Chapter 3

On her Ins, Marcus had taken her to see the Northern Lights, and even rented out an entire private island to celebrate their anniversary.

In all these places I could never afford to go, they looked so happy together.

My throat felt like it was being strangled. Even breathing became difficult.

It wasn't until late at night that I heard sounds at the door.

As soon as Marcus came in, he frowned: "Why is it so cold in here?"

Though the apartment complex was in the city center, the building was old and the heating was poor.

Other tenants couldn't stand the cold and moved out. I was the only one who stayed because of six months' rent reduction.

The door was ajar. I didn't say anything, just exhaled a puff of white breath.

Marcus went to the bedroom and brought out a comforter, wrapping it around me without asking.

His voice carried anger: "Is this how you take care of yourself when I'm not here? Evelyn, how can I feel at ease?"

I shoved him away: "Why are you putting on an act now? Is it fun lying to me?"

My pregnant body was clumsy. I stumbled a few steps before steadying myself.

In the past, when I lost my temper with Marcus, he would smile helplessly and raise both hands in surrender:

"It's my fault. I made Evelyn unhappy. You can punish me however you want."

Now Marcus's face was cold: "How long are you going to make a mountain out of a molehill?"

He paused: "Celeste is young. She can't handle a lot of things on her own..."

My emotions spiraled out of control: "She's young, so you play her boyfriend and take care of her? What about me? How pathetic am I that you'd pretend to be poor just to toy with me?"

Pain flashed through Marcus's eyes. He hugged me tightly from behind: "Evelyn, calm down!"

I used all my strength but couldn't break free. "Don't touch me!"

A soft sound—the ajar door was pushed open.

Celeste, appearing out of nowhere, looked at us with disbelief written all over her face. "You two..."

"Celeste? Why are you here?"

As if realizing something, Marcus's expression turned ice cold, his voice frigid: "Why did you come?"

Celeste's face was covered in tears:

"Didn't you install a tracker on your phone yourself so I could always find you? So what does this mean now? You want me to pretend I don't see you messing around with this old woman?"

She shoved me hard. "I trusted you so much. I never thought you'd be shameless enough to seduce my boyfriend!"

I almost fell. Marcus quickly caught me and glared furiously at Celeste. "Stop it!"

Celeste broke down even more: "Marcus, you liar! You said you'd marry me!"

She turned and ran out crying.

Marcus immediately moved to chase her. I grabbed his hand: "I need to tell you something..."

But he shook me off violently: "Let go! What if Celeste runs into danger this late at night?"

Marcus left without looking back. I was thrown directly to the floor, my belly hitting the table corner hard.

Suddenly, a twisting pain shot through my abdomen. I felt wetness below.

I reached down—blood!

The sharp pain made my head swim. Instinctively, I called Marcus: "Help me... my stomach hurts so much..."

The last thing I heard before losing consciousness was Marcus's impatient voice:

"You're at home. What danger could there be? I just got Celeste calmed down. Stop throwing tantrums."