Chapter 3

Victoria grabbed Ethan's hand, her voice shaking with excitement.

"Ethan, did you hear me?!"

"You're going to be a father! We're having a baby!"

Ethan didn't say anything. His eyes were glued to me.

He was waiting.

Waiting for me to lose my mind.

Waiting for me to scream, slap Victoria, and call her a homewrecking whore.

But I did absolutely nothing.

I quietly finished my dinner, stood up, and went back to my room.

I was so calm I seemed like a completely different person.

Ethan rushed over and knocked on my door, his voice urgent.

"Chloe, the baby is an accident. I'll make her get an abortion, I swear..."

"No need," I interrupted him from inside the room.

"Since you said you owe her your entire life, you should take responsibility."

He went silent.

He tried to say something else, but I shut him down.

"I'm tired. I'm going to sleep."

That night, the physical aftermath of my miscarriage kept me tossing and turning. My lower abdomen throbbed with a dull, agonizing ache.

Through the thin wall, I could hear Ethan's soft, gentle voice from the next room.

"What should we name the baby?"

He had claimed he would make her get an abortion, yet here he was, discussing names with sheer excitement.

"How about Hope?"

"It means we always have hope for the future. Isn't that beautiful?"

His voice was light, filled with pure joy.

I clutched my blanket tightly, my knuckles turning white.

Hope.

That was the name I had chosen for my baby.

On the day my pregnancy was confirmed, Ethan had been just as excited. He had held me in his arms, grinning like a fool.

"Let's name our baby Hope, okay? She will be the hope of our lives."

I had looked up at him, smiling.

"Just like our love."

Back then, leaning against his chest, I thought that kind of happiness would last forever.

But now, they had killed my baby.

And now, they were stealing my baby's name.

Under the double blow, the pain in my abdomen intensified.

I bit down on the blanket to stifle my sobs.

Tears silently soaked my pillow.

When I woke up the next morning, the apartment was empty.

I dragged my aching body out of bed. My phone buzzed with a text notification.

It was from my supervisor at the hospital.

"Chloe, the Royal College of Surgeons in the UK has offered us two fellowship slots again."

"I know you can't perform surgeries anymore because of your hand, but going there to focus on research would be a great move for your career. Are you still refusing to go?"

In the past, I was terrified that a long-distance relationship would ruin our marriage.

So, I sacrificed my career again and again to keep this family together.

But now, there was no point.

"I'll take it. I can leave tomorrow," I replied.

Right after I sent the text, my phone rang.

It was the property manager of my late mother's house.

"Ms. Vance, there are two people trying to move into your mother's townhouse. They claim they are family."

"They don't have the passcode, so they're trying to force the door open. Do you know about this?"

In the background, I could hear Victoria's voice.

"Oh, this balcony is huge! The sun comes right in. It'll be perfect for me to sunbathe during my pregnancy."

My grip on the phone tightened until my fingers turned white.

"Don't let them in. I'm coming over right now."

By the time I arrived, Ethan was arguing with the property manager at the front gate.

When Victoria saw me, she rolled her eyes.

"You took your sweet time. If I get exhausted and it hurts my baby, can you even take responsibility?"

Ethan turned around and quickly walked over to me.

"Chloe, tell the manager to let us in."

"Victoria is pregnant. She can't stand for too long."

I stared at him.

"This is my mother's house."

"I know, but we..."

"Not 'we.' It's mine." I cut him off.

"My mother transferred this deed to me before she passed. It has nothing to do with you."

Ethan's face darkened with frustration.

"We are married. What's yours is mine."

"Besides, you don't even live here. It's just sitting empty."

"Victoria is pregnant. The doctor said she needs a quiet environment with fresh air to rest. The woods around here are perfect."

"I will never let her set foot in this house."

My eyes were red, but I refused to back down even an inch.

"This is the only thing my mother left me. No one is touching it."

Ethan let out an impatient sigh.

"It's just a damn house, Chloe! Why are you treating it like some sacred relic?"

I froze, completely stunned.

I couldn't believe those words had come out of his mouth.

On the day my mother passed, she had pulled me close to her hospital bed.

"Chloe, I'm leaving this house to you."

"Even if you end up alone in the future, you'll always have a backup plan. You won't have to settle."

"But I hope you never have to use it."

Back then, I had held her hand, crying, promising her that Ethan would protect me and that I would never need a backup plan.

And now, Ethan was trying to strip away the only security my mother had left me.

Just to give his pregnant mistress a place to rest.

"Ethan, over my dead body will you touch this house!"

Victoria's eyes immediately filled with tears, and her voice dripped with fake grievance.

"See, Ethan? I told you she would never tolerate me! I'll just leave!"

With that, she covered her face and ran off.

Ethan's expression hardened. Before chasing after her, he threw a glare at me and spat out a bitter sentence.

"Chloe, look at what a monster you've become!"