Chapter 3

Later, giving up promotions that required travel, getting pregnant and having a baby at the peak of my career – I never thought anything of it.

Because I was striding towards what I believed was a happy life.

Now, I've decided to get a divorce.

It's nothing. What I could embrace, I could also release.

My only hesitation was about the baby.

My financial capacity was certainly enough to raise a child.

But, did I want it to be born without a father?

I hadn't even found my own place in this web of lies; did I want my child to bear the weight of this unknown future?

Only by ending this pregnancy could I truly break free from Dean, and from this sickening situation.

So, was that why Chloe told me now?

She didn't want me to have this baby, did she?

She thought that once I had this child, Dean and I would have an unbreakable bond.

And then she and Dean could never truly be together, without lingering resentment.

So, in her eyes, I was an insignificant presence in their relationship. This tiny, unborn baby was her true enemy.

How laughable and absurd.

Maybe my emotions had been too unstable lately.

One day, while I was doing an experiment, my stomach seized with a searing pain, and cold sweat slicked my skin.

My colleague freaked out and rushed me outside for some fresh air.

He reminded me, "I called Dean to pick you up. You should go to the hospital. You're almost in your third trimester, you can't be careless."

Dean was usually very meticulous.

When I brought him to company gatherings, he'd add everyone's contact info, saying it was so he could reach me if I was in the lab.

By the time Dean arrived at my company, I had already been checked out of the hospital and was walking out.

"Come downstairs, Elara, I'll take you to the hospital."

Before I could say anything, I heard my colleague's voice on the phone.

"Dean, what took you so long? I called you like two hours ago! Elara already took leave and went home."

"I was busy just now. Thanks, Mark, for looking after her. I'm heading back now."

They chatted for a few more moments, then Dean asked me, "Are you home?"

"What were you busy with?"

He seemed surprised by my question. He paused, then replied, "I was with Chloe."

"What's wrong with her?"

I rarely pressed him on these things, so Dean hadn't even prepared a flimsy excuse.

He countered, "Have you and Chloe been fighting lately?"

That question seemed to open an emotional floodgate for him.

"I knew you two have been acting weird. You're usually so close, why haven't you even mentioned each other?"

"Did you do something to upset Chloe?"

"She just has a childish temper, you just need to coax her a bit."

"Or I could buy a small gift for you to give her, as an apology, to give her an easy way out."

I thought I couldn't get any angrier at these two, after all, I'd convinced myself they weren't worth it.

But the thought of them treating me like an idiot and fooling me for so many years made the humiliation and indignation inside me feel like a shaken soda can, ready to explode.

"How about I give *you* to her?"

I said that and hung up.

I regretted it.

I had planned to leave.

But running away isn't my style. Fighting back is.

I couldn't give them all the dignity and leave myself with all the pain.