He Called Me Disgusting, Now He's Begging on His Knees

Chapter 3

And so the days passed.

Chloe settled into our home without a second thought.

In my past life, her little pregnancy project had sent me to the hospital and triggered a crippling anxiety spiral that nearly broke me.

The child she wanted to conceive was Ethan's, after all.

She hid behind her so-called religion, some warped version of piety she had adopted as an orphan. Since the Hayes family took her in, she now claimed she owed them something.

Because Ethan had married me and we had failed to produce an heir in three years, she played the martyr. "Oh, I could not bear to see the Hayes name die out," she said, willing to sacrifice herself to carry on their bloodline.

She even packaged it as IVF, a pretty lie. The truth was just field work.

She sent photo after photo and video after video until my rage literally made me cough up blood.

I showed up at Ethan's office looking like death warmed over, with my hair matted and my skin sallow. I was a walking disaster when I crashed in while he was mid-negotiation with international investors.

I torpedoed his deal and ended up on my knees, clinging to his legs like some deranged beggar while wailing for him to love me and give me a child. I even sobbed that my baby would be brighter and more blessed than Chloe's.

My public meltdown went viral and shredded his golden-boy image. His solution was to lock me up. When I kept acting out, he shipped me off to a psychiatric facility. Only after their treatments finally broke my spirit did he drag me back home.

Even now, remembering it sent a sharp pang of shame through my chest. Why did I ever debase myself for that man?

But here was the cruel twist. Chloe never knew the truth, because my parents' investigators had uncovered the Hayes family's dirty secret: a genetic time bomb. Any child born to them would end up in a wheelchair or have cerebral palsy.

So now, to reclaim the three Wells family company stamps, I played the perfect attendant while hovering over Chloe's belly like some paranoid midwife.

At eight in the morning sharp, I delivered a steaming bowl of lobster bisque to her bedside.

She took one sip and then flung the entire bowl at me. "Ew, this knockoff crap? Just wait till Ethan hears about this."

I choked it down.

By noon, I had hired a luxury spa therapist to massage her with jasmine-infused oils. She demanded that I do it instead. "Oh, Nora, your pampered little hands serving me? That sounds so fitting."

Again, I bit my tongue.

When Ethan slunk home at ten in the evening, they disappeared into the bedroom together. He had the audacity to look conflicted. "Nora, this is all for me. You love me, so you will do this for me, won't you?"

My phone buzzed in my hand as I leaned against their door, and their moans leaked through the wood.

My mother's voice crackled through the speaker. "Nora, we have the stamps."

My father's voice followed. "Are you coming home soon?"

One last stamp to go. Once it was in our hands, every deal the Hayes Group made would freeze overnight. For three years, every contract had borne our Wells family insignia, and every partner answered to us alone.

Through the sliver of the door, I watched them writhe and then smiled. "Mom, Dad? Come get me in a week."

For the past two weeks of taking care of Chloe, I had barely slept or eaten properly. I had grown noticeably thinner, yet Ethan's opinion of me kept improving. He would often stare at me blankly and occasionally say something almost human.

"Nora, if you had always been this well-behaved and not caused trouble," he remarked.

I pressed my lips into a smile and stayed silent. I would not cause trouble anymore. I only wondered if he would throw a fit when the Hayes Group collapsed.

When Ethan finally placed the last stamp in my hand, I quickly laid the divorce papers on the table because I was afraid he might change his mind. "Do not forget to sign these tonight," I reminded him.

His eyes filled with fresh mockery. "What now? Since Chloe is pregnant, are you pulling another suicidal attention grab?" he sneered. "Go die then, Nora. I will collect your corpse."

I kept my head down because I knew he meant every word. But this time, I was not that naive girl anymore.

I considered packing my things only to realize that nothing here was worth taking. The moment Ethan left, I was already in the car. I turned off my phone and tossed the SIM card out the window. From here on out, this was a clean break.

I would be in Silverwick, waiting to watch Ethan's downfall.