Your First Love is Pregnant? I'm Done Being Mrs. Hawthorne!

Chapter 22: Suggesting Divorce 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

During the meal, Zachary Hawthorne even placed her favorite dishes in front of her.

After they finished eating, he put his arm around Nina Wainwright and led her to the living room to watch TV.

Nina Wainwright knew he was just putting on a show because she had made a huge scene.

That night, Nina Wainwright barely slept.

The thought of the debt made her feel like she was suffocating, even in her sleep.

Other people with debts could at least find ways to earn money and pay them off. She didn’t even have the right to get a job to repay her own.

She hadn’t been asleep for long when the sky began to lighten. It wasn’t even five-thirty when she quietly got out of bed and left.

The sky outside was a hazy gray. She took a car to the hospital and went to Raymond Wainwright’s room. Peeking through the window, she saw Mrs. Wainwright slumped over by the bed, and her heart ached at the sight.

"What are you doing here so early?" Adrian Pemberton’s voice came from behind her.

Nina Wainwright jumped. "What are you doing here?"

"I’m on duty. That’s how it is for doctors; we have to be on call every so often to check on our patients," Adrian Pemberton said gently.

Nina Wainwright stepped aside and said in a low voice, "I’m really sorry."

She was talking about what happened yesterday.

"Diana Aldridge isn’t angry with you. She knows you have your own difficulties. But she asked me to tell you not to waste your talent. The way he’s suppressing you now is just to strip you of your ability to survive, forcing you to depend on him to live," Adrian Pemberton said softly.

Nina had considered this, but she still couldn’t bring herself to believe that Zachary Hawthorne would actually do such a thing.

The man she had loved for so many years... They had shared a bed for three years. She couldn’t believe Zachary Hawthorne could be that kind of person.

"Have you had breakfast?" Seeing her silence, Adrian Pemberton changed the subject.

Nina Wainwright shook her head slightly. "No. Want to get some together?"

"Sure. I know a good breakfast place near the hospital. It’s early, so it shouldn’t be crowded. Let’s hurry and grab a table." Adrian Pemberton’s tone became a little more cheerful.

The two of them went to the breakfast shop together.

After sitting down, Adrian Pemberton ordered a steamer of large meat buns. "The buns here are delicious. Want some congee?"

"Yes." Nina Wainwright remembered that back in school, this was their standard combo: two big buns and a bowl of congee.

Buns today weren’t quite as good.

The buns from the shop by the school gate back then were big and soft, and the congee was thick and fragrant. Those were such easy, carefree days... At that moment, Nina Wainwright deeply missed that carefree version of herself.

A version that wasn’t feeling lost and helpless over family debt.

After ordering, Adrian Pemberton sat down. He mulled it over for a moment before asking Nina, "Do you want to hear Diana Aldridge’s story?"

"You can tell me." She thought Diana Aldridge’s name sounded like it had a story behind it.

Adrian Pemberton cleared his throat. "You’re curious when you hear her name, aren’t you?"

Nina hummed in agreement.

Diana Aldridge was born into a family that heavily favored sons over daughters; her very name and existence were meant to be for her younger brother. But luckily, she was smart. With her stunning looks, she started dating a rich, second-generation kid in high school, and by then, she was already a minor internet celebrity.

A single dance made her famous, and she was taken in as a disciple by a traditional dance teacher.

"Everything was going well for her, but because she’d been conditioned since childhood to always help out her brother and her family, all the money she earned during her four years of college, plus the money from her first three years in the dance world, all went to buying her brother a house and a car. Her brother got a big house and a car, but she was left with nothing. Back then, though, her parents were still pretty good to her." Adrian Pemberton paused for a moment.

The buns and congee were brought to the table.

Nina Wainwright picked up a bun, took a small bite, and found that it really did taste just like her childhood.

Adrian Pemberton watched her, his expression holding a hint of imperceptible tension. "How is it?"

"It’s delicious!" Nina Wainwright said, pleasantly surprised.

Adrian Pemberton let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "I’m glad you like it."

He continued with Diana Aldridge’s story.

Diana Aldridge later married her rich, second-generation boyfriend, but less than a year into the marriage, her husband cheated on her.

"When they were getting divorced, she was pregnant with Lynn. The young, beautiful mistress also showed up at their door, pregnant, which made Diana so angry she almost had a miscarriage. She told her husband that if he made the mistress get an abortion, they could still make it work, but he refused. So she raised hell, and her husband cursed her out for being a ’slave to her brother’—basically saying he’d long been fed up with her and her family." Adrian Pemberton sighed softly.

Nina Wainwright ate her bun, but it was tasteless to her now.

She felt a deep sympathy for Diana Aldridge.

’Just how desperate must a pregnant Diana have been?’

"Turns out, her brother and parents would show up at her husband’s company to freeload whenever they felt like it, demanding a hundred or two hundred thousand each time. And all of them knew their son-in-law had been cheating on Diana with a younger, prettier girl for a long time. When Diana found out, she was devastated. She went home and had a huge fight, and her father threw her out of the house." Adrian Pemberton stopped and looked up at Nina.

Nina Wainwright clutched her bun, her voice trembling. "How did she get through it?"

"For the divorce, she gathered the evidence herself, took him to court, and got half of his family’s assets plus a villa in compensation before it was all over. After that day, when everyone had abandoned her, she completely transformed. You wouldn’t believe it, but she used to be very soft-hearted and gentle, not this decisive and formidable person she is now." Adrian Pemberton’s voice was tinged with admiration as he said this.

Nina Wainwright said in a low voice, "I really admire her."

"It was incredibly hard for her back then. She had no home, was six months pregnant with Lynn, and was running around trying to find people and gather evidence... Because his family was rich, many lawyers refused to take her case. So many nights, she told me she wanted to die, that she wanted everyone who hurt her to pay... I felt so bad for her then, which is why I feel so bad for you now." Adrian Pemberton was telling her this story mainly because he hoped Nina would make a decision sooner rather than later.

Nina Wainwright took a bite of her bun. "Thank you."

"Nina, I know Zachary Hawthorne has an old flame. The last time I went to a hotel with my family, I saw him there with that girl and a group of his buddies. He was very protective of her... As for why he doesn’t want to divorce now, I don’t know if it has anything to do with her." Adrian Pemberton didn’t know Zachary Hawthorne well, but he just wanted Nina to get away from him as soon as possible.

He didn’t want her to end up like Diana, completely abandoned, where every step felt like walking on a blade’s edge.

"Diana got a sum of money, but just a few months after giving birth, she was in a car accident. The accident ended her dance career. Rumor has it the ex-husband’s family had someone do it. When a man decides to be ruthless, he won’t think twice about old feelings," Adrian Pemberton continued to persuade her.

Nina Wainwright swallowed her mouthful of bun and said, "I’ve been trying to get a divorce, but he refuses. Suing him... would be very difficult."

"Your best bet is to go after that woman," Adrian Pemberton said.

"That’s too risky. Don’t you know what kind of man he is?" Nina would have to have a death wish to dare investigate Luna Sterling.