The next morning, for the first time ever, I didn't show up at Morgan's bedside with a steaming breakfast in hand.
Instead, I took my time wandering through the mall, then stopped by a salon for a few treatments.
The waist-length hair that had gone patchy and gray, I cut short in one stroke and dyed a fresh chestnut brown. Pretty, but still dignified.
The fine lines that years of overwork had drawn at the corners of my eyes slowly faded under the power of money.
Just like the surging love I'd once felt for Morgan. Once it was gone, it was never coming back.
When I reached the hospital entrance, I suddenly didn't want to go in.
Morgan had cut me too deep. Even one look at his face felt like more than I could stand.
Right then, my assistant called in a rush.
"Ms. Floyd, that overseas building-materials deal. Should we follow the usual arrangement and send Vice President Sun to negotiate in your place?"
In the past, all I'd wanted was to stay by Morgan's side, hoping that when he finally stood up again, I'd be the first person he reached out to hold.
So even though sending a vice president to sign meant a lapse in propriety, even though it could indirectly cost the company half its profit on the deal, I hadn't cared.
But people have to grow up, don't they?
You have to learn to love yourself first, before you have the judgment to decide who else to love.
This time, I shook my head without hesitation.
"No need. I'll go myself."
The moment I hung up, my eyes met Meg's as she came walking toward me.
The air went awkward for a few seconds.
She broke into a smile and called out sweetly, "Lucinda, what a coincidence. You're at the hospital too?"
Her show of surprise was sickening.
I had no intention of small talk and turned to leave.
But Meg raised an eyebrow and blocked my path, then deliberately let the prenatal test slip from her hand.
"Lucinda, I'm a little awkward right now, I can't bend over. Could you pick it up for me?"
I didn't move. My gaze dropped to her belly, and I felt my breath go tight.
"Pregnant already? Where's the baby's father?"
Meg stroked her stomach, the picture of bliss, smiling sweetly.
"This is our second baby. Their daddy is over the moon. He can't be by our side every moment, but his love has never been missing for a day."
"He didn't just buy us a few villas, he set up billion-dollar trust funds for both children in advance. Oh, and the citywide fireworks show tonight? Their daddy arranged the whole thing just to make me happy. He told me himself: a woman is meant to be pampered from the day she's born."
Meg gushed on, lost in her daydream, gesturing as she went. Then she paused, as if remembering, and turned that pity on me.
"I'm so sorry, Lucinda. I brought up a sore spot for you. Morgan's been sick for so long. You must be terribly lonely."
I gave a slight tug at the corner of my mouth, my voice flat. "I've just arranged a new treatment plan for him. He'll be back on his feet soon. Looks like all my hard years are finally paying off."
"Oh, really? Well, congratulations, then."
She walked past me with a sneer.
Before I boarded the plane, I made a call to Morgan.
"Morgan, I won't be able to be with you for the next week. The company needs me."
He'd always been the steady type, and after he 'fell ill' he'd grown even quieter.
But now, his voice on the line was full of joy and excitement.
"So you've finally come around. You should've let go of me and thrown yourself into work a long time ago, Lucinda. To be honest, I like you better as the sharp, capable career woman."
I laughed softly. "All right, then I'll live up to exactly what you've been hoping for. I'll rule the business world and let nothing trivial get in my way. But you'll have to promise me one thing."
"What thing?"
His excitement gradually flattened out, sliding back into that impatient tone from before.
"I've arranged the latest treatment plan for you. A week from now, you'll cooperate nicely with the doctors, won't you? There'll be a pre-op agreement soon. Remember to sign it."
The words had barely left him when the doctor walked in carrying the agreement.
"Fine, you're so damn long-winded!"
Morgan's head was full of nothing but how he'd manage his next secret rendezvous with Meg. He didn't so much as glance at what the pre-op agreement said before cheerfully scrawling his signature across it.
