Right after speaking, Noah led Abby into the bedroom.
"It’s not safe for her to stay alone in a rental this far along in the pregnancy," he said. "Let her stay with us for a while. Once the baby is born, her new place will be ready."
Abby hesitated mid-step. “Noah, maybe you should just take me home. I feel like I’m intruding here.”
"You're not intruding," he reassured her gently. "It’ll be easier for me to take care of you this way."
"But... I don’t think Reina wants me here. I don’t want to be the reason you two fight.”
Noah frowned. “Reina, stop being so unreasonable.”
I immediately put on a bright smile. “Sister-in-law, you’ve misunderstood me. Why wouldn’t I welcome you? Even if Noah hadn’t gone to pick you up today, I was planning to bring you home myself.”
"You’re more than welcome here. Stay as long as you need.”
Noah’s frown melted into a satisfied smile. “See? You were overthinking.”
After helping Abby settle in, he returned to our bedroom and wrapped his arms around me from behind, his chin resting in the curve of my neck.
"Once her place is ready, she’ll move out. She won’t be bothering us for long,” he murmured tenderly.
If I hadn’t lived through the nightmare of my previous life, I might’ve believed that his affection was genuine.
We were college classmates. Noah was the pride of his village, the only one who had made it to university.
His brother and sister-in-law, like his late parents, were uneducated mountain folk. I came from a middle-class family—both of my parents had stable jobs.
The year we graduated, I married Noah.
His family couldn’t contribute a dime. My family paid for the wedding, the banquet, and even the apartment. The gold jewelry I wore at the ceremony? I bought it myself, pretending it came from him to save his pride.
After his parents passed, his brother and sister-in-law moved to the city too, scraping by on odd jobs and rent.
Noah earned a thousand bucks a month and still insisted on financially supporting his brother. He barely had anything left for himself and constantly asked me for money.
I earned two thousand bucks a month, just enough to cover our household expenses—but saving? It was impossible.
So I quit my job and started my own business. It was a thousand times harder than working for someone else, but gradually the business grew, and I finally saved up my first million.
But all that hard-earned money—earned by burning through my health—ended up as a dowry for another woman.
After getting pregnant, I’d become a light sleeper.
Every time Noah got up at night, I knew.
That night, he’d been gone from bed for a while, so I quietly got up to look for him.
Just as I stepped out of the bedroom, I heard voices coming from the room across the hall.
"You used Reina’s money to buy me that house. Aren’t you afraid she’ll find out and divorce you?"
"If she asks, I’ll just say I invested it in some financial products. She trusts me—she won’t question it."
"But what if she needs the money later? What will you tell her then?"
"Then I’ll tell her the truth—that I used it to buy your house."
"And if she causes a scene? What if she takes me to court and demands the money back?"
"Don’t worry. I’ve got you. If she dares to stir trouble, I’ll divorce her. She can’t survive without me—especially now that she’s pregnant. The moment I mention divorce, she’ll behave better than a dog."
"Well, the house is nice... but the baby inside me still won’t have a father."
"Abby, I’ve wronged you and the baby. I can’t give you a title, but I’ll make sure you have everything else."
"Will you stay with me tonight?"
"I can’t. Reina sleeps lightly. If I’m not next to her, she’ll notice."
Just then, Noah opened the door—and froze when he saw me standing there.
His face turned ghostly pale. “Reina... when did you get up?”
