Chapter 2

After the call ends, I close my eyes.

Footsteps soon move through the master bedroom upstairs, followed by Lily's quiet crying and Damian's low voice as he comforts her.

“Sweetheart, she saw us. So what? What are you scared of?”

“The way she looked at me... it gave me chills.”

Damian laughs.

“Relax. If Claire wants to make someone suffer, it'll be me or herself. She won't touch you.”

“If she really wanted to get rid of every woman around me, she wouldn't have needed eight suicide attempts to do it.”

He pauses, sounding almost certain of himself.

“She knows that when a relationship breaks, the real problem isn't the other woman.”

“Claire's biggest problem is that she has too much of a conscience.”

I lie in the dark without opening my eyes.

My mouth curves slightly.

So after everything I've done, that is what he thinks of me.

Too much of a conscience.

Fine.

Let him keep believing that for now.

Early the next morning, Damian opens the guest-room door just as a photo appears on my phone.

Lily sent it.

An ultrasound image.

Damian leans against the doorframe and watches me for a moment.

“Didn't sleep well?”

He walks over and bends closer to study my face. He is still unfairly handsome, even from this distance.

“Your eyes are swollen.”

He reaches for me.

I turn my face away, and his fingers miss.

Damian pauses before smiling again.

“Still angry?”

Then his eyes drop to the phone on my lap.

The ultrasound is still on the screen.

The smile on his mouth freezes for half a second before returning.

“So we're doing this again? Digging into everything about her?”

I don't look up.

“She sent it to me.”

Damian studies me for two seconds and straightens.

“Sure. She sent it.”

His tone says exactly what he means.

Whatever you say, Claire.

He doesn't believe me.

In his mind, Lily has already suffered enough by having to meet him in secret. A soft-spoken girl who cries easily and never causes trouble couldn't possibly send an ultrasound to his wife just to provoke her.

That kind of thing belongs to me.

I'm the one who investigates, calculates, and makes scenes.

After all, I've done it eight times.

The calmer I am, the more Damian assumes I'm preparing something worse.

He loosens his collar and sits across from me.

“I was going to tell you in the next few days anyway.”

His eyes move to the screen.

“The baby is two months along.”

For a moment, neither of us speaks.

I look at the ultrasound before turning to him.

“Damian, do you remember what you said we'd name our children?”

He doesn't hesitate.

“Noah if it was a boy. Nora if it was a girl.”

“You said you wanted simple names. You didn't care what we had as long as the baby was healthy.”

So he remembers.

I smile faintly.

“Do you also remember promising that if I never wanted children, you would never have one with anyone else?”

Damian goes quiet for a moment.

Then he rests his elbows on his knees and leans toward me.

“Claire, promises matter, but I'm going to be honest. Don't hear this and do something extreme again.”

I look at him.

“You've tried to kill yourself eight times.”

“You don't even know how to protect your own life. How could I trust you with a pregnancy?”

His voice is calm, almost reasonable, as if this is nothing more than a responsible decision he has already made for both of us.

He reaches over and brushes the back of his fingers across my cheek.

I don't move away.

I only watch him.

“Lily is different.”

“She's healthy, and she's stable. She doesn't gamble with her life every time something goes wrong.”

“If she has the baby, I won't spend every day wondering whether she's about to end up in a hospital.”

Then he looks at me as if he's about to reassure me.

“But don't worry.”

“After the baby is born, you're still Mrs. Moretti.”

“If you want, the child can call you Mom.”

“Lily won't take your place.”

I stare at him for a long time.

So Damian has already arranged everyone's future.

Lily gives him the child.

I remain the Moretti wife.

And someday, he may even place another woman's baby in my arms and expect me to play mother while thanking him for protecting my position.

He probably thinks this is generous.

I slowly uncurl my fingers.

“You've really thought of everything.”

Damian doesn't hear the sarcasm.

Or maybe he simply doesn't care.

He smiles and reaches over to ruffle my hair.

“That's why I'm your husband, right?”

I lift my eyes and look at him properly.

“Yes.”

I smile too.

“You planned it very well.”

“I just hope every step goes exactly the way you expect.”

Damian raises an eyebrow, apparently convinced I've finally accepted it.

He has no idea I'm no longer planning to be part of any of it.