Chapter 261: Love Yourself Before Loving Others
Every family has its own troubles. Mrs. Shelby may have been an insufferable gossip with a ruthless, vain ambition to climb the social ladder, but in this particular matter, she was truly pitiable.
As it turned out, Mrs. Shelby and her husband had been through thick and thin together. They met when they were young and built their business from the ground up. It was fair to say that she had been by his side through every hardship along the way.
Even when she was pregnant, she was still traveling everywhere with her husband for work.
But because of that relentless pace, Mrs. Shelby unexpectedly went into premature labor. Due to their work, she didn’t get to the hospital in time, and during delivery, her uterus ruptured, causing a massive hemorrhage.
To save her life, Mrs. Shelby had no choice but to undergo a hysterectomy, leaving her permanently unable to have children.
At first, her husband was heartbroken and guilt-ridden. With tears in his eyes, he stood by her hospital bed and swore to his wife and their newborn daughter that he would cherish them for the rest of his life and that they would only ever have this one child.
Mrs. Shelby believed him. But when her husband’s mother—her mother-in-law—found out, she threw a massive fit.
She was furious that Mrs. Shelby had only given birth to a daughter and would now be unable to have a second child, failing to produce a male heir to carry on their family line.
In the beginning, Mrs. Shelby’s husband tried to mediate, but over time, he grew tired of the constant arguments and began staying out.
Mrs. Shelby first caught her husband cheating when their daughter was ten. She felt as if her world had come crashing down. After confronting the mistress, she went home to demand a divorce, only for her husband to drop to his knees before her. He apologized profusely, tears streaming down his face, and repeatedly declared his undying love for her.
He told her it was only because he was so miserable and lonely from the constant fighting between her and his mother. He explained that when he was with business partners and they talked about their children, especially their sons, he would inevitably be asked about having a second child, and the bitter feeling it gave him was what led him to make such a mistake.
He begged her to give him one more chance, promising again that no matter how he fooled around on the side, he would never have other children. Momo, he swore, would forever be their family’s only child.
Thinking of her young daughter, and utterly exhausted—mentally and physically—from her mother-in-law’s years of nagging and brainwashing, Mrs. Shelby couldn’t help but entertain a terrifying thought: that because she couldn’t give her husband a son to carry on the family line, perhaps she truly was indebted to him.
In the end, Mrs. Shelby gave in. She didn’t file for divorce and stopped caring how many women Mr. Shelby kept on the side. Her one and only condition was that he must never have an illegitimate child who could threaten her daughter’s position as his heir.
’A man’s promises are lies from a devil. He didn’t want to divorce you because he’d lose his free housekeeper and capable business partner, and especially because he didn’t want to split his assets. It had absolutely nothing to do with love. If he truly loved you, would he deliberately rub salt in your deepest wound by bringing up the children issue? He just wanted to manipulate you. That’s a textbook case of PUA, clear as day.’
Hearing this, the members of the Donovan family found themselves nodding in agreement. They now looked at Mrs. Shelby with a newfound sympathy.
Mrs. Shelby played deaf and mute for decades, believing that once her mother-in-law passed away and there was no one left to taunt her about her inability to produce an heir, her family would return to the way it was in the beginning.
But as it turned out, she was far too naive.
After his mother’s death, Mr. Shelby didn’t turn over a new leaf. He continued to keep mistresses, swapping them out one after another, all while maintaining the public facade of a perfect, harmonious marriage with his wife.
It was only then that Mrs. Shelby’s heart finally died. It was after this, in a fit of spite, that she began sponsoring so-called male models and university students. Her thinking was, ’If you can find women on the side, then I can find men. Mutual infidelity means we’re even.’
In reality, however, Mrs. Shelby only kept these men around as eye candy. Nothing ever happened below the neck.
At most, whenever she was furious over one of his latest flings, she would go touch the chiseled abs of her male models for a small measure of comfort.
Arabella Donovan: "..." ’So... what was the point of this whole charade?’
Everyone: "..." ’A classic case of all talk and no action. After hearing Serena describe it, we thought she was living some wild life. But this is it? Seriously, that’s all?!’
’See? This is why, no matter who you are, you have to love yourself first before loving anyone else. If you give all your love away, there’ll be no one left to love you. As for promises... when they’re convenient, they’re a vow. When they’re not, they’re bullshit. Just hot air you can release at will.’
At this thought, Arabella Donovan suddenly began to understand why Mrs. Shelby was so hostile toward Guinevere Preston.
Perhaps every woman’s ideal love was like that of her grand-uncle and Preston: one couple, for one lifetime. A love that transcended family status, the need for descendants, or even personality clashes. It existed simply for each other, because they were each other’s one and only.
They had no children and were separated for many years, yet they never forgot one another. They were sustained by the love in their hearts, and despite all the breakups and reunions, they always found their way back to each other in the end.
She, in contrast, had merely given birth to a daughter instead of a son, and for that, she and her husband drifted apart. After sacrificing so much, all she was left with was a complete mess.
When someone else has what you’ve spent most of your life longing for, how can you not be envious? How can you not be filled with jealousy?
Thinking of Mrs. Shelby’s daughter, Arabella Donovan hesitated for a moment before offering one more kind-hearted warning. "There’s one more thing... This isn’t his first illegitimate child."
"Wh-what do you mean?" Mrs. Shelby, who was already reeling from the blow, turned deathly pale.
"I mean, this isn’t his first child born out of wedlock. He’s just his first son."
In other words, the so-called promise that her daughter would be his only child had been broken long ago.
It was just that before now, the children his other women had borne were all girls, just like her Momo. They posed no real threat to her daughter’s status, which is why everything remained deceptively calm.
But this child, today, was the son her husband had craved for years. His birth meant that bastard was now highly likely to move against her and her daughter, forcing them to make way for the boy and his mother, whose status had just skyrocketed!
At this realization, the last shred of hope in Mrs. Shelby’s heart vanished completely. The blow sent her staggering, on the verge of collapse, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand firm.
For she was not just a woman, not just a wife, but a mother.
"That whore... that animal... that piece of trash... that mutt..." Mrs. Shelby spat out every curse she knew, repeating them over and over. By the time she was done, some of her strength had returned, and a dangerous glint had appeared in her eyes.
"I’ll take responsibility for what happened today. You can punish me however you see fit afterward. But right now, I’m going home to settle the score with that son of a bitch. After all these years as husband and wife, if I’m going down, I’m dragging him down with me."
As she spoke, Mrs. Shelby lifted her chin, her posture radiating the fierce energy of a soldier marching into battle.
But as she passed Arabella Donovan, she paused. With an awkward expression, she turned her head to the side and muttered, "Thank you. And... I’m sorry."