Chapter 2

Lily POV

When I woke again, I was in a hospital room filled with the smell of disinfectant.

The doctor stood by the bed, looking at me with regret. "Mrs. Laurent, I'm very sorry. Although we did our best, because you have a pre-existing heart condition and suffered extreme emotional distress, the baby... couldn't be saved."

Couldn't be saved...

Those words hammered into my heart like a sledgehammer.

I forced myself through my physical weakness, trembling hands moving to my now-flat abdomen. A tiny life had been growing there, but now only desolate emptiness remained.

This was the first child Sebastian and I had conceived together.

More than once, he had gently stroked my belly and asked, "When will you give me a baby?"

Sebastian loved children and really wanted to have one with me.

Now I was finally pregnant, but this child we'd waited so long for had left me before even seeing the world-all because of his betrayal.

Was it because of that woman named Rachel? Or because of Sebastian, full of lies?

The overwhelming grief left me unable to even cry.

My precious baby, I'm sorry. Mommy didn't protect you...

After the D&C procedure, I declined the suggestion to stay for observation. Forcing myself up, I went to a law firm and had a lawyer draft divorce papers.

After finishing this, I returned to Maple Bridge Villa in a daze, barely remembering the journey.

I collapsed onto the bedroom bed, my chaotic thoughts filled with memories of Sebastian and me.

Sebastian and I had been attracted to each other since high school and became a couple in college.

In our most innocent years, we fell in love and shared the most beautiful campus days.

During the hardest period when he was starting his business, we ate cheap sandwiches together, lived in dark, cramped rental apartments, and on the coldest winter days, we held each other tight for warmth.

I accompanied him through wind and rain, through the most difficult and struggling times, without a single complaint.

All our friends envied our relationship back then.

Until five years ago, when Sebastian finally became a rising tech star in the industry, famous and successful.

At the same time, I was diagnosed with heart disease.

Sebastian arranged for me to have surgery at the best hospital abroad. Because the company kept him too busy, he could only occasionally find time to visit me overseas.

But I never imagined that during those two years when we were apart, Sebastian met Rachel.

I remembered the first time I learned of Rachel's existence, three years ago, after I returned home from treatment.

I cried. I made scenes.

I couldn't believe that the man I'd walked through so much with had another woman by his side during those two years while I was having surgery.

At the time, Sebastian explained anxiously, "I just love you too much, Lily. The days without you by my side felt endless, so I let a woman who resembled you stay near me."

He said he only treated Rachel as my substitute, that he had no feelings for her whatsoever, and that I was the only one he'd ever loved.

He said he would give Rachel money and send her away, that he wouldn't let her existence affect our relationship.

I believed him.

But instead, he'd hidden Rachel in a villa under his best friend's name.

He'd been hiding her for three whole years.

If I hadn't overheard it myself, I'd probably still be in the dark.

I probably still wouldn't know that the man who carefully hid Rachel away was the same one who swore eternal devotion to me and claimed to have no feelings for Rachel.

Suddenly, my phone chimed with a message notification.

It was from Sebastian.

"Lily, I have to go on a business trip for a couple days. Remember to eat and sleep well, and I'll bring you back a gift."

Reading this message, my eyes reddened. I suddenly recalled all those previous times Sebastian went on "business trips."

Those so-called business trips were probably to see Rachel, weren't they?

How ridiculous that I only realized this today.

The next day, while getting a follow-up exam and medication at the hospital, I unexpectedly ran into Sebastian.

Meeting me without warning, Sebastian froze for a moment. "Lily... what are you doing at the hospital?"

I didn't answer. Instead, my gaze fell on his hand nervously and carefully supporting Rachel.

Sebastian quickly let go of Rachel. "Lily, it's not what it looks like. Let me explain..."

I gave a faint smile, said nothing, and turned to leave.

Sebastian stood stunned, his heart tightening, wanting to chase after me.

But Rachel grabbed his arm, her whole body going soft and boneless against him. "Sebastian, my stomach hurts so much..."