Chapter 2

2.

In three days, I was supposed to be gone from this hellhole for good.

Screw you, Liam Callahan. I'm done with this crap.

I had just hung up and was about to call an Uber when a black Cadillac screeched to a halt in front of me. The window rolled down. It was Liam. He looked awful―gray-faced and bloodshot.

“Get in the car, Chloe,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“We have nothing to talk about.” I turned to walk away.

“Ava needs emergency surgery, but she has rare antibodies. The blood bank can’t use their standard supply without cross-matching, which takes time.” He got out and blocked my path, speaking rapidly. “She’s Rh-negative, and so are you. The doctor said a direct transfusion from a family member or a perfect match like you is the fastest way. It could save at least two hours. Otherwise, she might die on the operating table.”

I stared at him in disbelief, my entire body trembling with rage.

“So? You want me to give my blood to the woman who has tried to kill me multiple times?” I laughed, a sharp, bitter sound. “At our seventh wedding, she pushed me down a flight of stairs. I was in the hospital for three weeks. At our ninth, she stabbed me with a steak knife. I needed seventeen stitches and almost died on the table! Have you forgotten?”

“And now you want me to save her with my blood? Liam, are you out of your fucking mind?!”

Liam looked away, and his silence was more damning than any words. He didn't deny it, didn't apologize. He just laid out his terms.

“Chloe, I'm not asking.” He finally met my gaze, those blue eyes I once loved now filled with cold calculation. “This is a deal.”

He paused, each word a death sentence.

“Give her the blood. If you agree, I’ll have my lawyer draw up the divorce papers immediately. The beach house from our prenup, the one you love? I won’t fight you on it. It’s yours. Otherwise, we drag this out. My legal team will keep our divorce tied up in court for years, and you won’t get a single penny.”

This was the real him. A cold, controlling bastard. A CEO who knew how to weaponize law and love.

I stared at him, feeling the love I had for him wither and die inside my chest.

After a moment, I let out a cold laugh.

“Fine.”

A flash of surprise crossed Liam’s face, as if he hadn’t expected me to agree so quickly.

“But I have a condition,” I said, meeting his eyes. “I want you to email what you just said to my lawyer. Right now. I need to make sure you’re not just making empty promises to trick me into saving your precious Ava.”

His face went pale. His lips moved, but in the end, he pulled out his phone and sent the email right in front of me.

At the hospital, I got the confirmation text from my lawyer.

As the nurse prepared to draw my blood, I spoke up. “Take two units.”

“Chloe…” Liam’s expression was complicated.

I cut him off coolly. “Take extra, just in case. I never want to see either of you again for the rest of my life.”

After two units of blood were drawn, the world started to go dark. My lips were white.

I shoved away the hand Liam offered to steady me and stumbled out of the hospital on my own.