Chapter 2

Laughter echoed behind me.

Even after walking dozens of yards down the street, their voices drifted through the air.

"Carter, don't worry. After you're gone, I'll take good care of our son."

"I promise he will know who his real father is. Julian will only ever be his father on paper."

Just hearing Chloe's voice, I could picture her leaning happily into Carter’s chest.

The thought alone felt like thousands of needles stabbing my heart.

I still remembered coming home three months ago after escaping the illegal mine. I had been desperate to see Chloe and hold our baby.

When I opened the door, Chloe was still heavily pregnant.

While I stood frozen in confusion, Carter walked out of our bedroom, wrapped his arm around my wife's waist, and asked me who I was.

I didn't answer him. I just stared at Chloe’s belly. It had been an entire year. If that was our baby, it should have been born months ago.

With bloodshot eyes, I stared at Chloe. Panic flashed across her face. "Babe... why didn't you tell me you were coming back early?"

Carter, on the other hand, didn't flinch. A smug grin spread across his face as he invited me inside.

"You must be Julian. I guess you've figured it out, right? Yeah, your baby was aborted long ago. The one in her belly is mine."

His tone was gentle, but his words dripped with pure malice.

I lost all reason. I tackled him to the floor, slamming my fists into his face over and over.

In that moment, my only instinct was to kill the man who stole my wife and murdered my child.

Chloe shrieked. Because of her pregnancy, she didn't dare pull me off. Instead, she called 911.

The police arrived and hauled both Carter and me to the precinct.

Once the officers sorted through the situation, they prepared to let me go. But my in-laws arrived and refused to let it drop.

They claimed I had traumatized their pregnant daughter and demanded the officers hold me on a disorderly conduct charge for seven days so I could "cool down and reflect."

After that, they fussed over Carter and took him home.

I spent seven freezing nights in a holding cell.

That was when I truly realized that every piece of my life had been replaced by another man.

Chloe had his child. My in-laws treated him like their beloved son-in-law.

And I had long been discarded.

A week later, Chloe waddled into the precinct to pick me up.

"Have you calmed down now? I know you're upset, but do you think this was easy for me? You never consider my feelings."

"Carter is dying. I gave him an heir—did you really have to explode like that? He's even willing to let the kid call you dad. What more do you want?!"

Sitting beneath the flickering fluorescent light, looking at Chloe's familiar face, she felt like a total stranger.

In that instant, every ounce of rage and heartbreak inside me felt utterly ridiculous.

I walked out of the police station. Instead of returning to the home I had dreamed about for months, I wandered the streets like a ghost.

And that was when the cartel boss's men tracked me down.

They beat me half to death, dragged me into a windowless basement, and subjected me to electric prods and buckets of ice water every time I tried to close my eyes.

They tortured and degraded me for weeks.

If my newsroom colleagues hadn't noticed my disappearance and pressed the feds to intervene, I would have died down there.

Back at the cheap hotel, just as I dropped my bags, my phone buzzed. It was Chloe.

"Julian, maybe I was harsh earlier, but you understand where I'm coming from, right?"

"Carter only has a few months left to live. I just want him to be happy in his final days."

Understand? How could I not?

Just as I opened my mouth to reply, Carter’s voice came through the receiver.

"Babe, mom and dad said they’ll watch the baby tonight."

"Let’s just enjoy each other, okay?"

The call ended. Right before the line went dead, I heard a gasp and the rustle of sheets.

Chloe, is this what you meant by making him happy?

I bet he was thrilled.

After all, he was in bed with my wife.