Chapter 6

The missing first-aid kits were sitting right there on their dining table. Both of them.

I clamped my hand over my mouth to choke back a scream.

Should I storm in and demand to know why he did this to me? Should I curse him for leading a double life and having a secret child?

What was the point? The damage was done.

Even if he knelt before me again, what would it change?

Some things, once broken, could never be mended. Like spilled water, you could never gather it back.

I used to think people who cried over a broken heart were just being dramatic. Now I realized that when your heart truly breaks, the physical pain really feels like a thousand knives cutting through your flesh.

I didn't make a sound.

I stumbled back into my own cold apartment and locked the hidden door.

I wrapped myself tightly in the blanket, trying to extract some warmth from the cotton.

Just sleep. Once I fall asleep, the pain will fade. Tomorrow is a new day, and everything will pass.

I let myself sink into the dark, suffocating abyss of sleep.

"You wicked woman! My son must have cursed his ancestors to end up with a wife like you! All you do is sleep! Get up right now! We are going to the courthouse for a divorce!"

The blanket was violently ripped off me and thrown onto the floor.

I opened my eyes to see my mother-in-law, Helen, glaring down at me with pure venom.

She grabbed my arm, dragging me off the bed. "How can you be so heartless? Leo is only three years old! You hated having me around, so you turned my own son against me and had me kicked out. I swallowed my pride for that! You couldn't even breed, and my son refused to divorce you because he loved you. I swallowed that too! Thank God another woman was able to give him a son. But you? You're pure evil! You want to end the family line!"

Her spit flew onto my face. I stared at her, completely dazed by the fever and her sudden assault.

Ethan rushed in, pulling her back. "Mom! What are you doing? Leo just has a mild cold and a slight fever. It's not that serious! Besides, this has nothing to do with Claire!"

My skin felt sticky and uncomfortable, but the sweat had broken my fever, and my head felt clearer.

I looked at Helen. "So you knew about the boy all along."

I was the only fool kept in the dark.

For three whole years, I had noticed absolutely nothing.

"Divorce," I said quietly, looking at them. "I agree."

Ethan stared at me in disbelief. "I don't!"

"Claire, I know it was wrong of me to have another woman carry my child. But you are the only one in my heart. That has never changed. I will never agree to a divorce."

How could a human heart be so compartmentalized?

How could he claim to love me while sleeping with another woman in the very next room?

Or perhaps he was just delusional. Perhaps love had never existed in the first place.

I chose to ignore his pathetic plea.

"Get out. All of you. This is my apartment. If you want to scream, do it in your own home."

Chloe, with dark circles under her eyes, stepped forward and held Helen's hand. "Helen, please don't blame Claire. Leo's sickness has nothing to do with her. It's my fault. His immune system is weak, and I shouldn't have let him play in the cold wind."

Helen patted her hand gently. "How could I blame you, sweetie? You've suffered so much raising the boy all by yourself. If anyone is to blame, it's that cold-hearted, selfish woman who does nothing but cause drama."

Listening to their little performance, I finally understood.

So they were blaming me for the boy's fever? Because I had caused a scene last night and kept Ethan away?

I sat on the bed. Ethan sat cautiously beside me, while the old woman and the young mistress stood at the door, looking as close as mother and daughter.

They had drawn their battle lines.

I was the outsider in my own home.

But it didn't matter. I was leaving soon.