Chapter 2

Honestly, I should have divorced him back when I had my miscarriage. If I had, I wouldn't have lost my other family member.

When I first found out I was pregnant, Ethan and I were in the sweetest phase of our relationship.

He came from a broken, impoverished family, so he was obsessed with having a baby. During those months, he wouldn't let me lift a finger, taking care of everything himself.

At the time, my career was taking off, and there was an event venue I had to oversee in person.

"Dad, please. Once today is over, I'll rest at home. Just cover for me with Ethan, okay?"

Faced with my begging, Dad gave in and lied to Ethan, saying I was hanging out with friends.

Nobody expected that ordinary business event to turn into a nightmare. A crazed woman showed up to confront her husband's mistress, splashing toxic cleaning chemicals and starting a violent brawl. The crowd surged into chaos. I was knocked to the hard floor, blood pooling beneath me.

During the days I spent in the hospital bed, Ethan never showed up once.

Staring at the pale white ceiling, I sobbed my eyes out, grieving for my baby and for myself.

Dad looked like he aged ten years overnight, his cloudy eyes drowning in guilt.

"It's my fault. If Ethan wants to blame someone, he should blame me."

To "make it up" to Ethan, my aging father started attending elite networking dinners he had always despised, just to build connections and pave the road for his son-in-law.

Because of that, some of his old academic peers mocked him behind his back, saying he had sold his dignity.

Yet as Ethan's business flourished, he was still unsatisfied, and women began appearing around him.

Chloe was Dad’s graduate student and Ethan’s junior from college. The first time I walked into Ethan's new office, she was curled up on his couch taking a nap, draped in his black dress shirt.

The air was thick with her sweet, suffocating perfume.

She didn't look guilty in the slightest. Instead, she sneered at me.

"Ethan gave up on you a long time ago. Because you killed his only child!"

"I heard you can't even get pregnant anymore. How do you have the nerve to come catch him? He's doing you a favor by not dumping your useless ass."

My eyes burned, and my chest felt crushed, but back then, I didn't have the courage to walk away.

Not until Dad died, and I saw the dashcam footage from Ethan's car.

"Sir, is there anyone else inside the car?"

"Hurry! Treat Chloe first! She's bleeding heavily!"

Ethan sprinted toward the ambulance holding that fragile girl, completely forgetting that my father was still inside.

Minutes ticked away. It was twenty minutes later when a paramedic's horrified shout came from outside.

"There's an elderly man trapped in the back..."

Tears flooded my face. I finally saw how foolish I had been all along.

Was Ethan the only one in pain? Was I not in pain losing my child? Was Dad not in pain?

It was an accident. What right did he have to make my dad and me pay with our entire lives?

Who the hell did he think he was?!