Chapter 3
I followed Sterling's car in a cab despite knowing he did not want to see me.
I could hardly believe Vivienne was actually pregnant. I had only come along to explain that I had nothing to do with what happened.
Yet after Sterling rushed Vivienne into the operating room, he turned to me with a cold stare.
"Arabella, I never imagined you could be such a vicious woman. Vivienne only wanted to personally congratulate you on our marriage. Why would you do this to her?!"
Hearing his suppressed roar of anger, I lost all desire to explain myself.
"If Vivienne loses the baby, I'll give her the wedding gift I had prepared for you as compensation."
I looked at Sterling in shock. Sterling had always said that marriage should follow proper traditions—whatever other women received, I would have too, and even more.
He had offered to transfer half of his company shares to my name as a gift. But now, it was clear that regardless of whether Vivienne's baby survived, he would give me nothing.
In his mind, he had already decided I was a vicious woman.
I laughed bitterly but remained silent.
Seeing that I wasn’t responding, Sterling frowned and impatiently waved me away. "You should go home first. I'll stay with Vivienne tonight. The wedding car will pick you up tomorrow."
Having said this, he turned away from me, staring anxiously toward the operating room.
I turned and left after seeing his entranced, lovesick expression. I had wanted to tell Sterling that I was not responsible for what happened to Vivienne's baby. Moreover, the paternity of Vivienne's child was questionable.
Before my family went bankrupt and we were still maintaining the arranged engagement with the Blackwoods, both families would undergo regular medical check-ups each year.
One time, I accidentally saw that Thaddeus suffered from azoospermia.
Vivienne's scheme was brilliant. She was killing two birds with one stone, and Sterling believed her over me.
Realizing this, I began packing my luggage, preparing to leave.
I had originally planned to leave on our wedding day to strike back at Sterling, the nouveau riche of Oceanview City, and turn him into a laughingstock.
Yet now, I felt that if I did not leave immediately, I would be the one ridiculed by the entire city the next day.
By the time I finished packing, it was already 8:00 pm, and Sterling still had not returned home.
How absurd. It was the night before our wedding, yet my fiancé was at the hospital with another woman while I waited alone in an empty house.
After booking my flight, I closed the door and left without a backward glance. I had booked a flight for 3:00 am and sat waiting at the airport.
During this time, I did not receive a single text message or call from Sterling. Instead, I received several texts from Vivienne.
In the photos she sent, Sterling, exhausted and barely able to keep his eyes open, was watching over her IV drip.
"Sterling is really going out of his way. Bella, you'll certainly be happy in the future to marry such an attentive man."
She then sent me a dark video clip, but the conversation in it left me completely cold-hearted.
"Sterling, you don't need to look after me. Go home quickly. You're the groom tomorrow. You need to look your best."
In the video, Sterling was busy with something, making rustling sounds. "It's fine. You don't want Thaddeus to come, so I'll stay with you. I won't leave you alone here.
"As for the wedding, we'll see. I'll definitely be late tomorrow to teach Arabella a lesson!
"I've finished washing. Let me hang it up for you."
The video ended there. Vivienne quickly sent a message explaining, "Sterling helped me wash my blood-stained underwear. Don't mind it, Bella. I just had a miscarriage and can't really come into contact with cold water. You understand, right?"
I could not be bothered to expose her hypocrisy and did not reply.
Fortunately, boarding time arrived. I removed my SIM card, tossed it into a trash bin, and boarded the plane.
Looking at the clouds at 3:00 am, I finally realized that I was completely leaving this place behind.
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