Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chloe shook her head frantically.

"It's just a bug bite, Audrey! Please don't overthink it!"

She suddenly whipped her head around and glared viciously at Harrison.

"Why did you tell her? Didn't we make a promise!"

"Enough!"

I violently yanked my wrist out of Chloe's grip.

"Since you two are already this shameless, stop putting on a disgusting show in front of me."

The sharp crack echoed through the room.

My palm landed squarely across her cheek.

Harrison shoved me back forcefully and caught my sister before she hit the floor.

"Audrey, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"We wronged you, sure, but did you really have to hit your own sister like that?"

"For three whole years, hasn't she accommodated you enough?"

"Every time we went out, she bent to your every whim! She ate whatever you wanted to eat, went wherever you wanted to go, and even rode roller coasters with you despite her weak heart!"

"Since the day Grace was born, she spent more time with you than with her own baby just so you wouldn't find out! Our daughter still thinks the nanny is her real mother!"

"She loves you so much, yet you can't even show an ounce of compassion. You're being utterly heartless!"

His accusations hammered into my skull like lead weights.

The meals I carefully ordered to match their tastes, the vacations I painstakingly planned to grant their wishes.

In the end, it was all framed as my fault.

Chloe caught her breath and gave Harrison a desperate shove.

"Stop yelling at my sister…"

Her voice trembled with panic.

"She didn't do anything wrong. We are the ones who ruined everything…"

Before she could finish her sentence, her eyes rolled back and her body went limp.

"Chloe!"

Harrison scooped her into his arms and bolted out of the private room without looking back once.

Chaos erupted in the room. People were shouting, making phone calls, and scrambling for their coats.

I stood completely still in the center of the room.

The surrounding noise blurred into a dull, hollow ringing.

Within minutes, everyone was gone.

I was the only one left.

I sank slowly onto the leather couch and pulled a folded piece of paper from my bag.

It was a lab report confirming I was four weeks pregnant.

I remembered sobbing like a fool in the hospital hallway when the doctor handed it to me.

Three years ago, I noticed the longing look in Harrison's eyes whenever he saw other people's children.

He would smile so gently and whisper about how cute kids were and what kind of father he wanted to be.

I knew how badly he craved a family.

Yet the specialists had warned me that my chances of natural conception were nearly zero due to uterine complications.

Over the past few years, I traveled to fertility clinics across the country, endured endless rounds of bitter herbal medicine, tracked basal temperatures, and took countless hormone shots.

Harrison never knew any of it.

I wanted to wait until I was safely pregnant to give him the biggest surprise of his life.

I finally made a miracle happen.

I had planned to announce the pregnancy at the party tonight.

Now, none of it mattered anymore.

He had become a father long ago.

I closed my eyes, and my tears finally broke through the dam.

When I had no tears left to cry, I tore the lab report into shreds and dialed my attorney.

"Draft the divorce papers. I'm ending this marriage."