Chapter 3

Chloe’s face turned scarlet at my words. “Honey, listen, I can explain. There’s a reason for all this.”

“Last night, Ryder kept threatening to kill himself, and I was scared something would happen, so… so I made the first move. We only did it out of desperation.”

“Please don’t be angry, okay? I promise you, I’ll never do anything like that with Ryder again.”

Chloe’s expression was gentle, appearing very sincere.

If I hadn’t seen everything from the doorway just now, I might have actually believed her story.

Taking a deep breath, I let out a cold laugh: “Last night could be an accident, but what about just now? What do you call lying together, intimately?”

Chloe stiffened at my words. She hadn’t expected me to see everything.

She quickly grabbed my hand, attempting to explain.

But I threw her hand away. All her pretense shattered as she yelled furiously, “So what if we were intimate today too? When I got pregnant, it really was artificial insemination, I didn’t lie to you about that.”

“Besides, you hurt Ryder’s feelings last night, he almost jumped off a building! I sacrificed myself to prevent you from having a death on your conscience.”

“Liam, you don’t have to be grateful, but how can you talk about me like that?!”

I was so choked with anger I couldn’t speak. A knot of rage tightened in my throat.

“He threatens suicide, and you sell your body, roll around together, so intense you ended up in the hospital, and you want me to be grateful?!”

The moment the words left my lips, Chloe slapped me hard across the face.

The sound echoed, and my cheek stung with a fiery pain.

Seeing this, Ryder walked over, seemingly heartbroken, holding Chloe’s hand and blowing on it, doting on her excessively: “I’m sorry, Chloe, it’s all my fault…”

“I just keep causing trouble. You should have let me die last night! If I can’t fulfill my father’s last wish, I should die with him.”

With that, a clear tear fell, which he quickly wiped away.

But it still subtly caught Chloe’s eye.

She had been momentarily stunned after hitting me, but seeing that tear, all guilt vanished.

It was replaced by deep disgust. “Liam, I never realized what a jealous and selfish man you are!”

“Do you have to push people to their deaths to be satisfied? If I had known you were like this, my grandfather never should have saved you!”

“Shouldn’t have saved me.” Those words hammered into my chest like a giant mallet.

It was hard to breathe. A thousand words churned in my throat.

Emotions clogged my chest, unable to escape. I clenched my fists and let out a self-deprecating laugh.

“Yes, Grandfather shouldn’t have saved me. He should have let me die in that fire. That way, maybe I would never have ended up with you in this life!”

Tears streamed down my face.

I hung my head, my heart tightly clenched. Chloe was momentarily stunned, staring intently at my face, a flicker of something resembling regret in her eyes.

She slowly walked forward, and just as she was about to reach out to me.

Ryder suddenly rushed to the window and threw himself out.

The sight stunned all of us. Chloe screamed and immediately rushed to the window.

Fortunately, the floor wasn’t high. Ryder had jumped from the third floor of the hospital.

He was immediately rushed to the emergency room. Chloe stood at the door, trembling from head to toe, tears streaming down her face.

When she looked at me, her eyes were filled with profound loathing. She glared at me, “If anything happens to Ryder, you’re the one to blame!”

“You’re not just killing Ryder, but also his father, who’s in the ICU!”

I turned my head away, unwilling to speak.

An hour later, the doctor came out to announce that Ryder was fine, only suffering some minor fractures.

Chloe slowly let out the breath she’d been holding in her throat.

Her anxious expression momentarily reminded me of when we were dating, and she would worry about me the same way.

But now, Chloe had no such concern or worry for me.

My heart sank. I felt suffocated in this place.

I tried to leave, but Chloe grabbed me. She looked at me and said, “Go home and get Ryder some of your clothes to wear.”

I actually laughed, a bitter, angry sound. “You want *my* clothes for *him*?”

Chloe raised an eyebrow as if it were obvious. “Of course. Liam, don’t forget, he jumped because of you.”

“If you hadn’t been making a scene just now, how could Ryder have jumped? I’m just asking you to bring him some clean clothes to change into. Are you unwilling even to do that?”

I gritted my teeth, and after a long pause, I managed a strained, “Fine.”

Only then did Chloe release me, continuing to instruct, “Oh, and make some chicken soup. Ryder really liked the soup you used to make for me.”

That chicken soup, I used to start preparing it the night before. I even spent a whole week learning how to make it.

I had to cook so many failed attempts before I finally got it right.

All because she worked hard overtime, and I wanted her to nourish herself.

But all my effort, all my care, was going to another man’s stomach.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I turned and quickly walked away.

Ignoring Chloe’s calls behind me.

Back home, I went to the bedroom and took out a few old, slightly worn clothes from years ago.

Some of them Chloe had bought for me.

When we moved to our new place, she said they were unwearable and wanted to throw them away, but I insisted on keeping them, cherishing them as precious memories.

Now, screw those memories.

After packing the items, I didn’t leave immediately.

First, I went to arrange various passport documents and collect evidence for the divorce.

I dragged my feet until the next day when Chloe called, urging me, and then I slowly made my way to the hospital.

Chloe was currently wiping Ryder down. He was only wearing underwear.

Chloe held the towel, gently and tenderly wiping him, their eyes sharing intimate glances, laughing and chatting.

Sometimes, their faces would even flush with shyness.

I swallowed down the disgust churning in my gut, walked quickly, and set the clothes down.

“These are the change of clothes.”

As soon as the words left my lips, I turned to leave, but Chloe called out to me in a low, venomous voice from the doorway.

“Wait, who told you to bring these clothes?”

I didn’t turn around. “I won’t be wearing these clothes anymore, so why can’t I bring them?”

Chloe grabbed the clothes and swiftly walked up to me, throwing them hard at me.

But I didn’t even raise a hand to catch them.

“Do you have any idea how long I worked odd jobs in college, pinching every penny, to buy you those clothes? And you just don’t want them anymore?”

The clothes slid to the floor, Chloe’s face contorted with rage.

But I said calmly, “They’re too old. They’re perfectly suitable for a change of clothes, though.”