Chapter 3

Julian stormed down, his face dark with irritation. He looked at Victoria's tearful, victimized face, then at my paper-white expression, his brow furrowing deeply.

Without asking a single question, he shoved me aside with brutal force!

"Evelyn, did you not hear a damn word I said up there?"

"Leave Victoria alone!"

"She's pregnant right now! She can't handle you throwing a tantrum!"

Caught off guard, I crashed violently onto the marble floor. A sharp, searing pain tore through my abdomen.

Cold sweat instantly soaked through my shirt.

Julian saw the sheer agony on my face and instinctively reached out a hand to help me up.

But Victoria whimpered softly, "Julian, my stomach hurts..."

His hand snapped right back.

"Go home. Stop embarrassing me in front of my company."

Julian dropped those freezing words, wrapped an arm around Victoria's waist, and walked away.

He never looked back once.

I curled up on the freezing floor, pain and despair blurring my vision. Eventually, a passerby saw how bad off I was and rushed me to the ER.

The baby survived.

The doctor's face was grim as he warned me: my uterine lining was naturally thin. If I lost this baby, I might never be able to conceive again.

During those days in the hospital bed, everything became crystal clear.

Life was too short.

I would rather divorce him and start from scratch than swallow down this toxic, broken marriage.

I refused to let my baby grow up with a half-sibling born from an affair.

So on the day of my discharge, I didn't go home. I marched straight into Julian's office.

Seeing me, he frowned on cue. "You're back again? Feeling better?"

I didn't sit down. I didn't bother with small talk.

I slid the signed divorce papers right across his desk.

"Julian, let's get a divorce."

He froze, irritation immediately flooding his expression, as if I were throwing a childish fit.

"What are you playing at now? Because of Victoria? Didn't I tell you she won't threaten your position as my wife—"

"I said, I want a divorce."

I cut him off coldly and tapped the papers.

His ego bruised, Julian stopped talking. With a stormy expression, he scribbled his signature across the document without reading a single page.

"There's a standard waiting period before this becomes final."

"During this time, if your head clears up, I'll give you another chance. But remember your place as Mrs. Vance next time, or—"

I didn't have the patience to hear him finish. I grabbed my copy of the agreement and walked out.

Regret it?

The very day we signed the papers, I severed every single tie Julian could use to track me down. I vanished entirely from his world.

For seven long years.

Until that fender bender brought him back into my orbit.

"Mommy?"

A soft, sweet voice pulled me back to reality.

Daisy gently tugged on my sleeve, looking up with large, worried eyes. "Mommy... why are you crying?"

Only then did I realize warm tears were streaming down my face.

She reached out with her tiny hand, clumsily dabbing at my wet cheeks. "Daisy was bad. Daisy won't ask about daddy anymore. I won't make Mommy sad ever again."

"Please don't cry, okay Mommy?"

I snapped out of it, horrified that I had lost control in front of my daughter. I wrapped my arms around her tightly, wanting to say Mommy's fine, but my throat choked up.

It hit me then: I thought running away back then was protecting her.

Was that really fair to Daisy?

While my mind wrestled with guilt, my phone buzzed on the counter.

The screen lit up brightly. The caller ID was glaringly clear:

Julian Vance.