Chapter 4

After I rejected him, he stopped reaching out.

He didn't ask to get back to normal, nor did he officially end things.

My anxiety only grew. Was he really at home, playing house and taking care of his pregnant ex?

One evening, I bought some groceries and went to his apartment.

When I rang the bell, Chloe opened the door.

She was wearing Ethan’s oversized hoodie, her belly showing a tiny bump. She paused when she saw me, then smiled warmly, welcoming me in like she owned the place.

"Ethan, Val is here!" Chloe called out.

I stood there, feeling like a complete stranger in my boyfriend's home.

Ethan walked out of the bedroom. "What are you doing here?"

His tone was sharp and annoyed, as if I were an intruder disrupting their peace.

"Can we talk? Just us?"

At the end of the day, I still didn't want to lose him.

Ethan glanced at Chloe. "Just say it here."

He didn't care about keeping secrets from Chloe.

To him, she was more important than anyone.

"Fine," I said, turning to Chloe. "I’ll help you take care of her."

Only then did the tension in Ethan's face soften.

Chloe played innocent, murmuring, "Oh... Ethan didn't tell me about this. I'd feel so bad putting you out, Val."

"It's no trouble," Ethan said, looking at Chloe. "Val is great at taking care of people. She’ll do a better job than me."

*Ha. Of course.*

Even if the baby wasn't his, he cared so much. Even if it meant using his own girlfriend to serve his ex.

After that, the three of us lived together. I was the only one who felt the suffocating awkwardness. Ethan and Chloe lived like a happy, newly married couple.

Chloe never directly ordered me around. Instead, she would whine to Ethan.

"Ethan, I’m craving fruit. Can you ask Val to wash some strawberries for me?"

"Ethan, stay and watch TV with me. Val can go grab the groceries by herself!"

"Ethan..."

I really was just their maid.

But one night, Chloe wanted steak, but she complained that her hands were too sore to cut it.

I sat there and cut her steak into tiny, bite-sized pieces for her.

My eyes and hands were aching by the time I finished. Ethan finally took the plate from me. "Take a break. I'll do it."

I managed a small smile.

He still cared about me.

But after a few more instances like this, the cold truth sank in. Ethan didn't care if I was tired. He was just worried I wouldn't cut the pieces small enough for Chloe.

There was a scale between Chloe and me.

And Ethan always, without hesitation, tipped it in her favor.

This torturous routine lasted for two weeks before Chloe lost the baby.

That afternoon, Ethan had to go out, leaving Chloe and me alone in the apartment.

"You know Ethan loves me, right?"

The sweet, gentle Chloe was gone. She looked at me with pure disgust. "How can you be so pathetic?"

*Pathetic?*

Shocked by her sudden transformation, I quickly tapped the screen of my phone in my pocket, quietly starting a voice recording.

"What did you say?"

"I said you're pathetic. Are you deaf?"

Chloe sneered, stepping closer. "Let me tell you a secret. This baby wasn't even Ethan's. But so what? He still dropped everything to serve me!"

I stared at her stomach, swallowing the lump of anger in my throat. "I'm leaving."

"Did I say you could leave? Aren't you afraid I'll tell Ethan you mistreated me? One call from him, and you'll come crawling back like the good little dog you are. You were born to serve me."

My chest tightened. She was right.

"So what if he took care of you? So what if he loves you? I am his actual girlfriend now."

I grabbed my coat to head for the door.

But those words seemed to trigger something in her.

She lunged forward to stop me.

But she moved too fast, her foot slipping on the slick hardwood floor. With a loud *crack*, she crashed hard onto the ground.

She let out a bloodcurdling scream. When I turned around, a pool of crimson was already spreading beneath her.