Chapter 2

The next morning, when I woke, Darrell was already gone.

There was a message on my phone he'd left before leaving.

"Sweetheart, no idea when the project will wrap up. I'll make it up to you when I get back."

"Made breakfast. Eat it when you're up."

I walked out of the bedroom and saw fried eggs and oatmeal on the table.

They didn't look good, and the taste was nothing special.

Still, as far as I could remember, it was the first time Darrell had ever cooked.

The way I saw it, it was probably just some excuse he'd tossed together to smooth things over.

I dumped the food in the trash.

Then I called an employee I hadn't contacted in a long time.

When the line connected, his voice came through, surprised and delighted.

"Ms. Fox, you finally reached out."

"Back then you said you wanted to be with Mr. Henson, that we shouldn't contact you unless it was life or death."

"So now… does this mean you're planning to come back?"

I nodded.

"Don't spread word of my return."

"Also, pull Darrell's company financials for me. Beyond the normal operating turnover, compile every irregular record."

When Darrell started his company, I had my people put in over forty percent of the investment. In a sense, Darrell was working for me.

But a year ago, ever since he brought Luna back.

He'd been quietly siphoning company funds to buy her gifts and cover her spending.

At first, I reminded him that this violated the shareholders' agreement.

But Darrell only got impatient.

He said Luna had been through a lot trying to build her own business out there.

They were childhood sweethearts.

They'd grown up together.

Now that he was successful, he ought to look after her more.

They were glued to each other every day, and I only assumed it was a deep friendship.

I didn't care about that money.

After all, every cent had been invested by me, in secret. As long as I didn't pursue it, no one would say a word.

I even thought that if Darrell ever ran short on funds, I could put in a little more, no problem.

But now I could see how naive I'd been.

Since he'd chosen betrayal,

I wasn't going to tolerate it any longer.

Around noon, Darrell sent me a message.

"Sweetheart, the project's moving fast, should be done today. If things go quickly I can be back tomorrow. I'll bring you a gift."

Before I could reply, I saw Luna's post.

In the photo: a slender petri dish, and a pair of hands making a heart.

The caption: "The IVF went smoothly. Waiting for our little life to grow!"

Below it were plenty of comments.

"Luna, weren't you anti-marriage? How come you suddenly want a baby?"

"I get it now. This wouldn't happen to be Darrell's, would it?"

"Do you even have to ask? Darrell treats Luna so well, he bought her a sports car worth tens of millions. What's a baby compared to that?"

"But isn't Darrell… married? His wife…"

"She's just a trophy wife. Did you forget last time we got together, Darrell said her looks had fooled him back then?"

"Looking at it now, she's really just a useless gold-digger. Give Darrell another shot and there's no way he'd marry her."

"He never wanted a kid with her because he was scared the kid would turn out as useless as she is."

Someone tagged Darrell and asked what he'd do if I found out.

When Luna first came back, she'd added me as a friend.

It seemed she hadn't told Darrell.

Or rather, she'd forgotten I was still on her friends list.

A moment later, Darrell replied:

"So what if she finds out."

"She's just a useless freeloader living off me. How could she ever compare to Luna?"

Everything under that was more mockery aimed at me.

My chest twisted, and it hit me all at once.

I had brought up having a child before.

But Darrell always used the excuse that the company was in a critical growth stage and he couldn't be distracted.

He even used being tired as an excuse to never touch me, not even for a normal married life.

Yet now he was willing to do IVF with Luna.

So it turned out,

it was never about not wanting to hold the company back.

He just didn't want to have a child with me.

Just then, Darrell sent me a photo.

A table of rich, nourishing food, and a selfie of him.

"Sweetheart, Luna said she was worried you'd worry, so she told me to send you a team-outing photo."

"You need to eat well too. I'll be back soon."

Beside him, Luna was flashing a victory sign, her face full of a taunting smile.

I gave a cold laugh and replied:

"Come back whenever you like."

"It doesn't matter to me if you don't come back at all."