Chapter 5

I pushed the door open. The atmosphere in the living room froze instantly. Julian and Chloe were tangled on the couch, their eyes wide with panic.

Julian scrambled backward, practically throwing Chloe off him as he tried to create distance, trying to erase the thick air of betrayal in the room.

I stood there, watching them with a cold, detached expression.

Now that I had decided to flush his baby and this farce of a marriage down the drain, I felt absolutely nothing.

"Sera! You're back early. Where... where were you?" Julian stammered, his face turning a sickly shade of pale.

I didn't answer his question. "I thought you had a massive client tonight? That you'd be out late."

Julian swallowed hard, forcing a fake smile. "Yeah, but I missed you too much, babe. I handed the client off to my VP so I could come home to you."

"Is that so?" I let out a dry, mocking laugh. I was so done playing along.

Chloe, sensing the tension, stood up and smoothed down her tight skirt, flashing me a sweet, patronizing smile. "It's true, Mrs. Sterling! We're all so jealous of how much the boss adores you. Unlike us poor interns who have to drive him home after hours. I'm practically exhausted!"

She walked over to me, her eyes glittering with fake warmth. "You really need to tell him to go easier on us working girls! Oh, we should swap Snapchats! We should totally hang out sometime."

"Sure," I said, pulling out my phone and letting her scan my code. I didn't want to make a scene. Not yet. I had bigger plans.

The moment Chloe left, I sat on the sofa and opened Instagram.

I searched for her private account. It didn't take long to find. Her feed was a curated gallery of her affair with my husband.

There were photos of them at boutique hotels, cozy dinners at expensive restaurants, and weekend getaways to places Julian had always promised to take me but "never had the time" for. Every single post was a silent, mocking slap in my face.

Looking at their happy photos, I realized I had been a ghost in my own marriage for a very long time.

The next morning, the winter sun broke through the curtains, but it did nothing to warm the chill in my bones.

I packed a small bag and drove to the hospital alone.

I didn't tell my parents. I didn't want them to worry. But when I stepped into the clinic, Christian was already there waiting for me.

The wait was agonizing. But as the nurse finally called my name to lead me to the operating room, my phone blasted a frantic ringtone.

It was Julian.

"Sera! Are you pregnant?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

He had found the copy of my lab results I had left on the kitchen counter.

"I didn't tell you because I don't want this baby," I said, my voice eerily calm. "I'm at the clinic right now. Once the procedure is done, my lawyer will contact you with the divorce papers."

Julian's voice cracked, turning into a pathetic sob. "What? No! Sera, please! We've been trying for three years! You're joking, right? Is this a surprise? Please tell me it's a joke!"

"I know about you and Chloe, Julian. I've known for a while."

Without waiting for his response, I hung up.

Within fifteen minutes, Julian arrived at the hospital, frantically screaming my name. But Christian was standing guard at the double doors of the surgical wing, his towering frame blocking him completely.

The anesthesiologist administered the drug. My vision began to blur.

Through the heavy doors, I could hear Julian's distant, desperate muffled screams, mixed with the quiet murmurs of the medical staff.

I closed my eyes. I said goodbye to the little soul that would never be, and to the man I had foolishly loved.

Then, darkness swallowed me whole.