CHAPTER 1: CHAPTER 1: PRESIDENT LANCASTER, MADAM IS AT THE HOSPITAL FOR AN ABORTION

"Ivy, the funeral is about to begin. Isn’t Damien coming yet?"

Ivy Summers, dressed in mourning clothes, knelt before her mother’s altar, the flames from the burning paper money reflecting off her pale face.

She looked down at her nearly dead phone; Damien Lancaster’s calls were still unanswered.

Her mother had passed away, and Ivy, seven months pregnant, had kept vigil at the altar for seven days. Her husband of three years hadn’t shown up once.

Damien Lancaster was very busy with work, and Ivy had always tried to understand him.

She told herself sensibly that Damien was probably busy with work.

"He’s probably busy and can’t make it."

Ivy’s face was still stained with tears as she burned the last of the paper money in her hands, struggled to prop up her heavy body, and said hoarsely, "Proceed with the funeral."

Her aunt Helen Kennedy, standing nearby, spoke with a strange tone, "Ivy, how busy can President Lancaster be, not showing his face for seven days? It’s as if he doesn’t care about your mother at all."

Her cousin Nina Summers sneered, "Mom, you’ve got it wrong. President Lancaster doesn’t care about Auntie or my cousin, and oh, her unborn child as well."

Their sarcastic voices were especially piercing, and Ivy’s heart was filled with a bitterness that couldn’t be hidden. Yet she still told herself that after they got married, Damien had always been a qualified husband; he wouldn’t deliberately not come, he was just caught up with work.

Just as she convinced herself, reality gave her a brutal slap in the face.

Nina exclaimed as she looked at her phone, "Isn’t that President Lancaster? He’s trending on social media."

Nina intentionally handed the phone to Ivy.

Ivy looked down at the phone; it was a trending video from this morning, but the video was from last night.

The title read: "President Damien Lancaster of the Lancaster Group rents out a venue to celebrate Miss Rachel Shaw’s birthday for true love."

In the video, under a night sky filled with magnificent fireworks, the man elegantly and dominantly sat on a chair, his deep eyes quietly watching the girl beside him. The girl’s smile seemed more dazzling than the fireworks as she pointed at the display.

The fireworks were brilliant, but Ivy’s gaze was fixed on the man’s back.

She was intimately familiar with him and recognized that the man in the video was her husband, Damien Lancaster.

So he was spending last night with another woman watching fireworks and celebrating her birthday?

Ivy’s mind went blank for a moment, her body stiff and unable to move.

The sound of the fireworks intertwined with Nina’s mocking voice continued, "Cousin, didn’t you say your husband was busy? He’s apparently so busy celebrating someone else’s birthday at a private venue."

Ivy clenched her fists, her mind filled with the image of Damien renting out a venue for fireworks to celebrate another woman’s birthday.

She thought he was busy.

Even when her mother passed away, she handled it alone, afraid to bother him too much.

Seven days, he didn’t have time to return her calls or light incense for her mother, yet he had time to rent a venue and light fireworks for someone else’s celebration.

How ridiculous.

The woman in the video was Damien’s first love, the woman he deeply loved.

And she was merely the woman Old Master Lancaster asked Damien to marry, as a token of gratitude to her father for saving his life, hoping to provide her with lifelong support.

For the past three years, Ivy knew he didn’t love her, so she never dared to trouble Damien with her problems, nor did she dare to expect anything.

Damien was a cold man who didn’t understand romance; he didn’t celebrate any holidays, his life revolved only around work.

It wasn’t until today that she realized Damien wasn’t incapable of being romantic; he just wasn’t willing to be romantic with her.

Damien made Ivy the biggest joke with a splendid and grand fireworks display.

Ivy gritted her teeth, forcing down the pain in her heart, and shifted her gaze away from the phone to appear less pathetic.

Her mother’s funeral still needed her management, she had to hold on.

Ivy forced herself to bend down, picked up her mother’s memorial tablet, and ignored the mocking gazes as she walked out.

Ivy remembered her mother had wanted to see Damien one last time before she passed.

At that time, she had called Damien many times, yet he didn’t answer. Maybe he was with Rachel Shaw back then, too.

Her mother had hoped she could be happy forever with Damien.

But it might not be possible anymore.

After managing everything alone, and after all the relatives and friends had finished eating and left, Ivy sat alone in the dining room chair.

Damien arrived late, dressed in a black shirt, his handsome face showed little expression, but his gaze lingered on Ivy. For once, there was a hint of apology on his usually emotionless face.

Supported by her belly, Ivy looked up at him, and the suppressed grievances surged up instantly.

Ivy took a deep breath, swallowed the grievance hard, and showed no trace of emotion on her face, "Just finished with work?"

Damien didn’t notice the fragility in her voice.

"There was a meeting during the day."

"And last night? Did you enjoy the birthday celebration?"

Damien frowned. Before he could speak, a woman in a red dress, with Damien’s coat draped over her shoulders, walked in.

Ivy’s face grew more somber.

"Ivy, I’m sorry, Damien was with me last night. My mother fell ill a few days ago, and Damien was afraid I couldn’t handle it alone, so he stayed to help take care of her. It’s all my fault, I shouldn’t have troubled him."

Ivy listened to Rachel Shaw’s words, and a wave of bitterness surged in her heart.

"Is your mother seriously ill?"

"No, it was just a minor cold with a bit of a fever, she’s almost fully recovered now."

Ivy’s heart felt like it was hit hard; she struggled to control her emotions, but her red-rimmed eyes and trembling lips betrayed her.

Damien’s frown deepened. He was in a meeting when he heard about Ivy’s mother’s passing. After the meeting and when he was planning to go to see her, a problem arose with Rachel Shaw again. With so many things happening, he forgot about Ivy’s matters.

Nonetheless, he felt very sorry.

Damien wanted to go and light incense for Ivy’s mother, but Ivy blocked him, "No need, her mother is more important, go accompany her and her mother."

Damien’s steps halted.

Ivy didn’t want to stay here anymore; she stood up to leave.

She didn’t cry, Ivy wouldn’t allow herself to shed tears for someone who wasn’t worth it.

Damien watched as Ivy, now seven months pregnant, struggled even to walk; suddenly, he felt a trace of pain in his heart.

Rachel only worried and sobbed over her mother’s illness, calling him, but Ivy managed through her mother’s death all alone with no one to help her.

"Where are you going? You shouldn’t be running around when you’re pregnant." Damien tried to stop Ivy.

Ivy smiled bitterly.

So, he remembered she was pregnant.

Leaving his pregnant wife behind to take care of someone else’s mother showed he didn’t care about her or the child at all.

A child that wasn’t wanted wouldn’t be happy.

Ivy looked down at her belly; in pain, she seemed to reach a decision. She walked faster and got directly into the elevator.

Damien felt a blockage in his chest and moved to follow her. Rachel Shaw stopped him, "Damien, Ivy is grieving for her mother; maybe you should let her calm down on her own."

Damien glanced coldly at Rachel, pushed her hand away, and said in a deep, cold voice, "She’s in a bad state, something might happen; you go home first."

When Damien left, Ivy was already nowhere to be seen.

Watching the busy street with cars coming and going, Damien took out his phone and made a call, "Track Ivy’s phone, find her immediately."

For once, there was a hint of unease on Damien’s handsome face.

One hour later.

His assistant called him, "Sir, Mrs. Lancaster is at the hospital now."

"Why did she go to the hospital?"

"For... an abortion, and also, Mrs. Lancaster has asked her lawyer to draft a divorce agreement, she has already signed it."

A buzzing sound filled his ears.

Damien’s deep eyes were filled with disbelief.