Chapter 4

Duke finally spoke.

"Lee-Lee, you're too kind. Always defending her. The IVF was her idea. I never forced her into it. You're just pregnant now. The most important thing is to take care of the baby."

Mom jumped in right after him.

"Duke's right. Don't blame yourself. She was born unlucky, weak, can't carry a child. Our Lee-Lee is the capable one. One try and she's already carrying my little grandbaby."

My shin was still weeping blood, and somehow I felt no pain.

It was deep into the night when Duke got home.

He was as gentle and attentive as ever, warming a bowl of porridge in the kitchen, then fetching the first-aid box.

He crouched in front of me and carefully wiped away the dried blood.

If I hadn't seen that group chat first, this tender, aching-for-me act of his might have moved me all over again, softened me all over again.

"Lee-Lee is the regret of my younger years. Back then it was her stepping aside that let us happen. All these years I've felt I owed her."

"Now that she's back, of course I should make it up to her. You're so sensible, you'll understand, won't you?"

A few light words, and an affair inside his marriage got dressed up as fate.

Then he slid straight into what came next.

"Lee-Lee just got back to the country. I want to bring her into Gilbert Group. That southern-region project you're handling, I'll hand it over to her from here on..."

I'd poured half a year of work into that project, ground it into shape, and it was one step from going live.

Once it changed hands, every result would be hers.

Not that any of it mattered now.

Before he could finish, I answered: "Fine."

Duke's body went visibly rigid.

He'd braced for me to cry, to fall apart, to demand answers. He hadn't imagined I'd be this calm, this obedient.

A flicker of confusion crossed his face, but he let out a breath just as fast, deciding I was only sulking.

The next day, Leah was dropped straight into Gilbert Group as director of marketing.

And I was demoted, made her deputy.

On her first day, eager to prove herself, Leah skipped layers of risk review and signed a contract off her own decision.

The terms hid a trap. The project could never launch. Cutting the losses in time meant paying a ten-million penalty.

That evening, when Duke knocked on my door, I was packing my luggage.

His face was grave. He didn't talk about the hole in the contract, didn't fault Leah for being reckless.

He only sighed and spoke slowly. "Lee-Lee just entered the field. If this gets out, her name is finished, and she'll never find her footing in the industry. Besides, she's pregnant. She can't be under this kind of stress."

After a short silence, his voice went even softer.

"Bren, tell everyone you signed the contract. Lee-Lee has the baby now, and you won't have to go through the pain of IVF anymore. Once this blows over, whatever you want to do, I won't stand in your way."

I looked at him, not a trace of feeling in my eyes.

"Fine. I'll give the company an answer tomorrow."

His tight shoulders eased in an instant, and he reached out to hold me.

Eight years of marriage, and it was the first time he'd reached for me on his own.

I froze for two seconds, then came clear.

He was doing this only because I'd taken on every disaster for the person he loved most.

I turned slightly aside, out of his reach.

His hand hung in the air, and before he could think it through, his phone rang.

Mom's shrill accusation came crashing through. "You wretched girl, it was you signing that contract wrong and dragging your sister down, wasn't it. You'd better know your place and step up to clear things, give your sister back her good name, or don't call me your mother."

Dad's agreement drifted through faintly behind her.

"Your mom's right. What matters now is protecting Lee-Lee's name. Own the blame like a decent person, or don't come back to this house again..."

Duke stood off to the side, hearing every word on the line.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught something shift in his face, a flicker that almost looked like he couldn't bear it.

He cut in abruptly. "That's enough, Mom, Dad. Leave her alone. We'll handle it."

The old me would have rushed to explain to my parents, hoping for one scrap of fairness.

Now there was nothing moving inside me at all. "Understood."

Before they could keep piling on, I hung up.

Just as they wanted. That house of theirs, I would never go back to it again.

Only then did he sense something off, the room somehow emptier, a chill in every corner of it.

I threw out a careless excuse.

"Haven't cleared out the stuff I don't need in ages. Got off early today, so I figured I'd just purge it all at once."

He didn't press. He turned and left.

I sat where I was and wrote out the resignation letter, word by word.

Took on full responsibility for the contract, used that as my reason to resign, then screenshotted it and sent it to the five-person family chat.

The moment it went out, the parents who were normally cold and distant with me replied in seconds for the first time.

Praise after praise for being sensible, for seeing the big picture, and they didn't forget to @ my sister for show, a painless little reminder to be more careful next time.

Only Duke said nothing in the chat.

Not long after, his message popped up in a private thread.

"There's still room to talk this through. It doesn't have to go as far as resigning."

I pushed down the sting at the bridge of my nose. "Business has never dealt in feelings. You make a mistake, you carry the consequences."

Seeing how firm I was, he stopped arguing, but a strange unease crept over him.

Early the next morning, Duke hurried to the company to deal with the fallout of the penalty.

The house was quiet and empty. I set the divorce papers and my wedding ring together, right in the middle of the coffee table.

Once that was done, I dragged my suitcase and went to the airport alone.

The plane had just lifted off the ground when Duke posted in the chat.

"The contract matter is moving along well. Head office is very satisfied with how we handled it."

My parents sent three voice messages in a row, relieved Leah had dodged this one, their tone noticeably lighter.

The next second, Mom, rarely, @'d me: Come home for dinner tonight.

After I got married I hardly ever went back, and even when I did I was put to work in the kitchen.

My parents were always heaping food on my sister's plate, and I wasn't even allowed a seat at the table.

In the end I could only stand in the kitchen, picking at cold rice with the leftover broth.

Just as I was leaving the chat, Duke sent a private message.

"I'll come home early tonight and pick you up so we can go to your parents' for dinner together."

He tacked on another line right after.

"Bren, don't worry. Once this blows over, when there's a chance I'll arrange for you to come back to the company."

I didn't reply. I pulled the SIM card out.

I lifted my eyes to the window, nothing but indifference at the bottom of my heart.

From now on, I wouldn't intrude on their family reunions anymore.