My Parents & Friend Aided His Cheating, I Divorced

Chapter 3

Ethan asked me to meet him at the hospital to talk.

After thinking it over for a long time, I went.

I thought he still possessed at least a shred of basic decency.

The hospital lobby was packed with reporters.

Ethan stood onstage in a perfectly tailored suit.

Chloe sat in a wheelchair, holding the baby. Her face was pale, but her makeup was flawless.

My parents and Sophie stood beside them.

Together, they looked like a complete family.

I was the only one standing below the stage.

The large screen lit up, playing several edited video clips.

In one, I looked exhausted as I spoke to thin air.

I had been talking to Mia's memorial photo.

In another, I threw things around and screamed that Chloe should die.

That footage had been taken the day I discovered Ethan's affair, when I had broken down in our bedroom. Sophie had been there. She had comforted me with one hand while filming me with the other.

In another clip, I stood outside Chloe's hospital room with a fruit knife in my hand.

That day, after my prenatal appointment, I had passed through the inpatient ward carrying the knife I had just used to peel an apple.

The footage had been stripped of everything before and after, leaving only the few seconds in which I held the knife.

Every frame was real, but stitched together, they became a lie.

The host spoke in a solemn voice, "According to a psychiatric evaluation, Mrs. Sterling has suffered from long-term emotional instability since losing her first child. She displays delusional and aggressive tendencies, and she maliciously fabricated rumors about Mr. Sterling and Miss Reed, causing them serious harm."

My father stepped forward, raising a psychiatric evaluation stamped with an official seal.

"Elena has been ill for a long time." His voice was hoarse, filled with what seemed like anguish.

My mother stood beside him, tears streaming down her face.

"Elena, you're sick. Come home with me and get treatment."

Sophie stepped forward as well, her eyes rimmed red.

"I've seen her lose control with my own eyes. She said she wanted to kill Chloe and the baby. No matter what I did, I couldn't stop her."

Reporters thrust their microphones toward me.

"Mrs. Sterling, how do you respond?"

A loud buzzing filled my ears. I took a deep breath and struggled to keep my voice steady.

"I never underwent that evaluation. You can check the psychiatric department's registration records. See if my name is there. The videos were edited. I never lost control."

A stir ran through the crowd.

Chloe suddenly clutched her chest and screamed, "She's going to hurt me again!"

My mother rushed over and grabbed my arm.

"Elena, look how badly you've frightened your sister!"

I shook her off.

"She is not my sister."

The moment I said it, two uniformed attendants came out through a side door and blocked my path.

I tried to call for help.

Before I could speak, someone pinned down my arm.

My sleeve was rolled up, and a cold needle pierced my skin.

The instant the medication entered my veins, the lobby began to spin.

When I woke up, the windows had been sealed with iron bars.

There was no mirror, no clock, and nothing I could use to contact the outside world.

Every day, someone brought me medication at the same time. When I refused to take it, they crushed the pills and mixed them into my food.

The pain in my abdomen grew worse and worse. I pounded on the door and screamed for help.

No one answered.

I didn't know how much time had passed before Ethan finally came.

When he arrived, two rows of bodyguards stood outside the door.

He wore a bespoke suit, its cuff links antique heirlooms passed down through the Sterling family.

He only wore that suit for Sterling family banquets or meetings with important guests.

Ethan walked up to me and frowned.

"You've lost tons of weight."

I leaned against the wall, forcing myself to endure the cramping in my lower abdomen.

"What are you doing here?"

He crouched down and reached for my face.

I turned away.

His hand froze in midair, and his expression darkened.

"Are you still angry?"

I looked at him.

"I came to take you home." He softened his tone. "Make a public apology. Admit that you're mentally ill. Admit that everything you posted online was fabricated."

"And then?"

"Go back to the Sterling residence and wait for the baby."

He paused, then added, "You'll still be Mrs. Sterling. Chloe will move out."

I looked up at him.

"Will she agree to that?"

"She won't cause trouble," Ethan said. "She's only staying at the house temporarily. The baby was born premature and needed care. Your parents only felt sorry for her. They never truly meant to hurt you."

I nearly laughed.

They had locked me up, forced medication down my throat, destroyed my career, and used edited videos to prove I was mentally ill.

They had never intended to hurt me?

"Once you give birth to the baby, the Sterling family will provide you with more than enough to live on," he continued. "I'll settle Chloe and the baby elsewhere. Just focus on the pregnancy and stop making trouble."

So he still remembered the child I carried.

I lowered my head and touched the voice recorder hidden in my cuff.

An attendant had dropped it while bringing me dinner the day before.

I had hidden it all night.

"Fine."

Ethan froze.

I looked up and forced a faint smile.

"I'll apologize."

The wariness vanished from his eyes.

"That's more like it."

He took my hand, his grip gentler now.

"Elena, don't blame me. I can't let you take this any further. You're pregnant. You can't be under this kind of emotional stress. Once the baby is born, everything will be fine."

He sounded completely sincere.

For a moment, I almost believed him.

After all, when I lost Mia, he had held my hand and stayed by my side through those darkest days.

But then he said, "Your mother has been crying for days. She thinks she never should have sent you here. Your father has been reaching out to the best obstetricians, too. They had no other choice. Chloe is too frail, and the baby was born premature. The family had to put her first."

Put her first.

My child was still in my womb, yet had already been pushed aside without a second thought.

When the door unlocked, I pushed myself upright against the wall.

I didn't look back.

As long as I could get out of there, and as long as my baby was still alive, I would make them answer for everything.