Chapter 3

The slap rang out, sharp and unmistakable.

David staggered back, his head snapping to the side. One cheek flushed instantly, swelling with the force of it.

My mother went straight for Lily. She pointed at her, shaking with rage.

“You—” Her voice broke. “You have no shame. She’s your own sister!”

Lily flinched under her glare, but her defiance didn’t fade.

“He came after me first!” she shot back. “What was I supposed to do?”

My mother lifted a hand, trembling, caught somewhere between fury and disbelief, but she didn’t strike. She couldn’t.

Not her youngest daughter. Not the child she had once spoiled and protected.

Compared to my mother’s softhearted reaction, Mrs. Evans’s response was far more direct and far less forgiving.

She stepped right in front of me, grabbing my hand, not gently, but firmly, like she was assessing a business deal rather than a ruined marriage.

“Ruby,” she said sharply, “what exactly is going on here?”

“Did David suffer some kind of neglect at home? Did you do something to push him into this?”

I was speechless for a moment, stunned by how twisted her version of reality was. Then I almost laughed. Not because it was funny but because it was absurd.

“I didn’t do enough?” I repeated. “I gave him my home. My cars. A senior position in the Wilson Group. What exactly was I supposed to do—hand him my entire life on a silver platter?”

Mrs. Evans’s expression tightened.

From the side, Mr. Evans scoffed.

“Let’s be honest,” he said coolly. “This all comes down to one thing. You can’t have children.”

“A woman who can’t give a man a child,” he continued, “what do you expect? Of course he’d look elsewhere. That’s just nature.”

“Our David was generous enough to marry into your family. That was a favor to you.”

Something inside me snapped cleanly into place.

So that was how they saw me.

Not as a wife.

Not as a partner.

But as a problem.

I let out a slow breath.

“Generosity?” I said softly. “If that’s generosity, you can take it back.”

Mr. Evans’s face darkened. “You—”

“Enough.”

My father’s voice cut through the chaos like a blade.

He stepped forward, his expression carved in ice.

“This ends here.”

He pointed directly at David.

“You’re divorcing my daughter.”

Mrs. Evans reacted instantly.

“Fine,” she snapped. “But the settlement will be split. Everything, this house, the company shares, her assets—David gets half.”

My father let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “You must be dreaming.”

He turned slightly, voice steady and absolute.

“He signed a prenup. If he cheats, he walks away with nothing.”

The moment the words landed, the room shifted. David’s face went pale. Mrs. Evans froze. Mr. Evans's composure finally broke.

And then— David dropped to his knees.

“Ruby, please!”

He crawled toward me, grabbing for my legs like he was drowning.

“I was wrong. I swear I was wrong. Give me another chance. I’ll cut her off. I’ll end everything with Lily right now!”

His voice broke as he clung to me, tears spilling down his face. A man begging. Pleading. Desperate.

And then, suddenly, he stood. Like something in him snapped. He turned and stormed toward Lily.

The sound of the slap echoed again.

Lily collapsed onto the floor, stunned. She stared up at him in disbelief.

“You hit me…?”

“You’re that bitch!” David’s eyes were bloodshot, his expression completely unhinged. “You seduced me! You destroyed my family! I’m going to kill you!”

He lunged at her. His hands closed around her throat. The room exploded into chaos.

My mother screamed. My father surged forward. Mr. Evans shouted. Someone tried to pull David off but it was too late.

Let them tear each other apart. It had nothing to do with me anymore.

I stood still. Watching it all unfold like it was happening somewhere far away.

Pathetic. All of them.

Then, Lily’s face turned purple. Her fingers clawed at David’s hands, and in a strangled gasp, she forced out the words—

“I… I’m pregnant…”