Chapter 2

I suddenly laughed, but tears streamed down my face.

“Liam, I ended up in the hospital because I was trying to save you.”

“Nothing happened with those clients. Don’t you even believe me?”

Liam scoffed, then furiously smashed a glass against my forehead, grabbing my throat and pinning me to the floor. Amidst the shattering glass, he leaned close to my ear and whispered:

“You’d say anything to protect Leo’s real father. You’re disgusting, Isabelle.”

Warm liquid flowed down my cheek, and I thought of Liam when he was 19. He had cut the chains an old widower used to imprison me, carrying me through mountain paths ravaged by mudslides. We huddled in a rented room with our meager savings, the scent of cheap shampoo mingling with our breaths.

He said: *Isabelle, I’ll love you my whole life. We’ll work hard, live in a big house, and have a bunch of healthy babies.*

From then on, I did everything—waitressing, reception, hospitality, logistics. I took any job I could find. When he landed his first big deal and earned his first million, we smiled at each other, joking that we were each other’s good luck charms.

A year ago, on a rainy night, he was set up and embroiled in a financial scandal. Risking prison, I gritted my teeth and navigated business dealings with a group of older men, playing along with their charades. A man’s fleshy, greasy hand caressed my thigh, and I subtly pushed it away. They laughed loudly, toasting me glass after glass.

“There are three more bottles of hard liquor here. If you finish them, our deal is done.”

Without a word, I picked up the bottles and drank them one by one. The liquor burned like fire in my stomach, but I didn’t even flinch.

In the end, the deal was done, Liam escaped the lawsuit, and I ended up in the emergency room. I never expected that when I woke up, I wouldn’t be greeted by Liam’s warm embrace, but by his furious accusations.

“Why didn’t that old widower just kill you? Getting yourself hospitalized from being used like that.”

He grabbed Brooke’s hand and left without a backward glance, as if even another glance at me disgusted him.

Amidst the wreckage scattered on the floor, I lay there like a crushed stray dog, letting my tears stream freely. Suddenly, a phone call shattered the silence. My child’s voice, choked with sobs, was heartbreaking.

“Mommy, I’m scared. Daddy brought a woman home, and he told me to get out…”