Chapter 43: Soon She Will No Longer Be His Wife
James instantly didn't know what to do. He raised his hand and rubbed his temples with a bit of a headache.
For the first time, he felt helpless with Mia, who had always been so easy to please.
In the past, she was very obedient.
Now, she wouldn't listen to anything.
In the brief silence, James thought about Mia's first hospitalization and how worried she was about the baby. He spoke again, "Mia, even if you don't care about yourself, you should think about the baby."
Clearly, he guessed right.
Mia immediately reacted when she heard about the baby.
Her eyes opened, looking at him. She didn't say anything, but her face clearly asked: What about the baby?
Looking down, he could clearly see her hand on her belly under the blanket move.
She was more nervous and concerned about this baby than he had imagined.
He remembered before they got their marriage certificate, when she thought she was pregnant, she didn't care at all and ran to the hospital, wanting to get rid of his child right away.
After he carried her out of the hospital, once they got in the car, he asked her what she wanted to eat. Without any awareness of being pregnant, she immediately said fried chicken.
But now—
James repeated what the doctor had said outside the emergency room yesterday. After hearing it, Mia's face turned even paler.
The words kept echoing in her mind: the baby might not make it?
It was all her fault for not taking good care of the baby.
"Don't worry. As long as you listen and eat properly, take care of your body, the baby will be fine."
Seeing her terrible expression, James felt heartbroken and immediately tried to comfort her.
Mia, caught up in self-blame, ignored him.
The hospital room fell into a stalemate again.
Until Robert came back and knocked on the door.
This time, before James could say anything, Mia was already trying to sit up by herself.
James wanted to help her.
She expressionlessly raised her hand, refusing his help, and slowly sat up by herself. Looking at Robert, she said weakly and softly, "Thank you."
"Mrs. Smith, you're too kind."
He was just following James's instructions.
Robert's tone toward Mia was the same as always.
Exactly the same as every time he'd received a call from Mia before.
Polite with a hint of distance.
Deep down, he didn't accept Mia.
Robert didn't have a good impression of Mia either.
Before today, he had only seen Mia once—the day she and James got their marriage certificate.
He had received a last-minute call from James.
He rushed to the marriage registration office to make arrangements.
He only caught a quick glimpse of Mia. His first impression was that she was beautiful.
The kind of beautiful that would make any man's heart skip a beat at first sight, yet wouldn't make other women jealous.
A beauty that wasn't very aggressive.
With just that pretty face, she could get whatever she wanted.
Obviously, Mia knew very well how to use her looks to her advantage.
Otherwise, how could she have hooked James, become his only woman, and stayed by his side for four years?
And even married James a year ago.
Quite the skillful operator.
Even though everyone who heard about it thought they didn't match.
But whether they matched or not, she had the ability and tactics to use retreat as advance, getting James to marry her and take responsibility for her.
This Mia looked non-aggressive, but her scheming shouldn't be underestimated.
Especially after he learned the pregnancy was a false alarm, it deepened his impression that Mia was very calculating.
In his eyes, Amelia who recently returned to the country and Mia weren't that different.
Both would use any means to achieve their goals.
A match between masters.
Who would win or lose depended entirely on whose side James's heart would ultimately take.
……
Mia had heard Robert's tone countless times before and never thought much of it.
But after being hurt, the moment Robert spoke, she sensitively noticed that he looked down on her deep inside.
Robert was the closest person to James, and his attitude still stung Mia.
His attitude toward people outside could be said to represent James's attitude.
Amelia was someone he would respectfully see off, while she was someone he looked down on in his bones.
She couldn't quite describe the feeling in her heart.
How blinded by James's "love" had she been before?
Such obvious contempt—how had she managed to ignore it for four whole years?
As Mia was looking down and mocking herself, she suddenly heard James's cold voice beside her ear, "Robert."
Robert understood James's emotions well.
That tone clearly meant he was angry.
What had he done wrong?
"Mr. Smith."
Robert spoke nervously.
He could become James's assistant not just because of his high education and intelligence, but also his pride-worthy high emotional intelligence.
His brain raced quickly.
He had been handling things according to James's instructions all along.
Could it be that he misunderstood and shouldn't have asked Amelia to leave?
Robert understood James's emotions, and Mia understood them just as well.
She misunderstood the same way as Robert.
Just as Robert was worried and Mia was being even more self-mocking, James's voice rang out again, "Remember, Mia is my wife, the only one."
James looked at Robert with eyes that seemed frozen.
If he hadn't seen and heard it with his own eyes today, he wouldn't have known Robert treated Mia this way.
How dare he?
And Mia had never mentioned it to him!
……
These words coming from James carried enormous weight.
The word "only" was declaring Mia's status.
It was also telling Robert about Mia's position in his heart.
Robert instantly understood where he went wrong.
All along, he thought that because James never brought Mia to occasions that required a female companion, it was because marrying her wasn't voluntary but forced.
Just like the rumors said, Mia was pretty enough to be a mistress to warm James's bed.
But as James's wife—
Whether it was her background or knowledge and perspective, she didn't match James.
James not taking her out, not making her identity public, meant that deep down James also didn't accept Mia.
So, being good at reading his boss's intentions.
For these four years, toward Mia, he had been polite but not respectful.
At this moment, Robert instantly realized that over these years, he seemed to have misunderstood something.
"Mrs. Smith, I apologize."
Robert immediately apologized sincerely.
This apology was for his attitude just now and in the past.
Mia, who had been looking down, didn't see James's expression. Her lips curled up coldly.
She didn't understand what the point of James's belated act was.
Robert treating her this way wasn't just once or twice. If he really cared about her, why wait until now?
Why wait until today, in front of her?
Mia said coldly and indifferently, "No need. I won't be his wife much longer anyway."