Chapter 1 First Love
A heavy rain began to pour relentlessly.
At the entrance of the hospital.
Standing at the hospital entrance, Cecilia Smith clutched the pregnancy test report in her delicate, frail hand. The result was unmistakable: not pregnant.
“Three years into marriage and you’re still not pregnant?”
“You’re so useless. If you don’t get pregnant soon, the Rainsworth family will kick you out. What will become of the Smith family then?”
Dressed to the nines and teetering on her high heels, Paula Escobar, Cecilia’s mother, pointed at her, her face a mask of disappointment.
Cecilia’s eyes were empty. The words she longed to speak were stuck in her heart, finally condensing into a single sentence.
“I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want you to apologize. What I want is for you to have a child with Nathaniel. Do you understand?”
Cecilia’s throat felt parched. She was unsure of how to respond to her.
They had been married for three years, yet her husband, Nathaniel Rainsworth, had never laid a hand on her.
How could there possibly be a child?
Upon seeing her display of helplessness, Paula felt she was nothing like herself.
“If you really can’t manage, then help Nathaniel find a woman outside. He will surely remember your kindness.”
Cecilia stared in disbelief at the retreating figure of her mother, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Her biological mother, astonishingly, had asked her to find another woman for her own husband.
A chill instantly froze her heart to its core.
As Cecilia sat in the car heading home, Paula’s last words echoed in her mind, accompanied by a sudden, intermittent roaring in her ears.
She knew her illness had worsened.
At that moment, she received a text message.
The message came from Nathaniel, as consistent as ever over the past three years. It read: I won’t be coming home tonight.
Throughout their three years of marriage, Nathaniel had never spent a single night at home, nor did he ever touch her.
Cecilia still remembered their wedding night three years ago.
He had said, “Since you from the Smith family dare to trick me into marriage, then be ready to face a lifetime of solitude.”
Three years ago, the Smith and Rainsworth families had formed a business alliance through marriage.
The promise had already been made, a mutual benefit shared between both parties.
However, on the day of the wedding, the Smith family unexpectedly changed their minds. They transferred all of their assets, including the several billion given to Nathaniel for marrying Cecilia, elsewhere.
A shadow crossed Cecilia’s eyes, but she responded to Nathaniel’s message with a simple “okay” as usual.
Without realizing it, she had crumpled the pregnancy test report in her hand into a wrinkled ball.
When she got home, she tossed it into the trash can.
Every month, at this particular time, she would feel especially drained.
She didn’t make any dinner and spent a while leaning on the couch, drifting in and out of a dreamlike state.
She constantly heard a rumbling noise in her ears.
This was also a reason why Nathaniel despised her. She was hard of hearing, which, in high society, was akin to having a disability.
How could Nathaniel possibly allow her to have a child in such a state?
The wall clock emitted a dull sound.
It was five in the morning.
In another hour, Nathaniel would be back.
Only after daybreak did Cecilia realize that she had unknowingly spent the entire night asleep on the couch.
She hurriedly got up to prepare breakfast for Nathaniel, fearing even a moment’s delay.
Nathaniel was meticulous in his work, with a stringent regard for time. Once, Cecilia had to attend her father’s funeral and forgot to return on time to prepare his breakfast.
Afterward, he didn’t send her a single message nor spoke a word to her for an entire month.
At six o’clock, Nathaniel returned punctually.
He was impeccably dressed in a suit, his tall and slender figure exuding a restrained elegance. His handsome features were striking, yet they didn’t lack a certain masculine charm.
But in Cecilia’s eyes, his reflection was nothing but cold and detached.
Without even looking at Cecilia, he pulled out a chair and sat down. “You don’t need to make breakfast for me anymore.”
Cecilia was taken aback.
She wasn’t sure if it was instinct or something else, but the words she uttered reflected a humility she herself hadn’t even realized.
“Did I do something wrong?”
Nathaniel looked up, his eyes meeting Cecilia’s face, which had stayed impassive for the past three years. His lips parted slightly.
“What I want is a wife, not a housekeeper.”
For three years, Cecilia was always seen wearing the same light gray attire. Even when responding to text messages, she would use the same single word, “okay.”
If it weren’t for the business alliance and the deception of the Smith family, Nathaniel wouldn’t have married such a woman.
She was simply not his match.
What I want is a wife, not a housekeeper.
The ringing in Cecilia’s ears grew louder.
A lump formed in her throat, and yet, she uttered the word that Nathaniel disliked the most.
“Okay.”
Suddenly, Nathaniel found himself feeling particularly moody, even his favorite breakfast on the table seemed unusually bland and tasteless.
He rose to his feet, pulling the chair back in irritation, ready to leave.
To his surprise, Cecilia mustered her courage and seized his hand.
“Nathaniel, is there someone you like?”
That sudden question caused Nathaniel’s eyes to darken. “What do you mean?”
Cecilia looked up at the person standing before her.
Nathaniel was not just her husband of three years, but also the man she had pursued and loved for twelve years.
Swallowing down the bitterness in her throat, Cecilia thought about Paula’s words and said, “Nathaniel, if there’s someone you like, you can be with—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Nathaniel had already cut her off.
“You’re crazy.”
In the end, life is all about continuously letting go.
After Nathaniel left, Cecilia found herself alone on the balcony, staring blankly at the rain outside.
She had to admit that even after twelve years of adoring Nathaniel, she still didn’t understand him.
The sound of the rain was sometimes clear and sometimes muffled.
A month ago, the doctor had said, “Ms. Smith, your auditory nerves and central nervous system have undergone pathological changes, which have consequently led to a further decline in your hearing.”
“Isn’t there a way to treat it?”
The doctor shook his head. “Long-term sensorineural hearing loss doesn’t respond well to medication. My advice would be to continue using the hearing aid for auditory rehabilitation.”
Cecilia understood what the doctor meant; there was no cure available.
She removed her hearing aid.
In Cecilia’s world, everything began to settle into tranquility.
She wasn’t accustomed to such a quiet world. Upon entering the living room, she turned on the television.
The volume was turned up to the maximum, and only then could a faint sound be barely heard.
The television was airing an interview with Stella Ross, the internationally acclaimed queen of love songs, upon her return to the country.
Cecilia’s hand, holding the remote control, trembled.
It wasn’t for any other reason, but because Stella was once Nathaniel’s first love.
After many years apart, Stella was still as beautiful as ever.
She faced the camera with ease and confidence, no longer the shy and self-conscious Cinderella who once sought the Smith family’s financial support.
When reporters asked Stella why she had returned, she boldly replied, “I came back to reclaim my first love.”
The remote control in Cecilia’s hand hit the floor.
At the same moment, her heart sank.
The rain outside seemed to have intensified.
Cecilia was scared. She feared that Stella would steal Nathaniel away from her.
Back then, she was the cherished daughter of the Smith family, yet she still couldn’t outshine Stella, who had no background at all.
Now, Stella had become an internationally famous love song singer, exuding confidence and positivity. Naturally, she was not her match.
Cecilia panicked and swiftly turned off the television, then proceeded to clean up the untouched breakfast.
When she arrived in the kitchen, she realized that Nathaniel had left his phone behind.
She picked up the phone, accidentally unlocking it, and her eyes landed on an unread text message displayed on the screen.