99 Roses for Her, One Procedure for Me - Chapter 6: Chapter 6

I tugged at the corner of my mouth without a shred of guilt and said to Samuel coolly,
"Emily wasn't wrong. I did have surgery at the hospital."
I paused, letting the weight of my next words sink in.
"Samuel, wanna know something?"
My voice was steady, almost detached.
"I asked the doctor. She told me it was a baby girl."
There was a time when Samuel would talk to my silent belly with words so childish yet achingly sincere.
"Little one, stop playing hide-and-seek with Mommy and Daddy, okay?"
"I've already set up your princess room—just waiting for you to come home."
"Hurry up and grow strong, sweetheart. You're gonna be the happiest little girl in the world."
At the words "baby girl," Samuel's face went blank. He stumbled back like he'd been shoved.
Emily lunged to steady him, but he jerked away so violently she toppled to the floor.
Before she could scramble up, I was already standing over her. My palm cracked across her cheek with a sound that echoed in the sudden silence.
She gasped, clutching her face. For a split second, the mask slipped—her eyes flashed with pure venom before she could school them back into wounded innocence.
"Natalie!" she shrieked. "How dare you hit me?!"
I hit her again. Harder.
"You wanted this drama. You begged for it, shoving your little performance in my face. And now you've got the nerve to act like the victim?"
The crowd murmured as her cheap act unraveled. When she thought no one was looking, she shot me a glare that could've melted steel—then instantly crumpled back into her pitiful act, clinging to Samuel's sleeve with her pig-swollen face.
"Samuel, I—I shouldn't have said anything. Natalie's right to be angry. I'm so sorry..."
I nearly laughed.
So did half the women in the room.
Emily's "performance" was so bad it was almost painful to watch.
Someone snorted. "Samuel, is your sidepiece serious right now? Everyone here knows Natalie. If she were some gold-digging slut, why would she've wasted four years on you when she had guys like Matthew chasing her?"
Another voice cut in, "Sarah told us you filed for divorce. So why the sudden regret? You and your mistress ruined this whole reunion. Just leave—nobody wants trash like you here."
The room buzzed with agreement.
No surprise.
In college, I'd been the one people remembered. When they talked about Samuel, it was always, "Oh, you mean Natalie's husband?"
Emily, who'd been a barely notable campus figure at her no-name school, twisted her skirt in humiliation. The weight of everyone's disdain was crushing her—her whole body shook with rage.
"Samuel, they're—"
"Leave." His voice was ice.
He didn't even look at her.
Instead, he grabbed my wrist, dragging me toward the exit. "We need to talk. Alone."
I wrenched free. "God, Samuel—are you hearing yourself?!"
My face burned with secondhand embarrassment.
My ex-husband had officially become unbearable.