Chapter 2

2 "Chloe?" Jake's voice comes from behind me, sounding surprised.

He sees the tears on my face, and he practically trips rushing over. He hits his knee on the bedframe and starts bleeding, but he doesn't even care. He pulls me into a hug, his voice tight and worried:

"Chloe, what's wrong? Did I do something? Did I upset you?"

I pull away, casual. "No. Just watched a super sad movie. The heroine got a raw deal, is all."

Jake pulls me back, relieved. "You scared me. Don't watch those sad movies. We're different. I'll make sure you're happy for the rest of your life."

Hearing that before would have made me swoon, but now? It just sounds like a lie.

"Your knee is bleeding. I'll get a bandage and some milk." He has trouble sleeping, and I heard warm milk helps. No matter how late he gets home, I heat it up for him.

"You're the best, Chloe. You need to watch more comedies. Hearing you laugh is what makes life worth living."

As I get up, another tear rolls down my cheek. He was acting all this time, and I was too stupid to see it.

I put a little sleeping pill in his milk, and it wasn't long before he was out like a light. As I started to look for proof, his phone started buzzing and flashing like crazy. Jake had set it up with an emergency alert; he said it was because of his job. But it dawned on me then - the emergency alerts were for Sarah.

I unlock his phone with his fingerprint. Sure enough, there's a new voice message from Sarah. But instead of her voice, I hear a little girl saying:

"Daddy, Mommy says she loves the diamond necklace you got her!"

My whole body trembles. That voice… could that be my baby? I dive deeper, going back over old messages. The more I read, the colder I get.

Ever since Sarah and Mark humiliated me at my wedding, I cut ties with them. I'd only heard whispers about how Sarah got pregnant and Mark sent her to some fancy place in Europe to have the baby. He was always too busy, supposedly, to go, but they were always posting about how much they loved each other.

And all those days I was grieving my baby, wasting away, Jake was flying to Europe to be with Sarah. I always saw his hands as tools for healing, not for doing chores. But in the photos on his phone, he's wearing an apron, clumsily making soup for Sarah, his fingers burned but it doesn't seem to matter.

He was cooking for her, cleaning for her, walking with her and the baby. Sarah's head on his shoulder. They looked like a happy family. And the messages! Five years worth, never an empty day, and Jake was always answering right away.

No wonder he never lets his phone out of his sight, even in the shower. He was protecting Sarah, not me. I dreamed of watching my baby grow up, but I was watching it on his phone screen. Then I saw the message from Jake to Sarah:

"Sarah, Chloe's given birth to the baby. I'll bring her over right away. You can be a mom now."

What about me? I can never be a mom again.

I dry my eyes and call my lawyer friend. "Get a divorce agreement ready, I need it tomorrow. And about that translation job in France you mentioned? I'll take it. I'll fly out in five days."

Jake, if you love Sarah that much, then fine, you can have her.