Chapter 3

"Take responsibility? How? Right now he says he will, but once you actually give birth, he’ll run away!"

My mind drifted, thinking of how excited a certain someone had been when he found out.

An involuntary smile touched my lips.

He would take responsibility.

The moment he found out I was pregnant, he immediately transferred a million dollars to my account and bought all the baby supplies himself.

At the very least, he was a thousand times more responsible than Ethan.

"Mom, don't worry. Your daughter isn't stupid. I'm going to work now."

I packed my things and went down to the garage.

When I reached my car, I saw Ethan's car blocking my driveway completely.

I instinctively reached into my bag to grab his spare key to move it.

But after rummaging for a bit, I remembered he had taken his keys back the day we started our cold war.

Hesitantly, I pulled out my phone and scrolled to the bottom of my chat list to find his name.

[Can you move your car? I need to go to work.]

The next second, a red exclamation mark flashed on my screen. He had blocked me.

I tapped on his Instagram profile. His profile banner, which had been a sports theme for years, had been replaced by a photo of two hands locked together—an official relationship announcement.

I let out a bitter laugh and put my phone away.

Right. He took his keys back, so blocking me was only natural.

As I turned to leave, I tripped on something on the ground and almost fell.

My heart leaped into my throat. I grabbed the side mirror of his car to steady myself.

Scattered all over the concrete were things I had left in his car over the years.

There was my winter coat, which I had given him because I was worried he’d catch a cold after drinking.

There was a silver cross necklace I had climbed thousands of steps at a cathedral to get for him, just to keep him safe.

And a meticulously packed first-aid kit, in case he got sick...

The rest was just random junk—lipsticks and fake eyelashes I’d accidentally dropped during our hangouts.

If the person didn't matter to him, then her things were just trash to be thrown away.

Through the passenger window, I saw the front seat had been decorated beautifully.

There was a pink cushion, a cute plushie tied to the headrest, and a toy steering wheel on the dashboard.

In the past, whenever I tried to put a small keychain in his car, he would throw it out.

"If you put something so girly in here, people will think I have a girlfriend," he used to say.

My eyes burned. So this was the special treatment saved only for an official girlfriend.

I bent down, threw all my old belongings into the trash can, and called an Uber.

As soon as I sat down, my high school bestie, Lily, called me, screaming through the phone.

"Chloe! That jerk Ethan is getting engaged!"

Hearing the news again, I was much calmer. "Yeah, I just found out."

"Did you see his Instagram? We were all terrified! He never posts anything, and today he uploaded five different posts! We thought the bride was you! But it turns out..."

I didn't want to hear it, so I cut her off. "Want to hear something even more shocking?"

Lily asked instantly, "What?"

A gentle smile crept onto my face. "I'm pregnant. You're going to be a godmother!"

"What?!"

"I'm not lying. Exactly three months."

I sent her a picture of the ultrasound. She sounded like she was about to cry with excitement.

"I thought you were going to be stuck on Ethan for the rest of your life. I was literally just about to tell you to stop running into that brick wall. But look at you! You got pregnant! That's amazing!"

"Quick, tell me! Who's the dad?"

I kept it a mystery. "In a few days, when he's done with his business trip, you'll be the first person to meet him."

She happily agreed, and we hung up after chatting about baby prep.

Right after I sat down at my desk, Lily posted on her Snapchat:

[Thank God! My bestie Chloe is pregnant! I'm going to be a godmother!]

I was about to message her to tell her to keep it on the down-low.

But the next second, Ethan, who had been completely MIA, commented:

[? Are you playing along with her little drama now?]