The CEO's Empathy Pregnancy Pains
Chapter 50 Public Humiliation

Evelyn shot Emily a nasty look before turning on her heel and leaving. She was here today because of something Sophia had said.

Word on the street was that Isabella was holed up here. Evelyn knew Emily had done a bang-up job hiding Isabella all these years, keeping everything hush-hush. But she never thought Emily would stash her in a downtown hospital. They'd been searching high and low for Isabella, coming up empty-handed. They figured Isabella was probably never waking up, but there was always that nagging fear. 'What if she does wake up? If she does, all our dirty laundry will be out in the open,' Evelyn thought.

So, Evelyn wanted to check on Isabella herself. But Emily caught her snooping before she even got close. No biggie, though. There'd be plenty of chances later.

Watching Evelyn strut away, Emily felt a chill run down her spine. She had to move Isabella, and fast. Keeping her here was a ticking time bomb. Now that Evelyn and Hayden were in the loop, Isabella was in real danger.

By the time Emily got home, it was super late. She bumped into Ava, who was carrying a small cake. Ava said it was a dessert the nutritionist had whipped up for dinner, but since Emily missed dinner, it had been chilling in the fridge. Seeing the cake, Emily remembered Veda mentioning her birthday and wanting party favors. Emily chuckled to herself but thought, 'Oh well, she's just a kid. Consider it a birthday gift. How hard can making party favors be? I used to be pretty crafty.'

She pondered what Veda might like and thought about asking Mason. But Mason was clueless about what kids were into these days.

Then she thought of Scarlett. Nope, not dealing with Scarlett.

Finally, she landed on Michael. He was the only one in the Smith family who seemed to get along with Veda. So, when Michael got home, Emily cornered him.

But Michael just said, "Don't stress about it. Take a break and don't overdo it."

Emily was taken aback. 'Why's he so worried about me? He just finished comforting Sophia, and now he's back to fuss over me.'

Emily hated this about him. With a frosty look, she snapped, "I'll rest and stay out of your hair." Then she stormed off.

Michael was baffled. 'What did I do now? I was just telling her to take it easy.' He shrugged and followed her upstairs.

Emily spent the whole night brainstorming gifts and party favors for Veda. Finally, she thought, 'Why not make some handmade pottery?'

She figured some pretty cups would make great party favors. With that plan in mind, she decided to invite Abigail to join her the next day.

So, the next day, she and Abigail headed to a pottery studio to make a set of beautiful cups for Veda.

When they got to the studio, Abigail found out Emily wanted to make a set of cups as a gift for Veda.

Abigail chuckled and said, "Emily, are you sure you're not trying to tick Veda off on purpose? I mean, Veda's not exactly your biggest fan. If you give her something she doesn't like, aren't you worried Michael will get on your case?" Emily looked confused. "What do you mean? How could giving her a set of cups upset her? She asked me to make party favors."

Abigail sighed. "Emily, it's her birthday. If you give her a set of cups, she'll think it's too basic and get all huffy. You're just asking for Michael to hassle you. Maybe rethink it."

Emily mulled it over and realized Abigail had a point. With Veda's attitude, it was totally possible. Better play it safe.

"Alright, let's make something fancier and prettier. This pottery studio isn't just for cups, after all," Emily said.

In the end, Emily and Abigail picked out some beautiful crafts. After finishing their pottery, they decided to hit the mall.

As they walked past a baby store, Abigail remembered they had a class reunion coming up, and one of their classmates had just had a baby. She wanted to buy a gift.

So, they went into the baby store. Emily had never been into baby stuff before, but maybe because she was pregnant, she was suddenly all about it.

She touched her belly and felt a wave of maternal love, wanting to buy everything. Abigail noticed and laughed, "What's going on in that head of yours? It's hilarious."

Emily grinned. "I was just thinking, these clothes are so cute. My baby will look adorable in them."

Abigail glanced at Emily's belly and laughed too. "Yeah, when your baby is born, I want to be the Godmother."

They spent ages in the baby store, but little did they know, Sophia was passing by and saw them.

'Emily's shopping in a baby store; could she be pregnant?' Sophia's heart skipped a beat. She walked over and overheard them talking about gifts. She breathed a sigh of relief; they were just buying gifts. As long as Emily wasn't pregnant, it was fine. Otherwise, she wouldn't let Emily stay.

When they left the baby store, Emily spotted a jewelry store across the street. She wanted to check out the latest designs.

Looking at jewelry online and in a store was totally different. Abigail was game, so they headed to the jewelry store and, surprise surprise, ran into Sophia.

Sophia was obviously there to buy jewelry. Emily wanted to bail but got spotted by Sophia first. "What a coincidence, Emily. Here to buy jewelry too?" Sophia asked.

Emily didn't want to deal with her. Just seeing Sophia made her feel queasy. She tried to pull Abigail away.

But Sophia wouldn't let it go, calling out, "Oh, I forgot, you don't have a job. You're just a freeloader. You probably can't afford this jewelry, right? How about this, you pick one, and I'll buy it for you." Emily was instantly amused. 'I can't afford this jewelry? A lot of these pieces were designed by me.'

But then she thought, 'Sophia is really something else.' She turned back and said, "Will you really buy it for me?"