First Lady Out, Your Majesty In

"Has your husband not arrived yet?" A young resident doctor stood there with several surgical consent forms in hand, waiting for a family member to sign for Allison Fulton. On the hospital bed, Allison curled into herself. Her face had turned pale, and she held her phone in a weak grip while the pain in her abdomen kept surging through her body. She had been diagnosed with acute appendicitis and needed surgery right away. Yet no matter how many times she called, her husband never answered. Everything in the operating room was ready, but she was still waiting for her husband's signature. "He is very busy," Allison replied. Nolan Reid was her husband. As the current President, his schedule ran from morning until night. His time had never belonged to her alone. "Too busy to care about your well-being?" The doctor let out a frustrated breath. "No matter how packed his schedule is, can he really be busier than the President? Even the President made time to accompany his fiancée to a prenatal checkup today." Those words struck Allison without warning. "W-what did you say?" Her voice trembled. "Who's accompanying..." The mention of the President accompanying his fiancée to a prenatal checkup pressed down on her chest and left her struggling to breathe. At that moment, noise suddenly rose from outside the hospital room. The doctor pointed toward the hallway. "Take a look. That's the President himself, one of the busiest men alive." Even with the sharp pain twisting through her abdomen, Allison lifted her head and looked. A tall man in a neat suit walked past the room. Lines of bodyguards followed close behind him. Her heart felt as if something had tightened around it. Nolan was the man she had loved for eight years, the husband she had quietly supported for three. Right now, he was wheeling a delicate woman to a prenatal checkup. The woman was Hollie Pearson, a member of the wealthiest family in the country and the same person who had bullied her during their school years. Allison watched what was happening outside, and it felt as if something were slowly squeezing her heart. Pain filled her chest while her husband's gentle voice reached her ears. "Don't worry, Hollie. I'm right here with you." Allison blinked, stunned. What about her? Anger surged through her. She pushed the blanket aside and tried to get up, determined to walk out and demand an explanation. Whose child was Hollie carrying that required the President himself to accompany her to a prenatal checkup while hiding it from his own wife? But the sharp pain in Allison's abdomen struck again before she could stand. Her body collapsed back onto the bed, leaving her too weak to rise again. The doctor stepped forward and quickly stopped her. "Don't move. Why don't you try calling your husband's office?" Her husband's office? Had anyone from the presidential residence ever treated her as the First Lady? Earlier that day, when she collapsed, it was a stranger who called the ambulance. "I might as well already be a widow," Allison said as despair filled her voice. She rolled on the bed while the pain continued and clawed at the sheets. "Damn it!" She grabbed the doctor's sleeve with all the strength she had left. "Can I just sign it myself?" The laparoscopic surgery eventually went through successfully, and the hospital required Allison to stay there for two days. No one came to take care of her. She lay there with pain running through her body, and sleep would not come. At half past one in the morning, she was about to fall asleep when her phone rang and woke her. The caller was Nolan. "Allison, since when did it become acceptable for you to stay out all night?" Nolan said. "Just because I didn't answer your calls during the day, you decided to throw a tantrum like this?" His voice carried clear frustration and blame, and it lacked the care and worry a husband should have shown. He even compared her with Hollie, saying, "How long are you planning to keep acting like this? If you could just learn to be sensible like Hollie..." Allison's wound continued to throb, leaving her without the strength to argue with him. Nolan did not wait for her response. "Come back right now," he said. "I need to talk to you." There was no room for refusal in his tone. "Don't force me to send someone to bring you back." An hour later, Allison returned to the presidential residence in a taxi. The lights in the second-floor living room of the main building were still on. Inside, a man sat on the sofa with his legs crossed. He looked cold and difficult to approach. Yet the lighting around him made his figure appear slightly warm. For the first time since their three years of marriage began, Nolan was the one waiting for her. That stirred Allison's heart for a brief moment. "Why did you come back so late? Where exactly have you been?" Nolan said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He did not lift his head when she approached. He had repeated the same expectation many times before. What he wanted was a wife who was obedient and understanding. Why couldn't Allison just act the way he wanted? A tight feeling rose in Allison's chest. She answered him with a sharp tone, "Oh? I went to a club and enjoyed the company of eight gigolos. Does that answer satisfy you, Mr. President?" If Nolan had taken a proper look at her, he would have noticed how weak she appeared. "Allison!" Nolan finally set the documents aside and lifted his gaze, irritation clear in his voice. His eyes moved across her pale face, and for a brief moment, his expression softened slightly. The sharpness in his voice eased. "What's going on with you? Are you not feeling well?" he asked. Allison didn't answer his question. When she truly needed him, he had not been there for her. Now that she was standing in front of him, what was the point of him pretending to care? She only asked, "Why did you call me back?" Nolan kept his eyes on her for nearly half a minute. After that pause, he slid a document across the table toward her. "Let's get a divorce. Hollie is pregnant, and the prenatal results aren't good. She is dealing with prenatal depression and has suicidal tendencies. The doctor said she needs a husband's care." He stopped speaking for a moment, and a trace of tenderness appeared in his eyes without him realizing it. "Allison, I need you to endure this for now. We'll separate for the time being. After Hollie gives birth and the child has a proper status, I'll divorce her and marry you again."