Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The girl Harrison kept on the side came to pick a fight with me again.

"I love Harrison so much. Can't you just give him to me?"

He sat on the sofa across from us without saying a word, but a text from him buzzed on my phone.

"Just play along and agree for now. Let's humor her."

I followed his lead and nodded. Then, I quietly packed my bags and moved out of the penthouse we shared.

As I walked out the front door, I overheard his friends laughing in the living room.

"Man, your wife is so obedient. If you told her to terminate the pregnancy, she'd probably do that too."

Harrison raised an eyebrow, his posture completely relaxed.

"Want to bet?"

"I bet that a week from now, she'll be crying outside the clinic, but she'll still do exactly what I say."

I said nothing, quietly tapping open a message from another man.

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes."

……

"Are you serious?"

A sparkling-eyed emoji popped up on the screen right after.

I locked my phone, choosing not to reply just yet.

Laughter continued to spill from the living room behind me.

"If your wife actually terminates it, I'll lend you my new sports car for three months."

"Three months is too little. Make it a year."

"Deal!"

The voices grew louder as the whole room erupted into cheers.

Back in the bedroom, I shoved whatever I could find into my suitcase in a daze.

It was only when my shin slammed hard against the corner of the dresser that the tears finally spilled over.

Harrison had fallen for a girl seven years younger than him, Tinsley Moore.

He bought her luxury cars, paid for her apartment, and took her on trips around the world.

Yet, Tinsley wouldn't even let him hold her hand, shedding tears whenever he tried.

"You're a married man. I can't do something that hurts your wife."

Her tears broke Harrison's heart. He immediately flew back to divorce me, planning to use the divorce decree to win her over.

Back then, I fought with him, refusing to accept such a ridiculous reason for ending our marriage.

He wrapped his arms around me, whispering soothing words.

"It's just an act, baby. I'll remarry you in a few days, okay?"

Yet only a few days had passed, and Tinsley had already shown up at our doorstep to make a scene.

She collapsed into Harrison's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I love Harrison so much. Can't you just give him to me?"

His friends all urged me to be the bigger person and not hold a grudge against a young girl.

Harrison sat beside her in silence, pretending to be reluctant, but secretly texting me under the table.

"Just play along and agree for now. Let's humor her."

Once again, I gave in.

My phone buzzed with another incoming message.

"Are you really serious?"

"Please tell me you're not teasing me."

My cheeks warmed, and my fingers flew across the keyboard.

"I'm serious. Truly. I'm not lying to you."

The moment I finished packing, Harrison drove me to the clinic.

He was in high spirits the entire ride, chatting about how we should celebrate my upcoming birthday.

This year would mark our fifth year celebrating together, as well as our fifth anniversary.

"I was looking at private islands in the Caribbean. Which one do you like best, babe?"

He leaned over and pressed a kiss to my cheek.

"Right, I forgot my wife loves Maui. I'll buy a beachfront villa there instead."

It wasn't until we stepped out of the car that he noticed the tear stains under my eyes.

He reached out to wipe them away, but I slapped his hand away in silence.

Only when he led me into the women's clinic and faced the doctor's routine questions did he finally try to comfort me.

"Don't be mad, babe. We can always have another baby later. Young girls are just hard to deal with, you know?"

The doctor looked completely unfazed by the situation, asking a few standard questions before sending me to the waiting room for the procedure.

Harrison sat beside me, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw him texting Tinsley nonstop.

"Alright, alright, the procedure takes time. I'll come straight to you as soon as she's done, okay?"

"You promised me a kiss today. No backing out."

Tinsley kept throwing a tantrum over text.

Seeing how quiet and cooperative I was, Harrison stood up, ready to leave.

"Babe, something urgent came up at work. You'll be fine on your own. I already arranged a new place for you, so just call an Uber when you're done."

His steps were hurried, his tone rushed, and before I could even reply, he vanished down the hallway.

I lay on the cold operating table, feeling the hollow ache inside my body as everything settled into an eerie calm.

The moment I walked out of the clinic, a notification popped up on my screen.

It was a picture of a first-class flight ticket from London to Chicago.

"Wait for me."