Chapter 3

On the drive home, the car was so quiet only the sound of the windshield wipers remained.

Lara gripped the steering wheel. After a long time, she finally spoke.

"Don't take what Parker said seriously."

"It was just youthful foolishness. He can't keep his mouth shut."

She paused, as if soothing someone being unreasonable.

"I married you now. The baby is ours. Isn't that enough?"

I looked at the neon lights retreating outside the window, my nails digging into my palm bit by bit.

"So you think I should be grateful?"

Lara frowned.

"Your emotions are running too high tonight. Go home and rest first."

When we got home, she took off her coat and, as usual, poured water, washed her hands, checked her phone.

Calm, as if the humiliation in that private room had never happened.

I stood at the bedroom door, my throat tight.

At that moment, I suddenly wanted to know—

Did she have no feelings for me, or did she simply not want me?

I bit my teeth, unbuttoned my collar, and walked toward her.

My fingers trembled, but I still reached out to hold her.

"Lara..."

"Look at me."

Her body stiffened for a moment, then she pulled away.

No desire, no attraction—only exhaustion and impatience.

She picked up the coat beside her and draped it back over my shoulders, her tone cold:

"Stop fooling around."

My eyes immediately reddened.

"You've been pregnant for three months. The doctor said it's safe during the stable period..."

"I'm not fooling around. I just want to know if you still want me."

Lara looked at me, her expression sinking bit by bit.

"Mason, are you really this desperate?"

Those words hit like a slap across my face.

I froze in place, even my breathing trembling.

But she had already turned around, grabbed her car keys, and headed out.

The door slammed shut.

The entire house was left with only me and my wretchedness.

I sat on the edge of the bed, tears falling onto the back of my hand one by one.

Half an hour later, my phone lit up with a notification.

Parker had posted on Instagram.

The photo showed a woman's wrist in the driver's seat, wearing the bracelet I'd given Lara.

The caption read just one line:

【Someone's mad I said too much when I was drunk.

But she still came over in the middle of the night.】

Below that, he added another line:

【Back when we were poor students, we tried every place except car sex in a luxury vehicle.】

【Looks like we're unlocking a new location tonight.】

I stared at those two lines of text and suddenly laughed.

So when she said don't overthink it,

She meant for me to stay home with dignity.

While she went to his place to let her true feelings run wild.

I wiped away my tears, opened the family group chat, and sent a message.

"Dad, Mom, please arrange a lawyer for me."

"I don't want the baby anymore. I'm getting divorced too."

As soon as I sent the message, my father's call came through.

His voice was cold as ice.

"Finally figured it out?"

"Your mother and I never approved of Lara."

"The Blanchett family is good, but she's been spoiled since childhood. Plus she keeps that unclear relationship with Parker as her male best friend."

"A woman like that has too fickle a heart. She can't sustain a stable marriage."

"We only stepped back because you liked her."

"Now that you've woken up, it's not too late."

My mother took over the phone, her tone both heartbroken and decisive:

"I'll have someone pick you up first thing tomorrow morning."

"The divorce lawyer is already on their way."

"As for the baby in her belly, Mom knows you can't bear to give it up."

"But once this child is born, you and Lara will be entangled for life."

"This kind of marriage—cutting it off early is the real blessing."