Chapter 4

My chest ached all night, and my C-section incision throbbed with a dull, pulling pain.

In the middle of the night, our daughter started crying uncontrollably. The nanny and I were up for hours, the lights on the second floor blazing.

Yet Ethan's study door remained firmly shut. He never once came out to check on us.

But at least the outcome was what I wanted. The next morning, HR called to inform me that Chloe had been officially terminated.

I let out a long sigh of relief. By mid-afternoon, I messaged Ethan, asking him to come home for dinner. I told him I had the cook prepare his favorite garlic butter lobster and chicken.

I desperately wanted to mend our relationship. I truly believed he had just lost his way momentarily, and that Chloe didn't actually matter to him.

But eight o'clock came and went, and Ethan never replied.

Looking at the cold food on the table, I frowned and called him. He declined the call. I called again. Declined.

At midnight, he finally sent a Snapchat:

"Staying at a hotel tonight. Not coming home."

My fingers tightened around the phone until my knuckles turned white. My incision flared with pain again.

With trembling hands, I called Ethan's personal assistant.

I had never monitored Ethan's whereabouts before because he always volunteered the information. But now, a bitter smile crept onto my face as his assistant hesitantly told me that Ethan had left the office at ten o'clock that morning.

Ten in the morning—the exact time Chloe was processed out of the company.

I logged into our banking app and checked the corporate card statements. My heart shattered when I saw a transaction at eleven in the morning: a reservation for two presidential suites at a five-star hotel near the office.

I collapsed onto the floor, completely numb.

Mrs. Gable, our housekeeper, walked in with a cup of warm tea. Seeing me on the floor, she rushed over.

"Ma'am... should you go find him?"

Tears streamed down my face as I looked at her.

"And do what, Mrs. Gable? Give him more space? I'm terrified that if I take one step back, he'll cross the line completely, and there will be no turning back for us."

"Lily is barely a month old. She hasn't even learned to say 'Dada.' Am I really about to get a divorce?"

"If Chloe were just some random woman, I could easily get rid of her. But Ethan clearly can't let her go, and she is determined to take him from me."

I broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

I had kept my emotions locked down for days, handling this with cold efficiency. But no one knew how much my heart was bleeding.

If I played dumb and acted like the sweet, understanding wife, would Ethan really come back to me?

No. He wouldn't. To men like him, the woman they couldn't have is always the sweetest temptation.

And before I could even process my grief, our daughter spiked a high fever in the middle of the night.

I immediately called our family doctor. After a quick examination, his face grew grim. He told me we needed to get Lily to the hospital immediately; it looked like severe pneumonia.

Guilt washed over me like a tidal wave.

Over the past two days, I had been so consumed by Ethan and Chloe that I completely neglected my baby. If I had just paid closer attention to her heavy breathing the night before, she wouldn't be in this danger.

On the way to the hospital, Mrs. Gable kept calling Ethan.

Every single call was declined.

Once Lily was admitted, Ethan finally sent a Snapchat:

"Don't contact me for a few days. I need some space."