Chapter 4

But I was already backed into a corner.

"I'm going to force you." My voice was eerily calm. "Tell me the truth, Liam. Who do you really love?"

Liam's face completely changed, his eyes flashing with a coldness I'd never seen before. "You want the truth?"

"Yes."

He stared at me for several seconds, as if making some kind of decision. Then, his lips curled into a cruel smile. "The truth is, yes, this house was built according to Eleanor's design. Yes, we once planned to live here together. So what?"

I felt like I'd been struck by lightning. "You... you're admitting it?"

"What am I admitting? That I have a past?" His tone grew increasingly cold, each word hitting my face like ice shards. "Enough! You think you can just leave me? Where would you go? Back to your parents' shabby apartment?"

Those words hit me like a slap across the face. I staggered back in shock, unable to believe these words were coming from his mouth. "What did you just say?"

"You and that baby only have a good life because of me!" He completely dropped his facade, his voice filled with malice. "You should be grateful instead of making a scene here! Without me, you're nothing!"

My heart was torn apart. So this was how he saw me—a pitiful creature in need of charity. My love, my sacrifices, my pregnancy—in his eyes, they were all burdens.

"I don't need your charity!" I screamed. "I want a divorce!"

"Divorce?" He laughed mockingly, the sound echoing through the empty living room. "How are you going to support a child? With your parents' pathetic salary? Or those pathetic little design projects of yours?"

Every word was a poisoned arrow, aimed at my most vulnerable spots. My background, my work, all my efforts—in his eyes, they were all jokes.

"I don't want to hear another word from you." I turned toward the stairs, my whole body trembling. I needed to get away, far from this monster.

"Don't you dare walk away!" He roughly grabbed my arm, his grip so tight it hurt. "We're going to settle this!"

"Let go of me!" I yanked my arm free from his grasp.

In that instant, I lost my balance.

Time seemed to freeze. I felt myself falling backward, watching Eleanor's carefully designed marble steps getting closer and closer. These cold stones, once the elegant decoration of her dreams, now looked like a monster's gaping mouth.

My lower back slammed hard into the edge of the stairs. Excruciating pain shot through me instantly, traveling from my spine straight to my abdomen.

No, no, no!

"My baby..." I clutched my stomach, feeling a warm flow trickling down my legs. "Save my baby..."

Liam's expression changed instantly. He rushed over to help me, but I pushed him away. The pain made it impossible for me to stand; I could only curl up on the cold marble floor.

"Call an ambulance!" I screamed through my tears. "Call an ambulance now!"

Ten minutes later, the ambulance siren pierced through the night. The jolting of the stretcher made the pain even more intense. I gripped the paramedic's hand tightly. "Please, save my baby..."

"We'll do everything we can, ma'am." The nurse tried to comfort me, but I saw the worry in her eyes.

In the emergency room, doctors rushed around busily. I was wheeled into surgery, the overhead lights so blinding I couldn't keep my eyes open. The anesthesia made my consciousness fuzzy, but the fear in my heart only grew clearer.

When I woke up again, the doctor stood beside my bed. The expression on his face when he removed his mask told me everything.

"I'm very sorry. We did everything we could. We couldn't save the baby."

The world collapsed.

My baby. My five-month-old baby. I could already feel his kicks, had even chosen a name for him—Lucas. I had fantasized about what he would look like, imagined the sound of his first "mama."

Now there was nothing.

"I need some time alone." I said hoarsely, tears flowing silently.

The doctor nodded and left. The hospital room was left with just me, facing this enormous emptiness.

Suddenly, a familiar voice drifted from the hallway, making my blood run cold. It was Liam, and he was speaking on the phone with a tenderness I'd never heard him use with me:

"What? More online rumors about you being a homewrecker? ...Don't worry, I'll come comfort you right away."

My heart sank completely into an icy abyss. I had just lost our child, and he was worried about Eleanor's reputation?

The doctor walked back in, having overheard Liam's conversation, and looked at him in shock. "Sir, your wife just lost your child..."

Liam glanced at me impatiently, like looking at a troublesome burden. "I'll handle the medical bills. Chloe, get some rest. Eleanor needs me now. Her career can't be affected by rumors."

I weakly reached out my hand. "Liam... our baby..."

But he was already walking toward the door. "We can try again."

The sound of the hospital room door closing was like the final nail in the coffin of our relationship.

I had lost everything. My child, my marriage, my dignity, and even my last shred of hope had been personally strangled by him.

That night, I didn't close my eyes once. I lay on the cold hospital bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling the enormous emptiness inside me. Five-month-old Lucas would never kick my belly again, would never call me mama.

The next morning, the sunlight in the hospital room was particularly harsh.

My phone buzzed with a text message.

Sender: Liam

"I had my assistant handle the follow-up procedures. Eleanor says this might be for the best. We're still young, there'll be plenty of opportunities later. Take care of yourself."

I stared at the cold words on the screen, my fingers trembling.

Eleanor said this was for the best?

Even my losing our child had to be "approved" by Eleanor?

I wanted to laugh, but couldn't. I wanted to cry, but my tears had long since dried up.

I slowly sat up and took the mirror from the bedside table. The woman in the reflection looked haggard, but something was burning in her eyes.

It wasn't sadness. It wasn't despair.

It was ice-cold determination.

I picked up my phone, deleted Liam's message, then opened my contacts and found a number I hadn't called in a long time.

My friend, a divorce lawyer. James Anderson.

The phone rang twice before being picked up.

"Anderson Law Offices."

"James, it's me, Chloe Martinez." My voice was unnaturally calm.

There was silence on the other end for several seconds. "Chloe? My God, are you okay? I heard about... your baby..."

"I need your help." I cut him off.

"Of course. You want to break off the engagement?"

"Not just breaking off the engagement." I walked to the window, staring at the brightly lit mansion in the distance. "I want them to pay. All of them. For everything."

James's voice became serious. "I understand your anger, but the law requires evidence. Emotional infidelity is difficult to..."

"Evidence?" I let out a soft laugh, my voice ice-cold. "That's exactly what I plan to do next."