Chapter 3

3.

The day before my scheduled induction, I went back to our house.

Ever since I'd gotten pregnant, Alistair had kept me confined to the hospital under the guise of constant monitoring.

I didn't have to worry about the baby anymore. There was no baby to save.

Our home was filled with expensive nursery gear. I used to think he bought it for us. Now I knew it was all for Flora's brat.

I saw his laptop was open on the study desk. I glanced at the screen.

It was a legal trust document for the heir of the Lockwood Group. I scrolled down. The mother's name was listed as Flora Vance.

Our wedding photos were everywhere. Pictures of us in college, the ceramic pot we made together on our first date...

The more 'love' I saw, the more it stung.

Did he ever really love me? I traced the line of his jaw in our wedding portrait.

We were the golden couple. Everyone envied how much Alistair Lockwood spoiled his wife.

I still remembered the day he proposed. He had cried like a baby when I said yes.

He promised to love me for a lifetime and never let go.

I remembered when Flora once accidentally slept in our guest bed when she was sick with a fever. Alistair had screamed at the housekeeper and tried to fire them both.

I was the one who took pity on them. I insisted they stay because the mother was old and Flora was just a student.

My kindness had cost me everything.

Alistair's betrayal hadn't started recently. He had been spending hours in Flora's room for 'tutoring' for years.

What kind of college student needs that much tutoring from a CEO?

He gave her his heart, his attention, and now, my child's inheritance.

Eight years. What did I have left?

Just a mountain of lies and a hollow chest.

The front door clicked open. Alistair and Flora walked in, locked in a heated, messy kiss.

I froze in the shadows, unable to move my feet.

The hospital stay was a setup. He wanted me out of the house so they could use our marital bed for their filthy affair.

Standing in the corner, I felt like a ghost haunting my own life.

Flora's moans echoed through the foyer. She arched her neck, gasping for air.

"Alistair... if we had met sooner, would you have married me instead?"

Alistair thrust against her with a brutal intensity. "Don't talk about that! If it wasn't for Genevieve's family connections, I wouldn't have looked at you!"

"But you're in my bed now. You even said it's more exciting having me here while she's stuck in the hospital. You're such a bad man."

Flora's voice grew louder and more obscene. I covered my ears, desperate to drown it out, but his words cut through the air like a knife.

Every word was a needle stabbing my pride, shredding what was left of my dignity.

"I still care for her in a way," Alistair grunted. "But eight years is a long time. I got bored. A man needs a little excitement, doesn't he?"

So that was it. The reason for the betrayal was simply boredom. I let out a silent, bitter laugh.

The pain in my chest radiated down to my abdomen. A sharp, tearing sensation made my legs give out.

I collapsed to the floor with a loud thud, alerting them both.

Alistair didn't even stop to put on a shirt before he came running. When he saw my ghost-white face, he scooped me up in a panic.

In the car, he held my hand, his whole body shaking. His fear for me looked real, but the bite marks on his shoulder were even more real.

"Sera, hang on... let the baby be born first, and I'll explain everything, I promise..."

A single tear rolled down my cheek. I turned my head away, refusing to look at him.

Inside the operating room, Dr. Sterling prepped a syringe.

"After I inject this, your vitals will drop to a state of near-death for twenty-four hours. Are you ready?"

I nodded, my soul already feeling dead. "Dr. Sterling, when you give him the papers to sign, make sure the divorce decree is at the bottom of the pile."

"Consider it done."

As the liquid entered my veins, a heavy darkness swallowed me whole.

Outside, Alistair was a wreck. He paced the hallway, looking like a madman.

When the doctor emerged with the 'Death Notification' and a stack of emergency forms, he delivered the news.

"Mr. Lockwood, your wife suffered a massive hemorrhage. She's... she's gone."

Alistair let out a guttural, soul-shattering scream and kicked the nursing station with enough force to dent the metal.

"I don't care what it takes! Save her! Save my wife!"

He blindly signed every paper the doctor shoved in front of him, his hands trembling so hard he could barely hold the pen.

Ten minutes later, I was wheeled out under a white sheet.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Lockwood. We did everything we could."

Alistair reached out, his fingers shaking as he pulled back the sheet to see my pale, motionless face. He stumbled back, collapsing to his knees, whispering like a broken record.

"I don't believe it... I don't believe it... This isn't happening..."