Chapter 24
"Mom, his job means he's gotta travel a lot, so he's leaving early tomorrow. He said he won't be back for like two weeks," Susan quickly made up an excuse.
"Always on the move, how are you two gonna manage in the future?" Catherine asked, worried.
"He gets travel allowances. He needs to make money fast for me and the baby. There's no other way," Susan replied immediately.
"That's true. When he gets back, make sure he comes home for dinner," Catherine said, taking the marriage certificate and heading back to her room.
Once Catherine closed the bedroom door, Susan placed her hand on her chest and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She had passed Catherine's test. As for the future, she'd deal with it later.
Susan returned to her room and had just closed the door.
"Susan, congrats!" Dorothy, who was doing her homework, turned around with a grin.
Susan quickly sat down by the bed and whispered to Dorothy, "Who came by today? How did Mom find out I was pregnant?"
Dorothy glanced towards the door and lowered her voice, "James called Mom today. He said some really nasty stuff, and Mom ended up crying!"
Susan and Dorothy never called James "Dad" in private; they just used his name. To them, their father was long gone.
"It must have been Amelia who told James," Susan said angrily.
"Amelia must have it out for our family," Dorothy said, equally upset.
Susan clenched her fist and said with hatred, "It's beyond a vendetta. I have nothing but sheer enmity towards her!"
Susan secretly vowed that she would make Amelia and Sophia pay in the future.
The next day on her way to work, Susan spent a few hundred dollars on a cheap cubic zirconia ring and some branded candies before heading to the office.
As soon as she entered the office, Susan cheerfully distributed the candies to everyone. "Everyone, have some candy!"
"Ms. Wilson, what's the occasion for these candies?" a male colleague teased.
Susan smiled and said, "I got married. You all know I had a shotgun wedding, everything was so rushed. So I'm giving out some wedding candies first, and we'll have the ceremony later!"
This was the plan Susan had come up with last night. After all, everyone at Prosperity Group knew she was pregnant. If she didn't announce her marriage, she really wouldn't have the face to continue working there. But she wasn't lying; she did get married yesterday.
"Ms. Wilson, your ring is so beautiful!" The female colleagues all noticed the ring on Susan's hand.
"I just bought it yesterday afternoon. It was so rushed, I didn't have time to pick a good one." Susan felt her smile was particularly fake, but she had to keep up the act. After all, people's words could be so hurtful.
"This ring must have cost tens of thousands of dollars, right?" A female colleague stepped forward and grabbed Susan's hand.
Susan was afraid the ring would be recognized as cubic zirconia. After all, the female colleagues at Prosperity Group had sharp eyes. So she quickly pulled her hand back and said, "Just ten thousand dollars, nowhere near as big as your ring. Yours is several times bigger!"
Hearing this, the female colleague felt greatly satisfied and returned to her seat without saying another word.
That's how it was in the office. The men fought for power and profit, while the women competed with each other. A little bit better than others would satisfy their vanity, but a little worse would make them jealous. Susan understood this all too well.
"Ms. Wilson, where does your husband work?" the gossiping female colleagues asked.
"Just a small-time employee," Susan quickly replied.
"Shouldn't you buy a house and a car when you get married?" they teased.
Susan immediately put on a worried look. "My husband's family isn't well-off, and with the high housing prices in Maple Valley, we can only rent for now."
Hearing this, everyone not only lost their disdain for Susan's premarital pregnancy but also looked at her with sympathy. Susan had successfully defused her reputation crisis and couldn't help but laugh inwardly.
Isabella, who had been silent all this time, found an opportunity to pull Susan to the balcony for a private chat.
"Why did you suddenly get married? Did you really find a backup? Is it Henry? Did he volunteer, or did you force him?" Isabella couldn't help but ask a string of questions.
"Bullshit" Susan then told Isabella the whole story from yesterday.
Isabella listened for a long time but still didn't understand. Finally, she gave Susan a hard pat on the shoulder. "Susan, your luck has turned!"
Susan couldn't help but laugh. "I'm plagued with bad luck, okay?"
"Anyway, you and Seb are legally married now. If you lower your stance and coax him more, you might get a lot of benefits!" Isabella said with a smile.
"Do you think Seb is stupid? You haven't seen that agreement. He thought of everything," The thought of the agreement made Susan feel a bit sour for some reason.
"At least you and the baby don't have to worry about eating now. Even if you divorce later, you'll have a house and money. Why can't I encounter such good things? Forget the house and money, just having a good figure is enough to make people drool!" Isabella said, touching her face in frustration.
"If you crave his body so much, I can create an opportunity for you to try it out," Susan said, looking at Isabella with a smile.
"Get out of here. I may crave Seb's body, but I would never act on it," Isabella said confidently.
"At least you have some principles," Susan said with a laugh, nodding.
For a whole week, Susan's nominal husband Seb hadn't contacted her once. Thinking about what Seb had said in the car that day about contacting her later, she realized it was just a perfunctory remark. She couldn't help but laugh at herself for being so naive.
That afternoon, Susan suddenly received a call from Henry.
"Why haven't you contacted me for so many days?"
"I've been a bit busy these days." Since getting married, Susan hadn't contacted Henry at all. She had planned to find a suitable opportunity to tell him she was married, so as not to delay him from finding another woman. Unfortunately, she hadn't gotten around to it.
"How about lunch? Are you free? I'll be near your office around noon," Henry invited Susan.
"Sure," Susan agreed without hesitation. She should take the opportunity to explain things to him.
"Let's meet at the restaurant downstairs from your office at noon. Bye!" Henry said and hung up.
Susan glanced around and saw a few gossiping female colleagues staring at her while she was on the phone.
In their spare time, they had been asking Susan why her husband never came to pick her up and why he never called her. Their meaning was clear: they thought Susan's marriage was fake, possibly to cover up her pregnancy.
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