Chapter 2

Thirty minutes later, the doorbell rang.

A woman in a skin-tight dress stood on my porch.

Her belly stuck out, and she had a suitcase in her hand.

Grayson froze.

"Chloe? What are you doing here?"

She burst into tears and threw herself into his arms.

"Grayson, baby, I'm scared. I keep having nightmares that I lose the baby. I just… I need to be near you. Please?"

He looked at me, completely torn.

Chloe looked at me too.

Her mouth curled into a nasty little smirk, but her voice came out sweet as syrup.

"Jenna, I know I shouldn't be getting between you two. But this baby is the Hunt family's first son. Grayson can't bear to send me overseas alone. Just a few days. For the Hunt family. You wouldn't be that petty, would you?"

I stepped aside and made a small "come in" gesture.

"Welcome."

Her first night in the house, she set her sights on my master bedroom.

"Baby, the guest room faces north. It's so gloomy. That's bad for the boy."

She rubbed her belly and pouted.

"The doctor says I need sunlight. It helps the baby grow strong."

Grayson did not even hesitate.

He pointed at me.

"Jenna, take the guest room. Just for a while."

I was in the middle of reading the twins a bedtime story.

I closed the book.

He tossed my pillow onto the guest bed.

"Chloe is really far along. Our mattress is softer."

I looked at my pillow on the floor.

We had bought those pillows the week we got married.

Now they were being thrown out like trash.

"That's our bed," I said.

"Oh, please. We're all family. Yours, mine, whatever."

Chloe was leaning in the doorway in my silk pajamas, sipping a bowl of bone broth Diane had just made her.

"Jenna, if you're that picky, I'll buy new sheets. Promise."

She pushed her belly out on purpose.

"The doctor says the baby needs space."

Diane, my mother-in-law, jumped right in.

"Exactly. You're the one causing all this drama. Why are you hogging the master bedroom? Don't bring that kind of trouble into this house."

The twins woke up.

They shuffled out, rubbing their eyes.

"Mommy…"

Rosie, the shy one, saw the stranger and buried her face in my leg.

"Oh, great. The little brats are up."

Diane waved her hand like she was swatting flies.

"Get them out. Don't disturb Chloe."

Grayson stood there.

Head down.

Silent.

I scooped Rosie up and took Lily by the hand.

"Okay. Let's go."

I did not want my girls watching this.

That night, the three of us squeezed into the tiny guest bed.

Through the wall, I could hear Chloe's soft little moans and Grayson's low voice answering her.

One wall.

That was all it took to turn five years of love into the sharpest knife I had ever felt.

The next morning, a scream tore through the living room.

The twins were playing with blocks.

Chloe stuck out her foot and tripped Lily.

"WAAAH!"

Lily's knee split open.

She wailed.

"OH MY GOD! MY BABY!"

Chloe hit the floor first, clutching her stomach.

"The little brat ran into me! Grayson! Help! Something's wrong!"

Grayson came flying out of the study.

He did not even look at Lily's bleeding knee.

He just slapped his daughter across the face.

SMACK.

"You little animal! Are you trying to kill your brother?!"

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