Chapter 2

At eleven o'clock that night, the front door clicked open.

Devon walked in, bringing with him the cold night air and the faint scent of jasmine perfume.

That was Iris’s favorite perfume.

The living room was dark. I sat on the sofa, watching him quietly change his shoes and take off his blazer.

"Why are you sitting in the dark?" He flicked on the wall light. Seeing me, he froze for a second, then rubbed his temples with a sigh of exhaustion. "Is Lily asleep? How did the competition go? Did she win first place?"

He didn't even know if she had finished her performance.

I stared at him coldly, remaining silent.

Devon walked over, reaching out to hug me, but I stepped aside.

His hand froze in midair, his brow furrowing. "Chloe, what is it now? I had an emergency at the office today. I really couldn't get away. Tomorrow, I promise I'll throw Lily a huge celebration party, okay?"

"An office emergency?" I laughed in pure rage and threw my phone right at his chest. "Devon, since when did your company relocate to Disney World?!"

The phone fell onto the plush carpet, its screen still glowing with Iris’s Snapchat story.

Devon’s face turned pale instantly.

He glanced at the screen, panic flitting across his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by an air of self-righteous exasperation.

"Chloe, let me explain. I was on my way to the theater. But then Iris called me, crying. She said Leo was being bullied at school for not having a dad. He was so devastated he tried to climb onto the school roof."

"What was I supposed to do? That’s a child's life! Julian died saving me! If I ignored Leo, would I even be human?"

Julian again.

That life-saving debt again.

Three years ago, when Devon was inspecting a construction site, the scaffolding collapsed. It was the foreman, Julian, who pushed Devon out of the way. Julian was crushed by the steel beams and died on the spot.

Devon’s life was saved, but his soul had been kneeling before Julian's widow, Iris, and her son, Leo, ever since.

"If he wanted to jump, you call 911! You call a therapist!" I stood up, pointing at him, my voice cracking with emotion. "But what did you do? You went to watch fireworks with him! You went to play daddy!"

"Devon, did you forget today was the most important day of your own daughter’s life? While she was standing alone on that stage, being laughed at by thousands of people, you were smiling at another man’s son!"

Devon’s expression darkened, and his tone became harsh.

"Chloe, can you stop being so unreasonable? Lily only missed a silly competition, but Leo lost his actual father!"

"Lily has everything. She has us, she has a rich life. What’s wrong with her letting Leo have this one thing? As an adult, can't you be more generous?"

Let him have this.

These words had been a curse on our heads for three years.

Lily’s birthday presents? Leo liked them, so she had to let him have them.

Lily’s playroom? Leo wanted to sleep there when he visited, so she had to let him have it.

And now, even the fatherly love Lily had craved for six months had to be given away.

Looking at the man I had loved for seven years, I felt like I was looking at a complete stranger.

"Devon," I said, breathing deeply to keep down the metallic taste of blood in my throat. "You owe Julian. You can pay him back with your money, or even your life. But you have no right to use my daughter’s dignity and tears to pay for your guilt."

I turned to walk upstairs, leaving him with one final sentence.

"Tomorrow, my lawyer will deliver the divorce papers to your office."

Devon was stunned. He quickly chased after me, grabbing my wrist, laughing in disbelief.

"Chloe, have you lost your mind? Just because I missed one competition, you want a divorce? Do you think marriage is a joke?!"

"Let go of me," I said coldly.

"No! You’re just jealous and throwing a tantrum! Calm down. Tomorrow I'll bring Iris and Leo over to apologize to Lily, and we can put this behind us."

He actually wanted to bring that woman and her brat into our house.

With all my strength, I flung his hand off and slapped him across the face.

Slap!

The entire living room went dead silent.

Devon touched his cheek, staring at me in complete shock.

"Devon, you make me sick."