Chapter 440 - 443: Completely Convinced

A light snow began to fall, and the feeling of winter grew more pronounced.

It was time for Owen and Nina to get their third dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.

Adrian Lancaster finished his morning tasks early and changed into a long, black overcoat, shedding his usual cold, sharp aura.

He carefully bundled the two babies in thick, plush receiving blankets, their hoods protecting their delicate little faces. After placing them in their car seats, he sat down beside them.

The driver headed for the women and children’s hospital.

About forty minutes later, the car came to a smooth stop at the hospital entrance.

Wren Sutton was already waiting by the door.

She was wearing a long, cream-colored down jacket. The cold winter wind had slightly tousled her hair, and her cheeks were a faint, cool-toned white. Her expression was placid, without a hint of a smile.

With her hands tucked casually in her pockets, she stood alone at the bustling entrance, wrapped in an aura of detachment.

Adrian Lancaster opened the car door and stepped out, walking through the cold wind to stand before her.

Their eyes met for a fleeting moment before they both looked away as if nothing had happened. There were no greetings, not even the simple courtesy between a normal couple to bundle up against the cold.

The cold winter wind swept between them, accentuating the stiff and awkward atmosphere.

Adrian Lancaster bent down and carefully lifted the two babies out of the car.

Wren Sutton silently extended her arms and took their daughter, Nina, pulling her into an intimate embrace and kissing her on the cheek.

"Sweetheart, Mommy missed you so much. Did you miss Mommy?"

The couple, each holding a child, walked side by side into the hospital lobby.

The warmth of the building’s heating sealed off the biting wind from outside, but it couldn’t thaw the icy atmosphere between the two of them.

Adrian Lancaster and Wren Sutton walked side by side, not far apart, yet it felt as if an impassable chasm separated them.

Throughout the entire time, there was zero interaction. No eye contact, no conversation. Neither made any attempt to start one.

Owen nestled obediently in Adrian Lancaster’s arms, his little face buried in the soft blanket, blinking his innocent eyes from time to time.

Nina rested in Wren Sutton’s warm embrace, letting out a soft, whimpering coo every now and then, completely unaware of the tense, cold atmosphere between her parents.

The two of them silently waited in line, registered, and filled out forms. Each performed their own tasks without any unnecessary interaction.

In the vaccination room, a nurse gently unwrapped the babies’ clothes and prepared to sterilize the area.

The moment the cold alcohol touched their skin and the needles pierced their arms, Owen and Nina puckered their little lips, their noses wrinkling in distress. Soft, whimpering cries echoed through the quiet examination room.

Wren Sutton’s heart ached. She held Nina and cooed in a soft, gentle voice, "Don’t cry, sweetheart. Mommy’s here. Mommy will sing you a nursery rhyme..."

Adrian Lancaster was also patiently consoling Owen, patting him gently and murmuring to him in a low voice.

The couple focused only on the child in their arms. From beginning to end, they never once looked at each other, as if they were complete strangers.

After the vaccinations, as per hospital policy, the children had to remain in the observation area for half an hour to ensure there were no adverse reactions before they could leave.

Adrian Lancaster and Wren Sutton sat a short distance from each other, each holding a child. They remained silent the entire time, ignoring one another, with neither making a move to break the heavy silence.

As soon as the half-hour observation period was over, Wren Sutton stood up. Her expression was calm and her eyes were placid as she walked straight over to Adrian Lancaster and handed their daughter to him.

"You take the children back. I’m leaving now."

Before Adrian Lancaster could respond, Wren Sutton turned and left without a backward glance, not sparing him a single look.

She walked into the biting wind to the side of the road, hailed a taxi, and bent down to get inside.

The car quickly drove away, heading in the direction of the Sutton Family’s home. Her retreating figure looked resolute and solitary.

Adrian Lancaster stood in the cold wind at the hospital entrance, holding both children. He watched Wren Sutton’s departing figure, a somber gloom swirling in the depths of his eyes.

Finally, he lowered his gaze in silence and sighed inwardly in resignation, saying nothing.

Just then, across the street from the hospital, someone who had been arranged to be there in advance hid in the shadows, secretly taking photos with their phone.

Through the lens, they captured Adrian Lancaster and Wren Sutton together on a winter day, taking their children for vaccinations, their distant demeanor as they walked side by side without any interaction, and the image of Wren resolutely hailing a cab to return to her family home alone after the shots.

The photos had a hazy, gray quality characteristic of a winter day, perfectly illustrating the cold estrangement between the couple.

Before long, these blurry, candid photos were anonymously posted by a mysterious individual to major entertainment forums and gossip groups for the wealthy elite.

The internet immediately erupted in an uproar. The gossip groups were flooded with messages, buzzing with heated arguments.

[Taking their kids to get vaccinated and not saying a single word to each other the whole time? That’s way too distant!]

[They’re practically strangers. Not talking is one thing, but they didn’t even make eye contact. How are they a married couple?]

[What on earth is going on with President Lancaster and Mrs. Lancaster? Did they really have a falling out? Is there no chance of them making up?]

[After the shots, Mrs. Lancaster just turned and went back to her family’s home without even a second thought for the kids. That’s so heartless. A couple’s fight shouldn’t affect the children. The kids are innocent.]

[I feel bad for the kids, too. They’re only half a year old and don’t understand anything, but seeing their parents not together must make them sad.]

[Sigh, the proof that President Lancaster and Mrs. Lancaster aren’t on good terms is becoming more and more solid. It’s sad to see. Is marriage really the death of love?]

Similar discussions about their discordant relationship spread like wildfire online, growing more and more intense.

...

Outside the window, light snow drifted down, and the air was damp and cold.

Claire Bennett hadn’t left her house in days. She spent all her time online, participating in group chats and obsessively monitoring the state of Adrian Lancaster and Wren Sutton’s relationship, with no mind for anything else.

When the new material appeared, she couldn’t wait to click on it.

Under a gray winter sky, outside the women and children’s hospital, stood Adrian Lancaster in a long black overcoat, his posture upright and his demeanor cold. Beside him, Wren Sutton was bundled in a cream-colored down jacket, her expression distant and pale.

They stood side by side, inches apart, yet it was as if they were separated by an insurmountable gulf. No eye contact, no conversation. They looked nothing like a married couple.

Flipping to the next photo, she saw their backs as they walked one after the other into the hospital lobby, each lost in their own thoughts, their silence glaring.

In the observation area, they sat with a seat between them, completely ignoring each other.

The last photo was of Wren Sutton’s resolute back as she hailed a taxi and left without a backward glance, leaving Adrian Lancaster standing alone in the cold wind, holding the two small children, his figure looking desolate and somber.

The dense wall of comments below had exploded, the screen filled with remarks confirming the couple’s marriage was broken and their relationship had completely fallen apart.

The more Claire Bennett read, the happier she became, so excited she could barely contain herself.

Before, she had harbored a faint doubt, thinking there might still be some affection between Adrian Lancaster and Wren Sutton. She’d thought their supposed discord was just an argument and that they might reconcile soon.

But this set of raw, candid winter photos was far too real.

The distance between them in the cold wind, their silence in the hospital, Wren Sutton’s decisive act of returning to her family home...

Every detail radiated estrangement. There wasn’t the slightest trace of it being an act.

The more Claire Bennett looked, the more certain she became, and the last shred of doubt in her heart vanished completely.

She now completely believed that Adrian Lancaster and Wren Sutton’s relationship was broken and their marriage existed in name only.

Fine snowflakes tapped against the floor-to-ceiling windows. The warm indoor light fell on her face as she curved her lips into a suppressed smile.

Claire Bennett slowly leaned back against the sofa, a determined ambition swirling in her eyes.

’It seems even heaven is on my side.’

’Wren Sutton is on such bad terms with Adrian Lancaster now, and with her cold and proud personality, it’s clear she’ll never be the one to bow her head and ease the tension.’

’If this continues, the rift between them will only grow deeper. They’ll never go back to how they were.’

’Without Wren Sutton as a roadblock, isn’t this my chance?’

Claire Bennett’s fingertips gently caressed the image on her phone screen of Adrian Lancaster holding his children, his figure somber and lonely. Her gaze softened with certainty.

"Adrian, I told you Wren Sutton doesn’t love you at all. You must believe it now."

"The person who loves you most in this world is me."

"I would never give you the cold shoulder or throw childish tantrums to make you angry. I’m very obedient."

She was full of confidence. As long as she slowly got closer to him, accompanied him with gentleness, and gradually entered his life to soothe his loneliness, he would definitely fall in love with her.

’Wren Sutton has already lost. This crumbling marriage will completely fall apart sooner or later.’

’My time, Claire Bennett’s time, has finally come.’

From now on, she had all the patience and means necessary to replace Wren, step by step, and stand by Adrian Lancaster’s side as the person who truly deserved him and could hold his heart.