Birthday Turned Deathday: Raising Hell for My Daughter

It was late at night by the time I was done dealing with the funeral arrangements for Arlene and finally went back to the Bale household.

This was the second time I had gone to the hospital today. And both times, I had been told that I had lost a child.

My numb fingers twitched a bit. I found it simply ironic.

I looked around at the villa where I'd lived for the past ten years and saw that it was full of traces of another woman.

Ruth's house slippers were there, along with her cashmere rug, her paintings… There were too many of her belongings around, blatantly taking over my and Camden's home, and drowning my world out.

However, these all would have nothing to do with me anymore very soon.

Camden had come with me to the hospital earlier and cried before Arlene's body. However, after a single, explosive phone call from Ruth, he immediately left the hospital and went back home.

When I walked past his bedroom, I could hear Ruth's whimpering and Camden's patient and comforting voice as he lulled her to sleep.

I recalled the time when Camden suggested that we sleep in separate rooms because he was always going out on business trips. He said he didn't want to disturb me or wake me up because of it.

But now that I thought of it, I realized that he was probably already sick of me at that time.

He had been going out on "business trips" very often over the past two years. I had just assumed that he had really meant what he said because Bale Group was indeed growing and expanding exponentially at that time.

I just never realized that some things had already begun to rot the moment he started lying to me.

I went back to my room and tapped on Ruth's post again. Then, I tapped into her social media profile and scrolled all the way down. I soon found out that she and Camden had reunited at an artist showcase in Newtonville three years ago.

After that, Camden kept appearing in Ruth's posts and story highlights. She often referred to Camden as "Mr. B."

Ruth was a designer with quite a following online. She had a few thousand fans and followers on her account. Many of them often left comments asking her to show off more of her love life online.

"The first time Mr. B ever cooked for me. Zero stars for taste; five stars for confidence.

"Mr. B is coming with me to see the sunrise today. Currently enjoying my breakfast in bed that he made at 3:00 am today.

"Meet Mr. B, my personal blowdryer."

I kept scrolling down every post she made. They all lined up perfectly with the dates that Camden told me he was on his "business trips".

One year ago, Ruth finally returned to the country.

That night, Camden never came home, and I got into a huge fight with him over it.

We gave each other the cold shoulder for a whole month. It was only resolved because Arlene played the peacemaker between us.

My chest hurt even more at the thought of her.

I buried my head between my knees and sobbed.

"Why are you still up?"

Camden pushed the door open and walked in. He sat next to me on the bed and caressed my hair.

"It was my fault, Angie," he said quietly. "I didn't keep an eye on Ari."

I shoved his hand away and wiped away my tears. Then, I glared at him and said, "Where the hell did you go? Ari was such a good kid, and you still managed to lose her! You don't deserve to be her dad!"

Camden sighed and propped his head up with his hand. "Don't say that, Angie. Ari's going to be upset if she learns that her parents are arguing again."

He lowered his eyes and spoke gently despite the guilt reflecting in his voice. For a brief moment, I thought I could pretend that nothing terrible had happened—Ruth never came back to the country, and Arlene was still alive.

Yet, a split second later, Camden's words rudely yanked me back to reality.

"About Ruth's son… We were both drunk, and… She insisted on keeping the baby. I only brought her back because I needed an heir."

He glanced at me. What he said sounded like an explanation, but it felt more like he was blaming me for not giving birth to a son instead.

"But don't you worry. Nothing will change the fact that you're still my wife. When the baby's healthier, I'll bring him back, and we'll raise him like our son. He'll call you 'Mom.'"

I opened and closed my mouth a few times before sound finally escaped my throat.

"My daughter is dead, and now, you want me to raise somebody else's child instead?"

Camden didn't notice me caressing my own stomach at all. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he said, "I didn't mean that. My son will be the future heir of the Bale family, and you're my wife. What's wrong with that?

"Or, we could just have another kid together. Ari's already dead. We can't keep living in the past—"

I grabbed my pillow and threw it in his face.

"Are you crazy, Camden Bale? Ari only just passed today! Nobody can ever replace my Ari! Nobody!"

Camden easily dodged the pillow.

"Since you don't want to, then forget about it. Also, Ruth is a career woman. She's different from a housewife like you. I know that you don't like her. If you have nothing better to do, then you can just stay home and do whatever you want and leave the caretaking to the maids."

Ruth's voice suddenly sounded outside the door.

"The hospital just gave us an update on our son's condition!"

Camden was about to say something more when he heard her and hurried out of the room, leaving me behind.

"Do you even remember why we named our daughter Arlene in the first place?" I whispered to the empty room.