Chapter 3

I’d miscarried at five months, and Ethan blamed every bit of it on me.

Not once had he asked how I was feeling, physically or emotionally.

All his attention was on Lily.

One little sound from her, and he went running like an eager lapdog.

Apparently, I was his wife in name only. What a sick joke.

With my baby gone, the last thing tying me to Ethan was gone too.

He’d changed so quickly. When we’d first started dating, he’d been completely different.

Once, during a late-night phone call, I’d casually mentioned being hungry.

He’d run through the rain to bring my favorite snacks to my apartment.

Later, when we started our business, a man got drunk during a client dinner.

He thought I was pretty and started touching my hands, taking liberties.

Ethan went wild and smashed up the room.

His hands had been covered in blood as he held me, his voice shaking. “I’d rather be broke for the rest of my life than let you entertain creeps for contracts!”

“Claire, I promise I’ll never let you down!”

We’d made an enemy that night.

We’d nearly been driven out of the industry.

In the end, Ethan had called in some favors, and we’d slowly pulled through.

To this day, I still didn’t know where a man with nothing had found those connections.

But after surviving so much together, I’d thought our bond would only grow stronger.

Who could have guessed it was nothing but a shell, already rotted hollow inside?

The silence around me was unbearable. I buried my face in my hands.

It hurt so much.

How could a man who’d once been so good to me stop loving me?

He used to be so excited about having a child together.

Now I’d lost our baby, and he didn’t even seem sorry.

He knew hospitals frightened me, yet he’d stayed with Lily and left me to go alone.

I couldn’t say exactly when he’d changed.

After so many years of marriage, perhaps he’d simply grown tired of me.

Perhaps he’d been tolerating me all along, until Lily came to live with us.

Then he’d stopped hiding his contempt and his temper.

But I wasn’t the reason Lily had been married off for money.

And I certainly wasn’t the reason her husband had died!

Why was I the one who had to suffer for it? Why was I expected to cherish her too?

I sobbed so hard I could barely breathe, nearly passing out.

At first, I’d accepted Ethan giving her extra attention.

She was further along, after all, and she’d had a hard life.

Then one day, I’d stayed late at the office and told Ethan I probably wouldn’t be home that night.

Not long afterward, the power went out.

There was nothing I could do there, so I decided to surprise him at home.

On the way, I picked up takeout from the noodle place we’d once loved.

I slipped quietly inside and noticed Lily’s bedroom door was slightly open.

It was cold out. Worried she might catch a chill, I went over to close it.

Instead, I saw Ethan lying in her bed. Beneath the sheet stretched over her pregnant belly, his hand was moving, squeezing.

Lily blushed and whispered, “Stop teasing me. I’m already four months along. The doctor said it’s safe now. If you keep touching me like that, I won’t be able to stand it.”

She looked coy and inviting.

Ethan understood perfectly. He immediately rolled over her. “Careful of your belly. Let me take care of you.”

I couldn’t watch another second. I shoved the door open.

The crash sounded deafening in the quiet house.

Lily shrank into Ethan’s arms as if I’d terrified her.

Ethan felt around his waist and visibly relaxed.

He hadn’t taken his clothes off yet.

That seemed to restore his confidence. “Claire, why are you home?”

Before I could answer, Lily clutched her belly and cried out.

Ethan looked even more alarmed than when I’d caught them.

He scooped her up and rushed out, knocking into my shoulder.

“I’m taking her to the hospital. I’ll explain when I get back!”

And what had his explanation been?

He’d knelt on the floor and insisted he was only worried about Lily.

He was her brother. There was nothing inappropriate about their relationship.

Lily had stood there holding her belly, looking pained, insisting I’d misunderstood them.

They’d made me seem like some hysterical woman who lashed out over nothing.

We’d fought for days, but I couldn’t let go of all those years together.

I couldn’t believe the man who’d once treated me so well could have changed so suddenly.

So I’d given him another chance.

I never imagined that backing down once would only encourage them.