Filed to story: Mia Bowen and Timothy Barrett Novel
Timothy crumpled the list when he heard that. His brows furrowed with irritation.
Why was the investigation inconclusive again?
Mia relaxed a little after finding out she’d made it to the finals. Then, she threw herself into preparing her designs for the final round. This time, she had to win first place.
When she was almost done, she received a call from the hospital. “Am I speaking to
Ms. Mia Bowen? It’s time for you to come to the hospital for a prenatal checkup.”
Mia placed a hand on her belly. She’d almost forgotten that she was pregnant. She knew Patricia wouldn’t agree to her keeping the baby. She decided to go for the prenatal checkup alone.
When Mia stepped out of her room, she saw Liam standing on the balcony. He was on the phone with someone. He hurriedly hung up when he saw her. “Where are you going, Mia? I’ll go with you.”
“Do you have something to attend to on set, Liam?”
“Nah, it’s nothing important. One of the shows I was in is gonna start promoting soon, so they want me to make an appearance. I’m just a side character, so it doesn’t matter whether I’m present. It’s just that the main actor can’t make it, so they need me to go in his stead.”
Mia thought about it, then said, “I’m meeting a friend, so you should go do your thing. I’m an adult; I don’t need you guys to watch over me all the time.”
Over the past few days, her brothers and cousins had taken turns accompanying her at home while she slaved away at her designs. While it moved her, she hadn’t forgotten that they were from Nord City.
Their lives and work were based there, so she’d told them to return. Now, Liam was the only one left with her.
He caressed her on the head. “I’ll be at Centura Mall for the event, then. Call me if anything comes up.”
Liam would love nothing more than to spend time with Mia, but he was also worried she’d get sick of him. Eva had told them they couldn’t be overenthusiastic; it would make them seem fake.
“Okay. Bye, Liam.”
After bidding Liam farewell, Mia took a cab to the hospital. During the prenatal checkup, the doctor smiled and said, “Everything looks fine. The baby’s doing very well. Remember to take your folic acid and vitamins.”
“Thanks, doc.”
Mia exited the room with her folic acid. She held a piece of paper¨Cit was a pregnancy report, and it represented her baby.
“What are you doing here, Mia?”
Mia looked up to see a well¨Cdressed middle¨Caged woman standing before her. It was
Sharon.
Mia’s heart leaped to her throat when she saw Sharon. She quickly lowered her hand to hide the pregnancy report. She hadn’t expected to run into Sharon here.
After all, rich women like her generally went to private hospitals.
She should’ve checked her horoscope before leaving the house today.
Sharon strode over to her, looking appraising. “What are you doing here, Mia? And at the gynecology department too. Are you pregnant?”
“No, my period’s just out of whack. I came to see a doctor to regulate it.”
There was no way Mia would let Sharon know she was pregnant. Otherwise, she wouldn’t ever be able to leave Timothy.
Besides, Timothy wouldn’t want the baby, and Sharon only wanted Maya as her daughter¨Cin¨Claw. Mia’s baby was destined to be an unwanted child¨Cthat was why she would do anything to protect it.
She gulped before starting to spout nonsense. “Anyway, your son can’t get anyone pregnant. What would be the use of me seeing any doctor? Why else do you think I haven’t had a child despite being us being married for three years?
“I was willing to help him cover up the truth in the past, but I don’t need to continue doing that now that we’re getting divorced. Timothy can’t even get it up!”
“Ha! Do you think I’d believe you? You’re obviously lying. Show me what you’re holding!”
Mia looked calm on the outside, but her heart was practically jumping out of her chest. She couldn’t let Sharon see the pregnancy report!
Ultimately, Mia held out the pregnancy report to Sharon. “Go ahead and read it if you want. This is a report for myself. It has nothing to do with Timothy.”
Her heart was almost jumping out of her chest.
Sharon eyed her for a while before scoffing. “C’mon, be frank with me. I bet you’re here to get treated for infertility. How dare you accuse my son of being the one with the problem if you’re here for that? I couldn’t be bothered to look at your report. Why would I need to?”
Mia relaxed a little. It looked like Sharon didn’t suspect her of anything. She put up a calm front and said, “Forget it if you don’t believe me.”
“Hold it. Do you have a guilty conscience because I caught you out? Honestly, you don’t even need to treat your infertility. Once Timothy and Maya get married, they’ll definitely have children of their own. Don’t even dream of using a child to tie Timothy to you.”
Mia’s gaze was mocking. “The thought hadn’t even occurred to me. I wouldn’t stoop that low.”
She put a hand on her belly. After all, she’d always intended to leave the Barrett family with her baby.
Sharon’s tone was condescending as she said, “I hope so. After all, Maya comes from the Lane family and grew up in an affluent environment. She’s beautiful, rich, and classy. Only someone like her is worthy of being with Timothy.
“Only her child would be worthy of being the Barrett family’s heir. Women who lived in squalor shouldn’t even dream about using their child to climb the social ladder.”
With that, Sharon turned and flounced away in her heels.
Mia’s grip tightened around her pregnancy report as bitterness washed over her. Her regular upbringing was one of the main reasons Sharon had never liked her. Sharon didn’t think she was worthy of being Timothy’s wife.
But she had never thought about the Barrett family’s money when marrying Timothy.
Mia watched Sharon leave, then looked down at her belly. “Don’t take those words to heart, sweetie. I don’t think like that, and I don’t agree with her. You’ll have six uncles when you’re born; they’ll love you to bits and protect you at all costs.”
She wasn’t alone anymore.
On her way home, she transferred the folic acid pills to the bottle with the vitamins. That way, no one would realize what she was taking.
When Mia returned to her room to get some rest that night, she received a WhatsApp message from Gina. “Do you remember the Instagram story I posted the other day? A prestigious company just contacted me-they want to hire you, and they’re willing to pay. Are you interested?” (1)
“Which company is it?” Mia asked. She had to admit she was tempted. She needed the money.
“Barrett Group. You know how they normally open up mass recruitment for students in the second half of the year? Many students have sent in their applications. Barrett Group pays well and has lots of benefits, but they’re also strict.
“Everyone wants to go there. Things are different for you, though. They’re the ones who want you to join them.”
Barrett Group? That was Timothy’s company. This made Mia hesitate. “I’ll think about it.”
She didn’t want to have anything to do with Timothy. Besides, she would soon be returning to college to continue her education. Getting a job would only delay that. She wanted to get her degree more than anything.
Mia never would’ve expected that Timothy would one day offer her an olive branch. In the past, he wouldn’t even have spared her a glance. It truly was ludicrous for a woman to give up her career for a man.
After Mia submitted her designs for the final round of the competition, she started waiting for the results to be announced. But there was no news even when it was time for the winner to be announced.
She was confused. “Has something gone wrong this year? I don’t remember the announcement being delayed in the past.”
Liam immediately sent a message to One Big Happy Family. “Dominic, why aren’t the competition’s results out yet?”
Dominic sounded like he was sulking. “I wanted to throw a grand award ceremony for Mia and take the opportunity to announce who she was, but Eva disagreed. She’s already scolded me for ten minutes.”
Eva said, “The award ceremony is fine, but you can’t announce Mia’s identity. She looks casual and breezy but is actually very sensitive. We have to keep a lid on things now that she’s accepted us.”
Liam said seriously, “I agree. There won’t be any pressure on Mia if she doesn’t know anything about our actual identities.”
Ultimately, Dominic gave in. Shortly after, Mia found that the competition’s results had been announced on the official website. There was no mention of the placing, though.
Mia received an invitation from the organizers to attend the awards ceremony next week. She sent a screenshot of the announcement on the website to Gina. “I made it through, but there aren’t any rankings.”
Gina replied excitedly, “You have to be in the first place! It’s weird that they’ve suddenly changed the rules this year, though.”
Mia found it weird as well. But it didn’t really matter. This competition was only held once every three years, and many designers couldn’t wait to win an award from
1. it. After all, all the big names in the industry recognized this competition. It was a hefty accomplishment to place in such a competition.
“Mia, the people from Barrett Group have contacted me again to ask whether you got through. This time, they’ve offered even better conditions than before to get you to join them. I think it’s an opportunity that’s hard to come by, Mia. Are you still thinking about it?”
Mia couldn’t come clean to Gina. Though Gina knew she’d been married, she had no idea it was to Timothy. After some thought, Mia replied, “I want to go back to college and complete my education, so I don’t intend to get a proper job for now. It might delay my studies; I want that degree.”
Gina said, “Alright, then. I’ll support you no matter what you decide to do.”
Mia took a photo of the invitation to the awards ceremony and shared it on her
Instagram with a caption that read, “Three years upon three years. This time, I won’t give up halfway.”
Timothy also soon received news that the list of finalists had been announced. He saw Mia’s name among the finalists and was surprised. He hadn’t expected her to get this far in the competition.
Timothy pulled out his phone to see a notification that Mia had a new post on her
Instagram. For an inexplicable reason, he clicked on it to see what she’d posted.
Then, he narrowed his eyes. Three years upon three years?
Mia had married him three years ago, which was when the Fleur International
Design Competition had last been held. He could guess why she’d given up on the competition the last time. As he stared at her caption, he couldn’t help feeling irritated.
At this moment, Heath entered the office. “Mr. Barrett, Zoe made it into the finals but refused our olive branch.”
Timothy frowned. “Is someone competing against us for her?”