Chapter 1

At my birthday party, my husband’s "girl best friend" lost a game of Truth or Dare.

Her punishment was to reveal the wildest thing she had ever done.

She suddenly giggled and looked at me.

"I've done a lot of crazy things... but honestly, nothing beats that quickie with Ethan in the back of his car."

The entire room went dead silent.

I held my three-month pregnant belly, feeling my lower abdomen tighten violently.

She smiled sweetly at me.

"Chloe, don’t take it the wrong way. You’re pregnant and can’t satisfy him anyway. No need to thank me—I was just helping out like a good bro."

I stood up abruptly, a sharp pain shooting through my stomach.

My husband, Ethan, froze for a second. Then, he casually swirled his glass.

"Chloe, Hailey was just looking out for us since your pregnancy has been so hard on you. Don’t be so dramatic."

"She did it out of kindness. Do you really have to react like this?"

Inside the room, everyone was frozen in place by Hailey’s words.

"When... when did this happen?"

A dull pain throbbed in my stomach. I couldn’t stop shaking.

Today was my twenty-ninth birthday.

Looking at the lavish decorations and the carefully chosen gifts Ethan had filled the room with, I only felt a sickening irony.

He slept with another woman.

And he called it "out of kindness"?

I stared at him, my fingernails digging deep into my palms.

Hailey stood up and warmly grabbed my arm. Her voice was sickeningly sweet.

"Chloe, you're pregnant. Don't just stand there. Come and sit down."

I took a step back, my eyes falling on her exposed arm—there was a fresh, elegant cursive tattoo.

E & H.

Ethan & Hailey.

Their initials.

Noticing my gaze, she deliberately turned her arm, smiling with fake innocence.

"Chloe, this tattoo hurt for three days. If Ethan hadn't held my hand the whole time, I would have never made it through."

I snapped my gaze to Ethan.

Panic flashed in his eyes, and he subconsciously curled his ring finger.

On his wedding ring—the one engraved with our names—there was a new tattoo: H.

He had tattooed her initial on his wedding ring finger.

My heart plummeted into a bottomless icy abyss.

My lower belly began to tighten. I gripped the edge of the table so hard my knuckles turned white.

Hailey sat down next to me and pulled a pack of cigarettes from her purse.

The lighter flicked. Click.

Seconds later, a thick, pungent smell of smoke filled my nose.

I started coughing violently, my throat burning like sandpaper.

My stomach churned, and my vision went dark.

Covering my mouth, I rushed into the bathroom, dropping to my knees in front of the toilet, throwing up until I was dry-heaving bile.

"Chloe, I'm so sorry." Hailey had followed me in at some point, still holding the cigarette, looking incredibly aggrieved. "I forgot you can't stand the smell of smoke while pregnant... It's my fault. Should I put it out?"

Ethan's voice came from the living room, laced with impatience.

"It's fine, Hailey. Keep smoking. She’s just been overly dramatic since she got pregnant. She throws up at literally everything."

Dramatic?

These past few months, my morning sickness had been severe. I was dehydrated from vomiting every single day. Even a sip of water wouldn't stay down.

The man who used to drag me to the hospital over a minor cold now called me dramatic.

When did he change?

Or did he never actually care?

It had been seven years.

I had lived in a tiny, cramped studio apartment with him, wearing five-dollar t-shirts, eating instant ramen until I felt sick, supporting him from when he was a penniless nobody to the rising tech mogul he was today.

He used to say I was the only one he’d ever love. He even said we’d name our baby Hope, because I was the hope that saved his life.

Now, it just seemed pathetic.

I stroked my belly.

I suddenly remembered the night two weeks ago when I started spotting. My lower abdomen was cramping, and my back was aching terribly.

Ethan came home smelling of alcohol, climbed into bed, wrapped his arms around me, and slid his hand under my nightgown.

I pushed him away.

"Ethan, please... I’m not feeling well today."

The warmth in his eyes instantly died, turning icy cold.

"Fine. Go to sleep. I’m going drag racing with the guys."

The next morning, he and his "girl best friend," Hailey, ended up in the hospital together.

Hailey had a minor leg injury, but she smiled sweetly at me from her hospital bed.

"Chloe, I took the hit for Ethan. It was a close call."

And I believed her.

I held her hand, crying, thanking her for saving his life.

But now that I thought about it...

That night, up in the mountains.

Maybe they really did "race" all night long.

I wiped the bitter taste from my mouth, walked back into the living room, and stared Ethan dead in the eye.

"So that night... you and Hailey really slept together in the mountains?"

He looked at me, took a sip of his drink, and sighed.

"Chloe."

"A man has needs. When I'm burning up, I need a woman to put out the fire."