Chapter 18
Naturally, Cecelia had also seen the news about Pearl circulating online.
Ever since Jonah returned from Nyora, he had practically ignored her completely. This caused Cecelia to have a lot of pent–up resentment.
These past few days, Pearl’s popularity online has skyrocketed. Even Jonah, who usually never liked watching short videos online, actually watched every single one about Pearl, liking them all without missing a single one.
That day, Cecelia was scheduled for a prenatal checkup, giving her an excuse to finally ask Jonah to have lunch with her at the restaurant below his workplace.
“Jonah, can you come with me to the hospital after lunch?”
Across the table, Jonah looked up absentmindedly. “Are you sick?”
Cecelia replied with annoyance, “I’m pregnant, remember?”
Only then did Jonah belatedly take his eyes off his phone. He raised his brow in warning. “Keep your voice down. My office is right upstairs. If people hear you, they’ll misunderstand our relationship.”
“Fine… I’ll be careful…”
Under the table, Cecelia was clenching her fists so hard that her manicured nails were about to break.
She had repeatedly arranged to meet Jonah for lunch near his office, all in hopes of generating some gossip that might be in her favor. But she couldn’t have possibly anticipated Pearl’s recent overwhelming online exposure.
A small–time influencer like Cecelia couldn’t stir up even the faintest ripple of interest with her gossip. And now, Jonah was inexplicably pulling away from her.
Looking down at her increasingly obvious baby bump, a wave of panic swept through Cecelia.
Back in her 20s, she had been reckless and full of herself. She had arrogantly dismissed Jonah’s pursuit, someone who was almost a perfect partner. She had relied on her beauty and the praises of those around her to recklessly marry abroad and travel the world.
But in just four years, the love she thought was unshakable had faded into mundanity.
Meanwhile, Jonah’s company back in Ethria was growing rapidly, while her ex–husband had only ever seen her as a ticket to fame and money. Seeing the stark difference, she got divorced out of frustration and returned to Ethria.
The first person she contacted was Jonah, the man who had once treated her as his everything.
When she found out that Jonah had aiready married a new woman, her initial reaction was panic. But soon, she realized her place in his heart hadn’t changed.
As for that so–called legal wife, Pearl, she was just a placeholder, someone to fill the space in Jonah’s life.
Cecelia’s schemes began to form. She even believed Jonah would help raise her child with another man without complaint.
But ever since Pearl had left, everything began to spiral out of control.
She couldn’t wrap her head around it. Wasn’t this marriage something Jonah never truly wanted? Shouldn’t their divorce be a relief to him?
“Jonah, I know you’re upset that Pearl suddenly ran off so far away. But she’s much younger than you. It’s only natural she wouldn’t want to spend her whole life tied to your side,” Cecelia spoke softly as she tucked her short hair behind her ear.
For some reason, when Jonah saw Cecelia’s short hair, he suddenly felt a wave of revulsion hit him.
Back then, he had once resented Pearl’s long hair because he couldn’t get over Cecelia’s short haircut. That was why he had cruelly forced Pearl to cut her waist–length hair.
“I know I was never good enough for Pearl,” Jonah muttered bitterly.
“That’s not what I meant.” Cecelia tried to change the subject, handing him the ultrasound scan. “Jonah, come with me for the checkup. The doctor says this week, the baby will grow more. You can even hear the heartbeat.”
She thought maybe this child could draw Jonah’s attention back to her. But she didn’t expect him to get up abruptly as if trying to draw a clear line
between them.
“Sorry, I don’t think our relationship is close enough for me to accompany you to every single prenatal checkup.”
