Chapter 3

I put on a beautiful gown, taking the rare effort to do my hair and makeup.

“Honey, aren’t we leaving yet? What are we waiting for?”

David quickly glanced at Jessica, then smiled and replied, “Okay, let’s go.”

Jessica forced a smile. “Stella, I have something to take care of. I’ll come later.”

They were so obvious. Was I blind before?

I got into the car. The passenger seat was pulled far back. “Honey, has anyone been in the passenger seat?”

David’s face paled. “Maybe Leo was playing there earlier.”

Leo lied without batting an eye. “I reclined it to sleep earlier.”

He didn’t know that I had already removed the memory card from the car. David and Jessica hadn’t been able to resist having a moment in the passenger seat.

And my son was in the back seat, playing games.

David had booked a fancy ballroom. All the backdrops were adorned with our wedding photos, our family portraits.

He pushed a five-tier cake to the center of the stage, looking deeply into my eyes. “Honey, thank you for being with me for the past ten years, building everything from scratch. My achievements today are thanks to your silent dedication all these years. In the future, let’s walk happily together! We’ll have many more decades, growing old together, I love you!”

The audience erupted in applause.

He really spared no expense.

This banquet invited all his company employees to witness our love. The more he pretended to love me, the more impactful it would be when he publicly exposed my supposed affair.

Knowing his true colors, everything he did sickened me.

Leo brought a glass of juice to me. “Happy birthday, Mom.”

He was obedient, well-behaved.

To outsiders, I was so happy, with a loving husband and a dutiful son.

Only I knew that the juice had been drugged.

David and I used to be so in love.

When I first met him, it was summer break. I went back to my parents’ old house in the countryside to look after it. He was a tenant there.

In that whole building, his electricity bill was always the highest. He’d stay up all night studying, with his lights on.

Back then, I thought this young man was hardworking and ambitious. He was also handsome, refined, and looked very honest.

I’d run into him several times a day. He’d come downstairs in an ill-fitting suit to throw out the trash.

Later, he told me he fell for me at first sight, saying I was cute, and that he did all that to get my attention.

He certainly did get my attention. He was good-looking, had excellent grades, and always brought me a sweet treat when he returned. He said my smile was sweeter than any dessert.

My family was wealthy, but I hadn’t pursued much education. I had no resistance to a man like him. My parents wanted to send me abroad for study, but I refused.

I willingly fell into his gentle trap.

But looking back now, after we got together, he stopped paying rent, and I often gave him money to support his graduate studies.

He hated rich people, but he spent my money.

He held my hand and said, “Stella, when I make money, I’ll build you a big house.”

He always thought my family only owned that one old, run-down house in the countryside.

Later, he did fulfill his promise, buying a three-bedroom apartment in a big city. This made me happier than when my mom gave me two luxury properties in major cities.

I actually thought about telling him how rich my family was, but he started coming home less often, citing work.

After Leo was born, my focus shifted entirely to him. He often caught colds or fevers. To take care of Leo, I barely slept four hours a night.

Seeing my son, whom I had painstakingly raised, hand me a drugged drink still hurt me deeply.