Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When I returned to the dining room, I stood firm on getting a divorce, but Grant adamantly refused.

To win me back, he came home strictly on time every day, cooked dinner, washed the dishes, and showered me with attentive care.

He even deleted Chloe from all his social media apps right in front of me and handed over his phone for unannounced checks.

In his mind, his performative devotion was more than enough to earn my forgiveness.

Until I ran into Chloe at the general hospital.

She was standing alone in the hallway, looking small and fragile as she clutched a medical bill with trembling hands.

She looked like the picture of tragic innocence.

Grant, who had insisted on accompanying me for my routine health checkup, immediately sprinted over to her, his face dark with annoyance.

"What are you doing back here? You are pregnant; you should be resting at home!"

Chloe looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, a spark of hope flickering across her face before dimming away.

"Grant, this city is my hometown too. Am I not even allowed to come home to see a doctor?"

"If my presence makes things difficult for you, I'll just get rid of the baby right now and leave the country forever!"

As she spoke, fat tears rolled down her porcelain cheeks.

Grant's expression remained stern, though his posture tightened.

"Stop crying. The clinic you need is just around the corner to the left."

"I'm warning you, don't pull any more stunts in front of Cora, or I will never forgive you as long as I live!"

Chloe sniffled softly.

"I... I understand."

Grant walked back to me, taking my hand gently in his.

"See, honey? I truly don't have any feelings for her…"

As we walked up the stairs, Chloe's heart-wrenching wails echoed from below.

"Why do I have to love you this much…?"

"I was the one who met you first! Why isn't it me standing by your side?!"

Right next to my ear, Grant whispered softly.

"Honey, I only love you."

It made my stomach churn with disgust.

……

The next evening, rain poured down in sheets. A frantic knock sounded at our front door.

It was Chloe. She had no umbrella, and rainwater mingled with tears on her face as she screamed at me through the threshold.

"Are you happy now?!"

"Because of you, Grant told my parents that I was pregnant! My dad beat me with a cane ten times! They never laid a finger on me growing up!"

"I hate you!"

She lunged at me in a frenzy. I grabbed her wrists effortlessly, twisting them back, and barked into her face.

"You brought this on yourself by choosing to be a shameless homewrecker! What does your misery have to do with me?!"

Grant, who had been baking a cake in the kitchen to cheer me up, rushed over when he heard the commotion. He pulled me behind him and glared coldly at Chloe.

The moment Chloe saw Grant, her hostile demeanor melted into absolute helplessness.

"Grant... the baby is gone…"

"I bit my tongue and refused to tell my parents who the father was, but the baby still didn't make it…"

"What?!"

Grant let go of me instantly. He scooped Chloe into his arms in a bridal carry and rushed toward the elevators.

"I don't believe it!"

Halfway down the hall, he seemed to suddenly remember my existence. He turned his head and called out.

"Cora, I'm just taking her to the emergency room for an exam. Don't overthink this!"

I simply nodded, giving him a flat, emotionless hum.

Grant didn't come home that entire night.

I suddenly remembered a night years ago when he had worked several consecutive night shifts at the trauma center. Exhausted, he had walked into the street without looking and was nearly struck by a speeding car.

I had been waiting outside to pick him up. Without hesitation, I shoved him out of the way and took the full impact of the car myself.

It was a rainy night just like this one. He had carried me into the emergency room in the exact same frantic, terrified panic.

In the end, I lost our unborn child, and the internal damage left me with an extremely low chance of ever conceiving again.

The look of raw panic on his face tonight was an exact mirror of that night.

That was when I knew Grant was merely clinging to the habit of how well I had treated him.

His heart had long since belonged to someone else.

My phone screen lit up with a new notification.

"Hello! I'm Liam, your tour guide for the upcoming Antarctica expedition!"

Pulling my thoughts back to reality, I typed out a quick reply.

Once I forced Grant to sign those divorce papers, I would leave this place behind for good.