Chapter 2

A cold, gnawing intuition took root in Josephine's chest—a certainty that the photo was merely the prologue. Tonight, the shadows would finally stop dancing and reveal the full, ugly truth she had been too blind to see.

Precisely at 8:00 PM, she reached Room 1108 of the Radiant Pearl Hotel. She had braced herself for the sounds of a heated encounter, but the expected moans were replaced by an eerie, unsettling silence.

The door stood slightly ajar; Josephine gave it a gentle nudge, only to find the room bathed in bright light and completely deserted.

Confused, she stood frozen in the center of the room. Suddenly, the heavy curtains lining the wall slid back with a mechanical whir, revealing a floor-to-ceiling glass panel that looked into the adjacent suite.

On the other side of the glass, Gideon and Lorelei were tangled together on a large bed, locked in a fervent embrace. As the heat between them rose, they began to feverishly strip away each other's clothes, oblivious to anything but their own mounting desire.

Josephine stumbled backward, her breath hitching in a sharp gasp of disbelief. "You... you two..." she stammered, her voice barely a whisper against the glass.

But on the other side, the world was silent and self-contained. The couple remained completely oblivious to her presence, lost in a feverish haze of their own making.

When Gideon lifted Lorelei from the bed and pressed her flush against the glass, their naked bodies entwined just inches from Josephine's face, making the betrayal impossible to ignore, The realization hit her like a physical blow—this was a one-way mirror. She was a silent spectator to their intimacy; she could see every agonizing detail, but to them, she was nothing more than a ghost behind a reflection.

In the height of his passion, Gideon pulled Lorelei closer, his voice a low, primal growl. His face, clouded with raw desire, pressed near her ear as he urged, "Lori, have my baby."

Josephine couldn't bear to watch or listen for another heartbeat. Every second she remained in that room, the air felt thicker, more toxic, making her stomach churn with a violent, sickening revulsion.. In the taxi on her way home, she suddenly felt a dull, pulling pain in her abdomen that made her break into a cold sweat. "Sir, please take me to the nearest hospital instead," she told the driver, her voice trembling as she fought to keep her composure.

At the hospital, following an agonizing battery of tests, the doctor finally looked up, his expression etched with a sobering gravity. "I won't sugarcoat this," he began, his voice heavy with caution. "This pregnancy is incredibly fragile. You are on the thinnest of ice." "You are showing clear signs of a threatened miscarriage," the doctor continued, his gaze piercing and direct. "If you want to save this baby, I strongly recommend immediate hospital admission. You cannot afford to walk out those doors right now."

Upon hearing those words, an unexpected flicker of relief washed over Josephine. Every memory of Gideon, from the very moment they first met to the crushing betrayal she had just witnessed, began to play out in her mind like a flickering, tragic montage of a life she no longer recognized.

She couldn't understand why he would cheat. 

It had been seven years since she first laid eyes on him amidst the bustling crowds of their university campus. Back then, he had been the sun around which her entire world orbited, a vibrant memory that now felt like a cruel irony compared to the cold reality of the hospital room. To marry her, Gideon had been willing to burn every bridge behind him. He had defied his entire family, standing firm even when they threatened to cut him off. He was ready to forfeit a massive inheritance and trade his life of privilege for a future built from nothing, all for the sake of being by her side.

In the lean early years of his startup, their world was a cramped basement apartment where they split single takeout containers just to get by. Through the grit and the hunger, they had endured every hardship hand-in-hand.

Even when her health faltered and her struggle to conceive became a heavy burden, Gideon’s loyalty remained unshakable. He had been her rock, yet somehow, that same man had rotted away, leaving only a hollow, unrecognizable version of the person she once loved.

"Ms. Kennedy?" The doctor prompted, breaking her trance. "If we act now, we can still save the pregnancy."

Dr. Fallon Butler didn't voice the verdict directly, but the heavy silence spoke volumes. Josephine understood the unspoken truth: the chances of carrying this pregnancy to term were vanishingly thin..This child... the very life Josephine had spent so long yearning for was now slipping away. Yet, in the quiet ache of the moment, a haunting thought took root: perhaps, given everything, it was better this way.. Bringing a child into the wreckage of such an unhappy home, tethered to a father so dishonest and reckless—perhaps it was a mercy if this life never began at all.

With her resolve hardening into a cold, hollow certainty, Josephine spoke quietly. "Dr. Butler, I... I don't want to go through with this pregnancy. Could you please schedule the termination for next week?"

Leaving the hospital in a daze, Josephine couldn't stop the tears streaming down her face during her journey home. She hadn’t even attempted to fight for the life inside her; she had failed this child before it ever had a chance. Yet, as the weight of Gideon's betrayal pressed down on her, she wondered: in a world this broken, what other choice did she truly have?

"Jojo." Gideon was already there, pacing by the front door as if he’d been stationed there for hours. The moment Josephine came into view, he lunged forward, his voice tight with a forced, frantic concern. "Where have you been? Do you have any idea how late it is?"

"I felt unwell and went to the hospital," she said blankly, handing him the registration slip.

"What happened? What was the diagnosis?"

"It's nothing major," she lied, her voice hollow. "Just a bit of low blood sugar."

Josephine’s delicate health was a familiar worry, and Gideon treated her like porcelain, guiding her inside with a practiced, protective touch. "I stopped by your favorite bakery on the way back and picked up some cake," he said, his voice a veneer of normalcy. "Would you like a slice?"

Another cake? For the past six months, this had become his ritual—a sweet peace offering every time he stayed out late. That specific bakery was tucked away in the distant suburbs, a long, deliberate detour that felt less like a romantic gesture and more like a calculated cover-up.

It had always puzzled her. Why that specific bakery, and why only in the dead of night? It made no sense for him to trek all the way to the outskirts of the city after an exhausting shift, bypassing dozens of closer shops just for a single cake.

The realization hit her with a sudden, sickening clarity. That bakery wasn't just a random choice—it was located directly beneath the Radiant Pearl Hotel, providing the perfect, sugary alibi for where he had actually spent his evening.! Gideon and Lorelei’s affair had clearly been burning for a while, a flame she had been too trusting to see. She felt like a total fool, having lived in a shadow of ignorance while the truth was hiding in plain sight all along.

"I'm not hungry. I just want to sleep," she said, her voice devoid of emotion as she turned and retreated into the bedroom, leaving him standing there with his empty gestures.

Gideon trailed after her, pulling her into his usual embrace from behind. His breath was warm against her neck as he murmured, "Jojo, it’s been so long since we... you know."

"I'm on my period," Josephine cut him off, her voice like ice. A wave of revulsion washed over her; she couldn't help but wonder—hadn't Lorelei just satisfied him? Was he really so insatiable, or was this just another part of the performance?

"I thought you weren't due for a few more days," he countered, his brow furrowing as he mentally tracked a calendar she no longer shared with him. It was a terrifyingly casual observation—a reminder of how closely he monitored her, even while he was slipping away to someone else.

"I drank too much cold water. It upset my stomach, so it started early," she lied, the excuse tasting as bitter as the betrayal.

Hearing that, Gideon immediately headed to the kitchen and returned a moment later, carrying a steaming bowl of chicken soup.."Check the temperature. Drink it while it's still warm," he urged, his voice thick with a tenderness that now felt like a venomous sting. "Is the pain very bad? Do you want me to rub your stomach? Hang on—I'll go get you a hot water bottle."

As she watched Gideon hover over her with such practiced, attentive concern, Josephine felt a cold surge of irony. If this devotion was merely a performance, it was terrifying to realize how seamlessly he could mask his betrayal with the face of a doting husband.

The following morning, Josephine stepped out of the bedroom only to find Mila stumbling through the front door, her face flushed and her skin slick with a heavy, frantic sweat.

"Mrs. Getty, Mr. Getty left his documents at home. "He summoned me to deliver these documents immediately, but the larder is empty," the assistant stammered, eyes darting toward the clock. "I still have the marketing to attend to... would it be an unpardonable sin if lunch were delayed?"

"Go get the groceries and start lunch," Josephine said. "I'll deliver the documents myself."

She hailed a car and headed straight to the office. "Mrs. Getty, welcome," the receptionist greeted her with practiced politeness.

Josephine set the briefcase down on the front desk, her fingers lingering on the leather for a final, heavy second. "I won't be going up," she said, her voice steady but distant. "Could you please see that this gets to him?" Her voice faltered. There, sitting on the counter, was a courier package addressed to the Secretarial Department—specifically for Lorelei Kelly.

Josephine had poured her life’s blood into that company, sacrificing countless hours to elevate it to its current prestige. To think that after all her labor, Gideon had the audacity to install his mistress right in the heart of the office was a slap in the face she couldn't ignore.