Chapter 5

Caleb grabbed him by the collar. "Did a mule kick you in the head? Your wife just had a baby and you handed the money to somebody else? Where's your brain?"

That day, Eugene finally learned the truth. Every bit of it had been the work of his little secretary, Paulette.

But no punishment came.

All he did, lightly, was tell her she no longer had to manage the household expenses.

I didn't understand. "Eugene, a person like this, with character like this, are you sure you still want to keep her on?"

Eugene frowned, exasperated.

"Paulette's very good at her job. Even if she hasn't earned credit, she's put in the work."

"Sylvia, I hope you can show a little empathy. Don't hound someone into the ground."

I stared for a long moment, then couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm hounding her into the ground."

"Eugene, if it weren't for Caleb's help, the ones hounded into the ground would be me and the baby."

"Enough!"

Eugene's face went cold. "I've already restored your living allowance to eighty thousand a month. What more do you want?"

He snatched up his coat on the spot and slammed the door on his way out.

But for a whole week, Paulette put me off with excuses—she was sick, or something else—and never transferred that eighty thousand into my account.

If it hadn't been for the hundred thousand my mother-in-law had sent me earlier, and Caleb's help here and there, the baby and I would have been living on air long ago.

A few days later, an elder back in Caleb's hometown fell ill, and he had to go home for a week.

He left me twenty thousand and told me not to scrimp, to buy whatever I wanted.

"When I get back, I'll bring the best baby formula for the little one."

But Paulette caught wind of it somehow and came over to confiscate my money.

"No telling where this money was stolen from. It ought to be turned in anyway."

"Sylvia, you really do have a talent. I guarded against everything, and still I couldn't stop you from telling Mr. Henson the truth."

Paulette tilted her chin high. "And now that you've cost me control of the finances, are you pleased with yourself?"

I stared her down, cold. "Paulette, get one thing straight about who you are."

"A secretary. Have you completely lost your mind?"

Paulette suddenly burst out laughing. "So what if I'm a secretary? Being trusted and valued by Mr. Henson—isn't that far better than being a stay-at-home wife like you?"

She stroked the two-hundred-thousand-dollar earrings, the five-hundred-thousand-dollar necklace, her eyes brimming with arrogance.

"I've only been Mr. Henson's secretary for six months, and I already have all this. And you?"

Her gaze drifted slowly toward my child. "Aside from being a breeding tool, what do you have?"

"Sylvia, if Mr. Henson really loved you, how could a few words from me have turned him against you?"

I had no words.

"Get out, Paulette. You're not welcome in my home."

Paulette didn't leave. Instead, she fixed her eyes on the baby.

She pinched her nose and said the baby stank, and that as Mr. Henson's capable assistant, she was going to throw the baby into the tub for a bath.

Eyes red, I threw myself in her way to stop her.

"The baby isn't even a year old yet. She can't be bathed right now—you'll kill her!"

But Paulette's eyes were full of vicious pleasure, and she shoved me hard to the floor.

"Mrs. Henson, I draw a high salary. I ought to take some of Mr. Henson's burdens off his shoulders."

"It's just a bath. Kids have strong immune systems. How could she die that easily?"

"Besides, even if she did die, a breeding tool like you can just have another one, can't you?"

Only when she'd had her fill did she saunter off.

"Sylvia, consider this a lesson. I'd advise you to stop scheming after that eighty thousand."

That night the baby spiked a high fever. In the dark hours she fainted and began to convulse.

I panicked, clutching her tiny body as I rushed to the hospital and knelt begging the doctors to save my child!

The doctor only shook his head with regret. "We did everything we could."

"The baby was too small. It was already too late."

I dragged my exhausted body through the arrangements afterward.

Back home, I moved like the walking dead, numbly packing my bags.

The baby was gone. There was no reason for me to stay here and suffer.

The next day, Eugene wrapped up his long business trip.

He said he'd closed the deal he'd been chasing for three months, and finally had time to come home and be with me and the baby.

"Where's the baby? Is the postpartum nurse watching her, or the nanny?"

Eugene's tone was light and cheerful. "Bring her over quick, and tell her Daddy's home."