Chapter 1 The Scent of Doubt

"What's Ethan Chu so busy with?

Is he so swamped with work that he has no time to care for his wife and child?!"

After completing the final prenatal check-up, I ran into my mother and once again heard her complaints.

"It's been almost nine months, and he still lets you go to check-ups alone?

Men-none of them can be trusted!"

The hospital hallway bustled with people. My mother's voice rang out loud and clear, her criticisms aimed at Ethan Chu, while I just felt embarrassed.

She touched my increasingly round belly, her eyes betraying a look of clear dissatisfaction.

"Mom, stop it. He's away on a business trip.

He was actually planning to come back early to go with me, but I told him it wasn't necessary."

I considered myself fairly healthy. Aside from some worsening anemia lately, the rest of my pregnancy symptoms were mild.

For the most part, the baby had been well-behaved, not giving me much trouble.

I've always been independent, never liking to rely on others-not even those closest to me.

Ethan Chu both admired and resented this about me.

Sometimes he appreciated my trust in him and my self-sufficiency, but at other times, he wished I would lean on him and act a little spoiled.

Just as I finished speaking, he called.

My mom helped me sit down to rest, then turned away to gather the hospital paperwork, not looking at me again.

Ethan asked about my health with sincere concern. He said he was still in City D, but work was wrapping up. He planned to have dinner with a client and take the latest high-speed train back to City B.

"Has Lily come back already?

Is she doing okay?

Does your project suit her?"

Lily Lin was our childhood friend-Ethan's and mine. She had been my best friend since elementary school.

This year, she had just transferred to work in Ethan's project department, but the two of them had never gotten along.

According to Lily, she had always disliked Ethan's seemingly humble but fake demeanor.

Ethan, on the other hand, couldn't stand Lily's pride and cold attitude.

Ethan responded with his usual tone of indifference:

"My wife already said it's fine. Do you think I'd dare go against her wishes?"

Then he started to act all playful:

"Hey, hey, what's with you? Can't you show your loving husband a little more attention?

All you talk about is Lily, Lily."

We joked for a bit. I wished him safe travels before ending the call.

My mom, trying to suppress her irritation, helped me down to the parking garage to get the car. On the way home, she started mumbling again.

My ears were getting numb from all the nagging. I had never wished for Ethan to come home sooner than I did right then-to rescue me from this.

However, while waiting at a red light, I casually scrolled through my phone and saw something strange.

Just a minute ago, Lily had posted something on social media.

In the dim lighting, her hands were tied with a necktie. She lay on a bed in a hotel room with crisp white sheets.

The image was provocative, and under the photo was a caption:

"Business trip, watching the game, hunting monsters."

I was about to comment-shocked that she had suddenly "transformed" overnight after so many years of being so reserved-when the necktie in the photo stunned me.

A gray-blue striped tie with a red heart-limited edition, identical to the birthday gift I gave Ethan.

"Anna, I told you to stop using your phone so much. Don't you worry about going blind?!"

My mother's voice rang out again, but I ignored her.

I immediately clicked on Lily's profile to view her page, but the post had already disappeared.

As if nothing had happened. Maybe I imagined it.

The car started moving again, but a sharp pain gripped my belly. My vision blurred, and I slowly lost consciousness.

When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed, receiving a blood transfusion. The sky outside had already gone dark.

I hadn't been eating well lately. Lunch had been light, and my anemia had flared up again.

I always thought I was healthy, but that terrifying photo had scared me enough to pass out.

Opening my eyes, I saw my mother sitting nearby, worry etched across her face, her eyes red.

I gently rested my hand on my swollen belly, heart aching.

"You always make me worry!

You married a man from an ordinary family, and within less than a year, you're already pregnant.

I raised you alone, hoping you'd marry into a well-off family and live comfortably, but instead-"

Her familiar complaints echoed again, and for the first time, they didn't just irritate me-they pierced a little deeper.

I knew she only wanted me to avoid suffering. After my father passed, she had endured so much hardship raising me alone.

When I first started dating Ethan, she strongly opposed it, worried that his humble background meant I'd end up disadvantaged.

But truthfully, I was a team lead in branding design, and my income was solid.

Ethan had been climbing steadily in his career too-promotions, raises, and now leading his own project team.

We'd upgraded our car, bought a new home.

Our baby was almost due. Everything seemed to be going well.

If not for that bizarre post on social media, I would've dismissed Mom's nagging as the usual noise.

"Our family may not be as wealthy as Lily's, but we never had to worry. Yet if Ethan keeps working himself to death, never home even when you're sick or in pain, then what's the point of all that money?!"

I had heard it a hundred times before, but this time, it hit harder.

If I hadn't imagined that photo... what was it?

What exactly was this years-long rivalry between Ethan and Lily?

I wanted to call them immediately. I hated ambiguity-I wanted the truth.

Just as I picked up my phone, the hospital room door burst open. Ethan rushed in, suitcase in hand.

The post was gone. No evidence remained. But I couldn't let this doubt fester-I asked directly: "Where's the striped tie I gave you?"

"The tie?"

Ethan blinked in surprise for a second, then calmly approached and gently embraced me.

I wasn't sure if I was just being overly sensitive, but I caught a faint whiff of cigarette smoke mixed with a hint of unfamiliar perfume-a soft, almost undetectable scent.

But Ethan had quit smoking before I even started preparing for pregnancy.

"It's in the suitcase. What's wrong? Are you feeling okay?"

I weakly pushed him away. My eyes had unknowingly grown misty. "Show me."

Ethan frowned slightly but said nothing.

He set down the suitcase and pulled out the striped tie I had given him for his birthday.

Gray-blue stripes, neatly rolled, the red heart still perfectly intact-nothing seemed off.

Maybe that social media post had been nothing more than a bad dream.

Ethan and I looked each other in the eyes. He was calm, which made me feel like the irrational one.

Since getting pregnant, I had rarely lost control of my emotions.

Work, my team, and Ethan's frequent business trips had forced me to cultivate patience. My mother's relentless worries had only added to the pressure.

Deep down, a voice inside me always reminded me: stay composed, don't let your hormones rule you.

Only at night, when the baby stirred lightly, when I stared at Ethan's arm wrapped around my waist as I struggled to sleep, did my fears creep in.

I feared I couldn't balance career and motherhood. I feared the toll on my body. I even feared that the man beside me might change.

"Ethan Chu, seriously, what's so special about that stupid tie?!"

My mother could no longer hold it in. She snapped:

"Can't you focus on your wife for once?

She's heavily pregnant, anemic, and just fainted-and all you do is work! All you care about is money!"

"I'm sorry, Mom. It won't happen again.

I've already spoken to the company. No more business trips for the next few months. From now on, I'll be here for Anna. Please don't be upset-it's not worth the stress."

Ethan held my hand tightly. The warmth from his palm spread to mine, and his eyes were full of worry:

"I'm sorry, Anna. I didn't mean to make you feel this way."

I felt a twinge of guilt and began to wonder if maybe I had imagined it all. And just then, the baby kicked sharply.

Ethan saw it too. His eyes lit up with joy-the kind of joy only a soon-to-be father could have. He gently placed his hand on my belly and spoke to the baby.

"Daddy's home late. Sorry to keep you and Mommy waiting. You've both been so strong."

My eyes burned. Ethan had quietly been working so hard for our family. Our marriage hadn't been easy-perhaps I shouldn't doubt him.

I reached out to hold him when Lily burst into the hospital room.

She completely ignored the intimacy between Ethan and me and rushed straight to my side, her concern as genuine as could be.

But as she got closer, I caught that same faint fragrance-blended with the cigarette smell I had detected earlier.

My earlier suspicion... might already have an answer.