Chapter 2

2

In the distance, I saw a woman in a trench coat running toward him.

Holden lowered his voice, sounding annoyed but excited.

"Sia, I told you not to contact me privately!"

"If my wife finds out, I'll make sure you regret it!"

Sia didn't look scared at all. She slowly unbelted her coat.

"Mr. Hearst, I've learned some new ways to serve a client. Want a demo?"

In the silent night, the sound of Holden swallowing hard was deafening.

"You little temptress. If you don't perform well, I'll have to punish you."

He scooped her up and headed for the luxury apartments across the street.

I watched the floor number they disappeared into.

It dawned on me that the penthouse belonged to Holden's parents.

We had been together for seven years, and his parents always looked down on me.

Even after I got pregnant, they refused to let me into the Hearst family mansion.

Yet here was Sia, kept in their private property like a hidden treasure.

A horrifying thought took root―maybe his parents knew all along.

Maybe they were cheering him on while I was kept in the dark.

The irony of my last seven years hit me, and tears finally spilled over.

I didn't sleep a wink. The next morning, I headed downstairs just as the door opened.

Holden walked in, carrying a bag of hot breakfast.

He was pretending he had gone out early just to get me a treat.

He handed me the warm food and knelt down to put socks on my feet.

"Morning, babe. Why are you up so early? Did you have a nightmare?"

He leaned in for his usual morning kiss, but froze when he saw my cold expression.

"What's wrong? You've been acting strange since last night."

"You have a scent on you... a scent I don't like."

He had stayed out all night. No matter how much he tried to hide it, I smelled her.

My pregnancy had made my sense of smell incredibly sharp.

Holden didn't miss a beat as he offered an explanation.

"The bakery was crowded. I probably just picked up some odd smells there."

He quickly changed his clothes before sitting down to eat with me.

After breakfast, he suggested I go to the office with him.

He claimed he wanted to transfer ten percent of his shares to me as a gift.

He said it was a reward for the love I had shown him during this pregnancy.

The System told me I could convert this "reward" into cash and take it with me.

Fine. I'd take those millions as a mental health settlement.

At the office, his legal team was already waiting.

Watching him carefully review the transfer agreement made me ache.

Part of me wished everything I saw yesterday was just a hallucination.

We were supposed to become a family of three. It was supposed to be perfect.

Then, his phone lit up with a text from Sia.

"Holden, let's roleplay as doctor and patient today, okay?~"

Holden kept his face neutral, but he turned away to type a quick reply.

"You little brat. Just wait until I get my hands on you."

Those few words shattered any remaining illusions I had.

His supposed obsession with "loyalty" was nothing but a sick joke.

I took the agreement from the lawyer and signed it after checking the details.

Holden was so eager to leave for his "meeting" that he didn't even look at the papers.

He signed the stack I handed him with lightning speed.

He didn't notice that hidden in the middle was a set of divorce papers.

I had the System print them for me the night before.

After the lawyers left, Holden looked at me with a fake, apologetic face.

"Babe, a client just called with an emergency. I have to run..."

I pulled the documents back and said softly, "Go ahead."

He kissed my cheek and told his assistant to drive me home.

As I walked out, I saw Carly from HR handing out holiday gifts.

"Hey, Jenevieve! Was it your idea to give us these this year?"

"The skincare sets and medspa gift cards are exactly what we wanted!"