Chapter 3

3

I never actually thought it would end like this.

I never imagined a world where Jasper and I weren't together.

We were high school sweethearts.

We went through college and grad school side by side.

The day I got my Master's degree, Jasper got down on one knee and proposed.

I didn't hesitate for a single second.

He held me so tight that day, his eyes red with emotion as he whispered in my ear.

"Elena, trust me. I'm going to give you the best life possible. I'll never let you down."

A few years later, I got pregnant with Sienna.

By then, Jasper's career was skyrocketing, but he was still the man I loved.

Even when he was swamped with work, he'd rush home just to be with me.

He'd spend his evenings playing games with Sienna on the rug.

I honestly thought this happiness would last forever.

But then Sienna started school, and Jocelyn entered our lives as her tutor.

She was the wrecking ball that leveled my entire world.

In hindsight, the signs were all there.

Jasper had stopped taking me to corporate galas and parties a long time ago.

I was always too busy with lab work or taking care of Sienna to spend hours at a salon.

Compared to the polished, successful version of Jasper, I looked like a tired, dowdy housewife.

When Jocelyn arrived, things changed rapidly.

Both my husband and daughter fell in love with this gentle, sophisticated woman.

Jasper started taking Jocelyn to events as his plus-one, claiming it was for business.

They started taking Sienna to theme parks without even telling me.

The three of them looked like a perfect, happy family.

I fought with Jasper about it constantly.

"Jasper, we are married! Don't you think you're getting a little too close to the tutor?"

He would just look down at me with cold, disgusted eyes.

"Elena, look at yourself. You've let yourself go. You look like a mess."

"I take Jocelyn because she actually looks the part. If you want to go, then fix yourself up."

"Besides, everything you have comes from me. Why can't you just be grateful for once?"

The memory faded as I sat in my room.

I tucked the signed contract into my bag, planning to drop it off at work the next morning.

Suddenly, I heard a loud voice from the hallway.

"Daddy! Miss Jocelyn! Let's go to the amusement park!"

Sienna was shouting on purpose, making sure I heard her.

I felt a chill in my chest, but the sharp, stabbing pain was gone.

I guess when you get hurt enough times, your heart just goes numb.

When I was pregnant with Sienna, I had the worst morning sickness imaginable.

I lost fifteen pounds in the first few months.

Jasper was so devastated watching me suffer.

One night, when I ended up in the ER again, he held my hand and cried.

He begged me to consider ending the pregnancy because he couldn't stand seeing me in pain.

"If I have to choose between you and the baby, I choose you," he had said.

Because of that moment, I believed his love was bulletproof.

But that was years ago.

Now, he loved someone else.

And the child I almost died for only wanted another woman to be her mother.

Later that afternoon, I was watering the plants in the living room when Jasper burst in.

He looked frantic and angry, like a caged animal looking for someone to bite.

"Elena! How could you be so careless? Didn't you know she was getting a cold?"

"Why didn't you warn us before we went out? Do you want her to get worse on purpose?"

"Get in the car right now. We're going to the hospital."