Chapter 4
During my few days in the hospital, Liam showed up at my ward right on time every single day.
He would bring a fresh bouquet of flowers, sit by my bed, and remind me to take my medication. But he never stayed long. He would always glance at his watch and rush off, claiming he had an urgent matter to attend to at work.
As I watched his back disappear behind the closing door, I knew exactly where he was going. With me bedridden and immobilized, it was the perfect opportunity for them to carry on their sordid affair without restraint.
I used to think I had it all—a flawless marriage, the long-lost love of a mother. I truly believed that after all the suffering I had endured, fate was finally compensating me.
But now I realized it was all a lie. My mother was a fake, my husband was a fraud, and even the baby growing inside my own body belonged to someone else.
What did I actually have left?
The day I was discharged happened to be my birthday.
The sky poured relentless, torrential rain. I stood alone at the hospital entrance, waiting for a husband who never showed up.
I pulled out my phone and dialed his number.
It rang several times before he finally picked up. "Chloe, I'm so sorry," Liam's voice sounded through the receiver. "There's been a massive emergency at the company. I'm stuck at the office and have to work late. I won't be home until much later."
After hanging up, I called my mother, Evelyn.
She used the exact same dismissive tone. "Sweetie, Mom is meeting a very important old friend right now. I really can't get away. Why don't you just take a cab home by yourself, okay?"
I lowered my phone.
Instead of reaching out to hail a cab, I walked straight into the blinding downpour.
The icy rain instantly soaked my clothes and matted my hair to my face. Dragging my weak, exhausted body, I wandered aimlessly through the storm until I set foot on a rusted, aging bridge.
The wind howled viciously across the overpass. I stared down at the bottomless, pitch-black water raging below, my hand slowly resting against my swollen belly.
Amidst the roaring storm, I dialed Liam's number one last time.
"Liam, let's get a divorce."
My voice was completely hollow.
The background noise on his end was loud and chaotic. Liam immediately replied, clearly assuming I was just throwing another tantrum. "Stop being ridiculous, honey. We have a baby to think about."
A bitter smile pulled at the corners of my lips. "Right... the baby. Tell me, what exactly am I supposed to do with this baby?"
Liam completely lost his patience.
Faint laughter and voices urging him on could be heard in the background as he raised his voice. "Are you doing this just because I couldn't pick you up today? I told you, I have an actual emergency! Your pregnancy hormones are making you totally irrational. We'll talk about this when you've calmed down!"
With that, he abruptly hung up.
My screen went dark, but a split second later, it lit up again with a new message notification.
It was from Serena.
I tapped the message open. It was a high-definition group photograph.
The picture was brilliantly lit, taken inside a lavish banquet hall. Liam, who had claimed to be dealing with a company emergency, and Evelyn, who claimed to be meeting an old friend, were both standing closely around Serena, holding a massive cake to celebrate her birthday.
Staring at the glowing screen, I let out a dry, empty laugh.
My husband and my own biological mother were throwing a birthday party for the woman who ruined my life—while I stood out in the freezing rain, carrying my husband and my enemy's child.
I lowered my head and spoke softly to my stomach.
"I'm so jealous of you. Everyone is so desperate for you to be born. No one has ever wanted me like that."
Then, I dropped my phone.
Without a single second of hesitation, I hoisted myself over the freezing metal railing and plunged into the icy, churning black water below.
Early the next morning, Liam pushed open the front door.
The house was dead silent.
Loosening his tie, he checked the rooms, eventually walking into the first-floor study where Chloe usually spent her time—a room he almost never bothered to enter.
It was entirely empty.
He dialed her number, but it rang infinitely into the void.
Frowning, his eyes landed on a document resting conspicuously on the desk.
Liam walked over. The DNA test report instantly filled his vision.
The moment he read the bolded conclusion, it felt as if a sledgehammer had viciously smashed into the back of his skull.
Liam’s legs locked up as a freezing sweat broke out uncontrollably over his entire body.
She knew.
She knew absolutely everything!
No wonder she had asked for a divorce in the middle of a storm last night! No wonder she asked what she was supposed to do with the baby!
It wasn't pregnancy hormones. She wasn't just throwing a tantrum.
Breathing heavily, Liam grabbed his phone like a madman, aggressively dialing her number over and over again, but there was no answer. He frantically called Evelyn, but she was just as clueless.
Just as Liam spun around, ready to rush out the door to search for her, his phone suddenly rang.
He answered it in a split second. A grave voice came through the speaker.
"Is this Mr. Liam? This is the police. We found your wife's phone on a bridge. Nearby surveillance footage confirms that she jumped into the river last night and drowned. Please come down to the station later to identify her belongings."
At those words, Liam's vision went completely black. His knees buckled out from under him, and he collapsed into a lifeless heap on the floor.
