Chapter 1

I was pregnant and running a fever that wouldn’t break. Every time I called my husband, he said he was too busy at work.

I had to get myself to the hospital. I felt so awful I thought I might die on the way.

But when I arrived, I saw my husband down on one knee, reverently kissing another woman’s swollen belly.

The woman smiled and took out her phone.

A moment later, I received a text from the girl my husband called his adopted sister:

Claire, look. Ethan’s going to make such a wonderful husband someday.

I closed my eyes and took another route.

That day, overwhelmed by grief, I lost my baby despite the doctors’ efforts.

I was done catering to those two disgusting people!

After the miscarriage, I was unbelievably weak.

With the fever on top of everything, it took three days in the hospital before I started feeling remotely human.

And during that entire time, my husband didn’t call me once!

I came home feeling dead inside. When I opened the door, I found him lying on the couch, playing video games.

He barely glanced up at me.

“My mom brought two hens from the farm a couple of days ago. She says fresh chicken soup is great for pregnant women. Go butcher them and make some soup.”

“Lily’s been craving it for days. Go easy on the pepper and add extra vinegar. Take a bowl to her when it’s done. She’s in the bedroom reading stories to the baby.”

I was so angry I laughed.

The two of them acted like royalty.

Had they forgotten I was pregnant too?

Even early in my pregnancy, the slightest unpleasant smell had made me vomit uncontrollably.

I’d been losing weight instead of gaining it.

And now he wanted me to butcher chickens!

He didn’t ask where I’d been for three days or whether I’d recovered.

Thinking about it made me regret ever marrying him.

When I didn’t move, Ethan Reed frowned.

“What are you waiting for? It’s almost dinnertime.”

I ignored him and went into our bedroom to pack.

I didn’t want to spend another second in that disgusting house!

Ethan lost his game. He shouted in frustration outside, then pushed open the bedroom door.

“Why are you packing? Another business trip?”

“Didn’t we agree I’d handle the company from now on? You’re supposed to stay home and focus on the baby.”

Focus on the baby?

Since I’d gotten pregnant, I could count his trips to the office on one hand!

And he had the nerve to pretend he was the one working while I rested?

A bitter smile crossed my face. “Ethan, the baby’s gone.”

His expression froze. It took him a long time to speak. “How did that happen? I told you to stop working, but you wouldn’t listen! You brought this on yourself!”

He’d changed a long time ago.

The man standing before me would never consider that he might be at fault.

I was already exhausted.

Too exhausted to explain myself anymore. “Ethan, when I called and told you I had a high fever and needed you to take me to the hospital, what were you actually doing?”

Panic flashed across his face.

He knew he couldn’t lie to me about company business.

Finally, he lowered his head and admitted, “I wasn’t at the office that day, but I can explain.”

“Lily’s further along now. She needs more care. She called and said her stomach hurt. I couldn’t just leave her alone, could I? I took her to the hospital to get checked.”

I laughed coldly. “So you abandoned me for her, even though I was in danger too?”

“It’s been three days since I got sick. Did you send me so much as one text?”

Ethan looked increasingly uncomfortable.

After a long silence, he said, “Can you stop obsessing over this?”

“Lily married a man she didn’t love so she could use the money he gave her to put me through college. Then her husband died young. She’s suffered so much because of me. Is it really so wrong for me to help her?”

The way he put it, you’d think I was the petty one.

Ethan raked a hand through his hair. “Besides, my mom took her in. We aren’t even related by blood, but she still did all that for me. I owe her.”

“I told you all of this from the beginning. I only brought her here to spend her pregnancy with us after you agreed.”

I had agreed.

But back then, I’d thought Ethan saw Lily as a sister.

She’d suffered. Of course he should look after her.

I’d even prepared myself to feel a little neglected.

What I hadn’t expected was for his care to extend to her bed!

Remembering everything I’d endured, I felt my eyes burn.

“Enough. I’m tired. I don’t want to fight.”

“If she matters so much to you, why don’t you marry her? I’ll get out of your way.”