Chapter 38: Chapter 38

"MISS, do you have a medium size for that dress?" I asked the sales staff as I pointed at the mint green maternity dress displayed in the store boutique.

I decided to go to the mall that day to do some shopping. My baby bump was already growing and I already needed to wear maternity dresses for the next few months.

"Yes, Ma'am," the sales staff politely smiled at me. "I'll go get it for you. Please, take a seat first." She motioned me to the vacant couch nearby.

I sat there and browsed my phone when someone called my name.

"Claire?"

I turned my head and saw a familiar woman. It was Mary. Adam's ex-girlfriend. She was wearing a white tube dress and red stilettos. Her long hair was in a high ponytail, just like the night when I'd first seen her.

"Hi, Mary." I managed to give the woman a small smile.

She smiled as her eyes went down to my belly. "You're buying a maternity dress?"

"Yeah. Uh, what about you?"

"I was just walking around when I saw you here," she answered. "Where's Adam, by the way?" She looked around the shop.

"Uh, no. I came here alone," I said. "Adam's currently in Spain right now with Arthur."

"Oh," she said, nodding. "Well, then do you have somewhere else to go after this?" she asked, smiling. "Can I invite you to dinner?"

"Uh… sure," I agreed. Mary seemed to be a nice woman. Well, she was Adam's first love. I knew Adam wouldn't fall in love with her if she wasn't nice. Besides, I wanted to hear stories from her about Adam's teenage years.

After paying for the dress that I bought, I went with Mary for dinner.

"Is this place fine with you?" Mary asked me when she brought me to an Italian restaurant a few blocks away from the boutique.

"The food here is really great. I know the chef here." She winked at me.

"Sure. I love pasta."

I ordered shrimp fettuccine, while Mary ordered lasagna and a pan of pizza. Yeah. A whole pan of pizza.

"If you're wondering, I have a big appetite," Mary said, chuckling.

I pursed my lips. "Well, I didn't expect that. You have the body of a model."

Mary smiled. "Thanks for the compliment, Claire." She picked up a slice of pizza and bit into it. "But I really am a big eater. I remember when Adam and I were teens, we used to finish three boxes of pizza by ourselves."

My eyes slightly widened. "Really? Three boxes?"

Mary giggled. "Yeah. Adam and I both love pizza. We eat pizza almost every weekend."

I didn't know that. I realized that until now, I still didn't know many things about Adam. I didn't even know that he liked pizza. We've been living together for a few months now, but we haven't eaten pizza yet.

"What's his favorite?"

Mary smiled. "He likes Hawaiian. Adam's a pineapple on pizza person."

I managed to smile at Mary, but deep inside me, I couldn't help but feel envious as I realized that Mary really knew Adam better than me, his wife.

Well, this woman was Adam's childhood friend. They knew each other for years, while I only knew Adam for a couple of months.

"Has Adam already told you about our past?"

I sipped my water. "Yeah. He told me about you two."

Mary smiled, as if she was reminiscing about the past. "Yeah. Adam and I have known each other since we were kids. We were each other's first love. We literally grew up together." I thought we would be together till the end, but then Adam had told me that he wasn't built for long term relationships. That he didn't want to be caged into responsibilities. That he wanted to be free as a bird and go on different things in life." She let out a small chuckle. "I was too hurt that time, so I cut off my connection with him and didn't talk to him for years. But I'm thankful that we met again two years ago."

Mary looked at me. "I was really shocked when he introduced you as his wife that night. I didn't even hear that he got married. I just talked to his mother a week before that party and she hadn't mentioned to me that Adam's already married."

I blinked. "You know his mother?"

Mary pursed her lips. "Of course. We grew up together, remember? I was there with him when Adam's mother left them." She smiled a little. "When Aunt Amelie found out that Adam and I were talking again, she started contacting me to ask for Adam since his son didn't want to talk to her. How about you? Did you know about his mother?"

I smiled a little. "Yeah. Adam has told me about his family."

I watched her as she ate her food. As I kept looking at her, I realized how beautiful she was. This woman doesn't seem to have any physical flaws.

And I couldn't help but feel a tinge of insecurity. I didn't know why I was feeling this way. I'd never felt this kind of insecurity before. I used to be confident in my physical appearance. But now, I feel small compared to Mary. Maybe this was what pregnancy brought to me.

Mary sighed. But then she smiled a little. "Back to what I was saying earlier, I couldn't believe that Adam was already married. But then we met two weeks ago in Arthur's shop, and then he told me about you."

My brows were raised in curiosity. "Oh, what did Adam tell you about me?" I chuckled a little.

Mary smiled. "Adam told me the real reason you two got married, Claire."

I stiffened in my seat. "C-come again?" My voice only came out in a whisper.

"Adam told me the real reason he married you, Claire."

I felt like something was clutching my chest. No. Adam couldn't do that to me. He'd assured me he'd never tell anyone about our setup.

"W-what did he tell you, Mary?"

"That Adam got you pregnant, and since your family couldn't handle any scandals during this election period, you asked Adam for his help. You offered Adam to be your contract husband in exchange for ten million dollars."

I felt like my heart was suddenly breaking into tiny pieces. I couldn't believe Adam had done this to me. How could he? I trusted him. I loved him.

"Claire, are you okay?" Mary looked at me with concerned eyes.

I blinked for a few seconds. I could feel the hot tears in the corner of my eyes. My heart was shattered. I felt like I couldn't breathe.

"I..." I shook my head. "I just didn't expect that Adam would tell you that."

"Oh. You have nothing to worry about, Claire. I promised I wouldn't tell anyone about this." She gave a smile. "Maybe Adam had told me about that because he wanted to assure me that we could still be together."

I thought my heart had already broken into pieces, but after hearing that from Mary, my heart pulverized.