregnant."

I kept repeating this phrase in my head.

I walked up to the second floor. The door to the study was ajar, and Lucas's voice, mixed with the soft clink of ice cubes in his whiskey glass, came crashing down.

"Aria Collins? I despise such commodities with a price tag."

Standing outside the study, I suddenly turned into a laughable statue, the wedding ring on my ring finger painfully digging into my bone.

Three months ago, when he woke up drunk by my side, his tone was just as cold.

"I was just drunk."

My nails dug into the edge of the test results, a tear falling onto the paper.

So my three years of patience, the entryway light I left on late at night, even the fresh flowers I deliberately changed to match his mood, were all just price tags on a commodity in his eyes.

I heard Lucas getting up from his chair in the study. As I quickly left, I knocked over a vase at the corner.

Instinctively, I protected my belly. Lucas frowned at me and said, "Is your gastritis acting up again?"

I didn't answer him, only saying, "I'm going back to my family's place for a few days."

He didn't ask why, just walked past me, leaving behind one last word.

"Troublesome."

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying hard not to let the tears fall.