Chapter 4

I looked at him, my voice steady.

"I don't need her to agree."

Ryan let out a scornful laugh, and what he said was cruel and blunt.

"Jean, you can't leave me."

"Your brother's bride money, the mortgage on the house, your parents' living expenses. Which one of those doesn't take money?"

"On your salary, you think you can hold up that bottomless pit of a family?"

He was so sure of himself.

Sure that I was chained to the family I was born into, too afraid to break free. Sure that in the end I would bow my head and give in.

"Then from now on I'll live only for myself. I won't pay for your affairs anymore, and I won't let them bleed me dry for the rest of my life."

Ryan looked at my stubborn face, his patience gone.

"I'll say this to you one last time. Stop clinging to this. You're my wife, so you should be gracious and understanding, and you have to take good care of Cecily and the baby."

"Is being your wife supposed to be some kind of honor? Do I deserve to burn up my whole life for your affair?"

"What else?"

He said it like he had every right.

"The child is my flesh and blood. Cecily can't fend for herself, so there's no way I'm leaving them to fend on their own. You're mature, independent, capable. What's wrong with giving a little more for this family?"

I couldn't be bothered to say one more word to him. I turned and walked out.

Ryan yanked me back hard by the arm, his other hand swiping fast across his phone screen.

The next second, my mother was calling again.

I hung up right away.

She kept calling. I kept hanging up.

Before she could send a message and start cursing at me, I blocked both her and my brother, Clint Simmons.

The world was finally quiet.

I shook Ryan's hand off and left without looking back.

Starting at the Hensons' was no simple matter. The medical exams alone took me three days.

When I'd finished sorting out all my exam reports and was ready to go to the Hensons', Ryan came home with Cecily.

He moved her and the newborn into our marital home.

"Cecily's place needs a nursery put in, so she'll stay with us for now. The master bedroom has good light and more space, better for the baby. You put a small bed next to it and look after the two of them."

Cecily sat there like the lady of the house, holding the baby, settled comfortably on my marriage bed.

"Jean, I really can't manage the baby on my own. I'll have to trouble you."

The weaker she played it, the more it tugged at Ryan.

Before I could get a word out, Ryan stepped in front of her, his eyes cold as he warned me.

"Don't give her that face. She's weak right now, she can't take any stress. You bear with things around the house."

I gave a cold laugh.

"You can let her live here for the rest of her life for all I care. We're getting divorced any day now anyway."

Ryan frowned.

"Throwing a tantrum is fine, but you actually want a divorce?"

I looked at him, my expression dead serious.

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

Ryan's face turned vicious.

"Fine! Jean, if you're this set on it, don't come crying later!"

On my second day working at the Hensons', the police suddenly showed up at the door.

"Sorry to disturb you, Old Mrs. Henson. We received a report. The nutritionist, Jean Simmons, deliberately poisoned a new mother and put her life in danger. We need to take her back to the station to cooperate with the investigation."