Chapter 2

I bent down, wincing, to pick up my cracked phone.

Frustrated by my indifference, Ethan violently grabbed my arm and yanked me off the sofa.

My knee slammed hard against the sharp wooden edge of the coffee table. A sharp, agonizing pain shot up my leg, and a gasp of pain escaped my lips.

I curled up on the floor, clutching my knee, my face turning deathly pale. Ethan stood over me, looking down with absolute disdain and impatience.

"Oh, cut the drama, Chloe. I know exactly how much force I used. Stop acting. Is this your new way of begging for my attention? I suggest you stop while you're ahead. It’s embarrassing."

He didn't know that my knee was already severely injured. Last night, I had run out of cake ingredients and had to drive to a late-night grocery store.

On my way back, a creep had followed me into the dark underground parking garage. In my panic, I tripped and fell hard on the concrete, bloodying my knee.

I was terrified. I hid behind a pillar and called Ethan twenty-six times, but he never picked up.

In those terrifying moments, I hadn't even cared about my own safety; I was terrified that Ethan was the one in danger.

A kind older woman who lived in the building eventually scared the creep away and escorted me to my door.

Once I was safe, the first thing I did was try to reach Ethan again. I was literally on the verge of calling the police to report him missing when I saw his Instagram post welcoming his "princess" home.

At that exact moment, I realized that the past six years I spent poured into this marriage were a complete joke.

Ethan watched me curl on the rug for a long time. When I didn't get up, it finally clicked that I might not be faking it.

He walked over and pulled up the hem of my dress. My knee was already dark purple, swollen to the size of a tennis ball.

A frown creased his forehead, and he reached down to lift me up to take me to the ER.

I instinctively flinched away from his touch.

Ethan’s face darkened instantly. "Chloe, seriously, when is this going to end? I already told you, Clara is like a little sister to me. There is absolutely nothing going on between us."

"Use your brain for once. We grew up together. If we wanted to be together, we would have been together long before you ever entered the picture."

He always did this. Every single time Clara crossed the line, he would pull the "if we wanted to be together, we would be" card to shut me down.

Then he would call me paranoid, insecure, and jealous.

In the past, his words made me deeply insecure. I constantly compared myself to Clara, feeling inferior in every way, to the point of falling into a deep depression.

But now that I saw him for what he truly was, I had learned to love myself again. I would never let his cruel words make me doubt my worth.

Just as I was about to snap back, his phone buzzed.

Clara's sweet, fragile voice echoed from the speaker.

"Ethan... the power suddenly went out at my place. I'm so scared, and I can't find any candles. Can you please come over? You know how terrified of the dark I've been since we were kids."

Hearing her voice, the irritation on Ethan’s face instantly melted into pure tenderness.

His voice softened completely. "Don't worry, Clara. I’m on my way."

He glanced at my swollen knee, then added into the phone, "Stay exactly where you are and don't walk around in the dark. You might trip and hurt yourself. Just wait for me. I'll be there in ten minutes."

Ethan grabbed his car keys, paused at the door, and looked back at me.

"Chloe, stay home and think about what you did wrong tonight. I’m going to check on Clara first. I’ll be back to take you to the hospital later."