Chapter 4

Tyler stared into my eyes.

"You need to release a statement saying the woman in the video is you. Once you take the blame, I'll 'divorce' you publicly to save the business."

"You're pregnant. If you play the emotional card and apologize, the public will forgive you eventually. No one will keep harassing a pregnant woman."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I shook with pure rage.

"Are you insane, Tyler?! If I claim that's me, do you have any idea what people will call me? I won't even be able to show my face in public!"

Seeing my refusal, Tyler's face darkened instantly.

"If you don't take the blame, who will? Chloe? She's an heiress with a high-profile family! Her reputation can't be ruined!"

"Hazel, you're different. You're just a housewife. What does it matter if people talk about you?"

I let out a cold laugh, about to scream at him, but Chloe lost her patience.

"Tyler, stop wasting your breath on her. She's just a farm girl who cleans kitchen floors. She doesn't understand high-stakes business."

Tyler looked at me with deep disappointment. Without another word, he grabbed a rope and tied my hands behind my back.

I thrashed and screamed, but I was too weak to fight him off.

Chloe pulled out her phone and started recording me.

Then she opened her laptop and began editing.

Right before my eyes, she used a deepfake app to paste my face onto the woman in the hook-up video.

As the render bar loaded, I shook my head violently at Tyler.

But he pulled out a small brown pill bottle.

His face was grim. "I didn't want to use this because of the baby, but you're not giving me a choice."

"Just bear with it, Hazel. It'll be over soon."

He forced the liquid sedative down my throat. Almost instantly, my head began to spin.

I saw Tyler holding up a pre-written confession script, trying to force me to read it on camera.

Desperate, I reached into my pocket, trying to dial 911.

But Tyler noticed and slapped the phone out of my hand.

His eyes were wild, completely consumed by desperation.

"Hazel, why are you being so difficult? If the business goes under, how are we supposed to feed you and the baby?!"

Using the last of my strength, I broke free and ran toward the open window, preparing to jump to escape this nightmare.

Tyler gasped and lunged forward, catching me just in time.

He dragged me back onto the floor, and my vision finally faded into pitch black.

When I woke up, I was lying in our bed. Tyler was sitting beside me.

Seeing my eyes open, he sighed in relief.

"Don't worry, everything is taken care of. Just stay off social media for a few days. Don't stress, it's bad for the baby."

I looked at him, my heart completely dead.

"Isn't there one more step to your perfect plan? The divorce?"

Tyler stiffened. He slowly pulled out the divorce papers and handed them to me. I grabbed a pen and signed my name without a single second of hesitation.

Then, I snatched our marriage certificate and ripped it into tiny shreds right in front of him.

Tyler hesitated. "Hazel... don't worry. Once this all blows over, we'll get remarried. You're still my wife."

I didn't say a word.

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Get some rest. Oh, and... you should probably go to the clinic to make sure that sedative didn't affect the baby."

"Sure," I whispered.

Tyler quickly left to celebrate his "victory" with Chloe.

I got up and packed the very few things I owned. Looking around, I realized how pathetic my life had been. Almost everything I owned was from before our marriage.

In five years, Tyler had never bought me a single thing.

What a joke my marriage had been.

I realized my belongings were pitifully few. In the end, I only took the ultrasound photo as a keepsake, and left everything else behind. I headed straight back to my parents' organic farm in upstate New York.

Tyler and Chloe spent the night partying at a luxury hotel.

When he got back to the apartment and found it empty, he didn't think much of it. He sent a casual text asking where I was.

But hours passed, and I didn't reply.

He started to feel uneasy. He called the clinic where I usually did my prenatal checkups.

"Hi, did my wife, Hazel Brooks, come in for an appointment today?"

The receptionist checked the records.

"No, Mrs. Brooks hasn't been in today. Are you her husband?"

"Yes. She hasn't come home. I thought she was there for her prenatal checkup."

"Prenatal checkup? But sir... Mrs. Brooks suffered a complete miscarriage when she was admitted three days ago due to physical trauma."