Chapter 3

The room fell into a brief, heavy silence.

Adrian didn't laugh or get angry. His voice was completely flat.

"Elena, I don't like hearing tantrums. I have no intention of replacing you as my wife."

He stared at me for a moment, curling his lips. "Besides, the connections, the money, the status—which of these did I not give you?"

"Could you really walk away from this life of luxury?"

My heart was drowning in ice. I pulled out my phone and let out a sudden smile.

"Did I ever ask you for any of those things?"

"Adrian, if you don't sign the papers, I will call the cops right now and report you for bigamy."

"Doesn't Chloe hate stress? Aren't you worried about her?"

But Adrian wasn't afraid at all. He just tilted his chin up.

"This is the first time I've seen you take things so seriously."

"Elena, since when did you learn to play such childish games?"

"Go ahead and call. Or do you need me to dial the number for you?"

When I first married Adrian at twenty-three, I always kept myself calm and composed, never causing a scene.

Adrian’s father used to praise me for being wise and mature.

I didn't reply. My hand trembled as I was about to press the call button, but the door was pushed open.

"Chloe’s family? We need to do a routine check on the patient..."

The nurse walked in with a thermometer, freezing when she saw my face.

"Wait, aren't you the woman who just picked up the keepsake for the deceased baby? What are you doing here?"

She looked at me, then at Chloe on the bed.

This time, I heard her clearly.

"Are you the patient’s sister? No wonder. I was wondering why the same person had to claim miscarriage keepsakes twice."

Before I could say anything, the nurse continued checking Chloe while sighing, "Wow, you two sisters really look alike."

"Your sister is so lucky. Her husband has been by her side the entire time. She’s doing fine now."

I stared at Chloe’s face, my mind drifting back to the past.

During college, Adrian was the handsome, broke boy on campus.

A freshman girl used to follow him around every day, giving him water and love letters.

His friends used to tease him, saying the girl looked like a mini-version of me.

But Adrian never cared, never even giving her a second glance.

To make her give up, he held my hand at graduation and swore in front of everyone that he would only love me in this lifetime.

Now, the blurry face of that college girl from my memory slowly merged with Chloe’s face.

I never could have imagined that Adrian, knowing exactly what she wanted, had allowed her to crawl into his bed and carry his child.

Seven years. He used her as my cheaper, younger shadow, dragging my already broken heart into the mud.

My body swayed, and I had to grab the doorframe to keep from falling.

Seeing me on the verge of collapsing, a smug, hidden satisfaction flashed in Chloe’s eyes.

She gently tugged Adrian’s sleeve and smiled at the nurse. "Yes, Adrian is a very caring husband."

Adrian’s eyes darkened, but he didn't offer a single word of explanation.

Trying to reason with a heartless man is just self-torture.

Without another word, I forced my legs to move and walked out of the room.