Chapter 1: On Their Wedding Anniversary, He Accompanied Someone Else to a Prenatal Checkup Editor: Henyee Translations

"Dr. Wynter, I have some crazy gossip for you."

"I heard that as soon as Captain Xavier landed safely, he went into the cabin and carried out a beautiful flight attendant. The news is all over the airline now. Everyone’s saying there’s something going on between them."

"This is the first time I’ve ever seen Captain Xavier look so worried!"

At her words, a dull ache suddenly clenched Wren Wynter’s heart, and she almost lost her composure.

How ridiculous!

The two people at the center of the gossip... one was her husband, Kaden Xavier, and the other was his unforgettable love.

Eight hours ago, the flight Kaden Xavier was piloting, Flight A111, hit severe turbulence and lost contact with the control tower. She’d been calling him nonstop ever since the plane landed safely, but he never picked up.

In the end, he was busy worrying about his old flame. So busy that she, his own wife, had to hear he was safe from other people.

Staring at the photo on her colleague’s phone, Wren was consumed by anger and jealousy. Her legs gave out from under her, and she collapsed.

But it was as if she couldn’t feel the pain.

So that’s what Kaden looks like when he truly cares about someone.

From the moment she heard he was in danger, she hadn’t had a moment’s peace. Yet after landing safely, the first thing her husband did wasn’t to let her know he was okay. Instead, his entire world revolved around his old flame.

It was a cruel reminder of what a fool she’d been in this marriage.

It’s time to wake up from this dream.

"Dr. Wynter, are you all right?" her colleague asked, concerned.

Wren shook her head.

Just then, the door burst open.

Kaden Xavier rushed in, dressed in his black captain’s uniform. The four prominent stripes on his epaulets highlighted his sharp, handsome features as he carried a petite figure in his arms.

"Quick, take a look at her. She’s thrown up several times and isn’t doing well."

Seeing this, her colleague tactfully excused herself.

Wren composed herself. Ignoring her injured foot, she grabbed her equipment and hurried to the examination bed.

She didn’t have to look to know it was Seraphina Sutton.

The unforgettable love Kaden had pined for throughout their three years of marriage.

Dressed in her flight attendant uniform, her pale face made her look achingly fragile. She clutched Kaden’s hand, refusing to let go. "Kaden, I’m scared... I need you to stay with me..."

Wren and Kaden’s marriage was a secret, but Seraphina knew the truth. And yet, right in front of her, Kaden intertwined his fingers with Seraphina’s, his handsome, stern face etched with worry.

"How is she?"

Wren suppressed the sharp sting in her heart and started the scanner. "It’s just acute vomiting from the turbulence. Nothing serious. I’ll just run a full scan..."

The moment the scanner touched Seraphina’s lower abdomen, Wren’s voice died in her throat. Her fingers froze. She looked up at Seraphina in shock. "You’re pregnant?"

"I..." Seraphina stammered, unable to speak, her eyes welling with tears as she shot a pleading look at Kaden.

"Don’t be scared." Kaden patted the back of Seraphina’s hand reassuringly. Then he pulled Wren to a corner, his tone calm. "Seraphina is three months pregnant. She’s about to be promoted to purser, so this can’t get out. Give her a full check-up and help cover for her from time to time. After all, this child is the last of Asher Lynch’s bloodline."

Asher Lynch was Seraphina Sutton’s fiancé and Kaden’s closest brother-in-arms from his Air Force days. He passed away from an illness just last month.

Wren gripped the scanner in her hand so tightly her knuckles whitened. She almost laughed out of sheer fury at Kaden’s brazen tone.

"Kaden, aviation law requires flight attendants to report a pregnancy. They have to be grounded once they’re past four months. And you’re asking me to help her hide it?"

If this gets out, she’ll be held responsible as the flight doctor!

"It’s only temporary. Just be good and cooperate." Kaden took off his flight gloves and ruffled Wren’s hair in a placating, perfunctory gesture. "Headquarters is selecting a group of flight attendants for overseas training next month. I’ve already put her name on the list. It’ll be easier for her to take leave once she’s out of the country."

The airline they worked for was a subsidiary of the Xavier family and the leading industry benchmark in Cathay.

Kaden wasn’t just a captain; he was the company’s de facto leader. Pulling strings for a flight attendant would be child’s play for him.

But Wren clearly remembered when she’d just graduated from medical school. She had asked Kaden to get her a position in the flight clinic that served his routes, but he had coldly refused. "Wren, I have my principles. You need to get there on your own merit."

In the end, she did get into the flight clinic on her own merit. But after they got married, Kaden insisted they hide their relationship.

His reason was the same: he had to uphold his principles. He couldn’t have management giving Wren special treatment because of their connection.

Only now did she realize that Kaden applied his principles selectively.

At this thought, a sardonic smile touched Wren’s lips, and she let out a cold laugh. "Women usually start showing around the four-month mark. Sending her abroad before it becomes obvious... How thoughtful of you, Captain Xavier."

"It’s a special circumstance, that’s all." Kaden either missed or ignored the sarcasm in her tone. He took a file out of his flight case and handed it to her. "This is the pregnancy report. Take a look."

In the signature box for next-of-kin, the name ’Kaden Xavier’ was scrawled in a bold, cursive script.

What made Wren’s breath catch was the date of the signature.

July 28th. Last Sunday. Their third wedding anniversary!

She had deliberately swapped shifts with a colleague that day, carefully decorated their home, and cooked all of Kaden’s favorite foods from scratch.

But she waited from dusk until dawn the next day, and Kaden never came home. He even rejected her call.

When she asked him about it later, he was evasive, just saying he had a last-minute flight assignment. And she’d not only believed him, but she’d worried he was exhausted and made him a nourishing soup.

It turned out his "last-minute assignment" was to accompany Seraphina to her prenatal check-up... as her next-of-kin!

Wren closed her eyes, her voice strained. "Asher Lynch has parents; he has family here in Cathay. It shouldn’t have been your place, as his ’brother-in-arms’, to take his widow to a prenatal appointment. Not on our wedding anniversary."

Wedding anniversary?

Kaden frowned. A moment later, realization seemed to dawn on him, and a flicker of impatience crossed his handsome face.

"Seraphina started bleeding that day; it was an emergency. Wren, you’re an adult. Don’t you think it’s childish to get hung up on things like this? When are you going to grow up and be more understanding?"

Those words again.

Wren’s grip on the file tightened, a chill spreading through her heart.

On her birthday, Kaden made her wait at a restaurant until midnight because Asher had started chemotherapy and Seraphina was scared to be alone.

When she was hospitalized with a severe fever, Kaden never once came to see her. Because Seraphina had been looking after Asher for over ten hours straight and needed to be taken home to rest. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The night after Asher Lynch died, Kaden had just landed from an international flight, but he rushed out after a single phone call, leaving her to wait up for him all night.

Because Seraphina had a breakdown while sorting through Asher’s belongings and couldn’t be left alone.

And there was more...

For over a year, there had been countless incidents just like these.

Wren had cried, thrown tantrums, and even tried to talk to him calmly, but all she ever got in return were his accusations.

"Wren, Asher was my brother-in-arms; we went through hell and back together. You need to be more understanding. Stop throwing these childish fits."

How laughable. His so-called "brotherly bond" was just an excuse to play the substitute husband for his friend’s widow.

And if she, his actual wife, so much as breathed a word of complaint, it meant she was being immature, unkind, and incapable of understanding their "profound bond of friendship."

"Dr. Wynter, please don’t be angry..." Seraphina timidly interjected, her eyes red at the rims, making her look fragile and pitiful. "Asher’s gone, and I have no one else in this city. His parents aren’t very fond of me... Other than Kaden, I truly have no one else to turn to..."

As she spoke, Seraphina broke into choked sobs. Kaden shot Wren a reproachful glare before rushing to the bedside, leaning down to comfort Seraphina in a low voice.

This was the man she had loved since she was sixteen.

Wren silently watched the intimate scene before her, a thousand tiny needles pricking at her heart.

Kaden could brazenly hold another woman’s hand right in front of her. He could abandon her for someone else without a second thought. And through it all, he never showed an ounce of guilt.

In his heart, she, his wife, would always come last.

Even now, with her ankle visibly red and swollen, he hadn’t noticed. Kaden had been in the room for over an hour, and he still hadn’t noticed.

The last ember of warmth in her heart flickered and died.

Wren pulled off her medical gloves and tossed them into the trash. The gesture was decisive, as if she were shedding some heavy burden. Her voice was devoid of emotion. "I’ll keep your secret. Now, please leave."

"There we go, Wren. You’ve been very good this time." Kaden let out a sigh of relief, thoroughly pleased with Wren’s ’reasonableness.’ He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead, his tone softening. "Wait for me at home tonight. I’ll have a reward for you."

With that, he helped Seraphina to her feet and left.

Wren was left alone. She sat motionlessly in her chair for a long time before finally picking up her phone. She began searching for law firms that specialized in divorce.