Chapter 5

"What?"

My hands trembled as I took back the little booklet.

Suddenly, memories of the day we supposedly registered our marriage flooded my mind.

Ethan had said he had a close friend working inside the county clerk's office, so we didn't have to wait in line.

He was the one who handled all the paperwork.

Turns out, our entire marriage had been a complete sham from the very beginning.

I was never his legal wife.

And the child in my belly was born out of wedlock.

"Ha... ha..."

A wild, manic laugh tore from my throat as the realization hit me: all those years of devotion had earned me nothing but this grotesque joke.

The love was fake.

The marriage was fake.

My heart was already covered in scars.

Faced with this massive blow, I couldn't even feel the pain anymore.

I packed a few clothes and pieces of jewelry.

Dragging my suitcase in quiet disillusionment, I prepared to leave this painful place forever.

The moment I stepped out the front door, Chloe blocked my path.

Holding a medical report in her hand, she wore a radiant, triumphant smile.

"Ethan just took me to the clinic for a checkup. What a coincidence—I'm carrying his baby too."

"Just hit twelve weeks."

So Ethan had betrayed me three whole months ago.

Looking at Chloe's gloating face, not a single ripple stirred in my heart.

Yet she had no intention of letting me walk away.

She glanced at the torn marriage certificate in my hand and chuckled.

"Back then, I made a little joke, telling him that if he really loved me, he wouldn't get married for ten years. Who knew he'd actually forge a marriage certificate just to trick you?"

"Hahaha, he really is devoted, isn't he?"

My heart sank into total darkness. I turned to walk away.

Suddenly, Chloe shoved me violently straight into Unit 205.

The next second, a massive shockwave slammed into my back, hurling me hard against the wall.

At the exact same moment, a deafening blast shattered my eardrums.

Instantly, raging flames swallowed me whole.

Thick, suffocating smoke poured down my throat.

Before I lost consciousness, I heard Chloe's and Ethan's voices calling out from not far away.

"Ethan, my stomach hurts so bad! Save our baby, please!"

"Don't be scared, honey, I'm carrying you out right now!"

Mustering the last ounce of strength in my body, I reached out a trembling hand and screamed at the top of my lungs:

"Ethan! I'm in here too! Save our baby!"

Through the dense smoke, he cast only a single, cold glance in my direction, dropping a callous remark:

"Once I get Chloe to safety, I'll come back for you."

Ethan's retreating figure hurried away with absolute finality.

Just as I expected, he abandoned me once again.

As if sensing the betrayal, the tiny life inside my belly slowly stopped moving.

I closed my eyes, letting one final tear slide down my cheek, my soul turning to ash.

"Ethan, I will never wait for you again in this lifetime."

BOOM!

A second explosion tore through the room, sending towering flames roaring into the sky.