He Thought I Would Always Stay—Until I Disappeared

Chapter 4

Vivian's POV:

My entire body went rigid, and my fingertips turned cold.

It felt as if my blood had frozen. Even breathing hurt.

"When?"

Chloe leaned back against the couch with a dreamy, self-satisfied smile, as though she were recounting a conquest.

"The first time was when Ethan celebrated my birthday instead of yours. You moved into the studio, and he went looking for you. When he couldn't find you, he came home drunk, and one thing led to another..." She paused, her smile widening. "The second time was during your 2-week business trip. We slept in the same bed every night. And if I count the times when you were home, there were too many to remember."

"Enough!" My voice shook. "You two are disgusting."

She gave a scornful laugh, her gaze openly taunting.

"That wasn't even the worst part."

A sense of dread tightened in my chest.

Chloe leaned closer and whispered the cruelest truth of all.

"Whenever we wanted to sleep together, we crushed sleeping pills into your milk. You slept like the dead and never knew a thing. We did it right beside you. It was such a thrill."

Blood roared in my ears, and my mind went blank.

The noise swallowed whatever she said next.

My hand went instinctively to my lower abdomen.

I had stayed awake for 3 days and nights to finish an important project 6 months earlier.

That morning, I drank the milk Chloe brought me and drove to inspect a construction site.

Drowsiness overwhelmed me on the road. I nodded off for a split second, and the car slammed into the guardrail.

The doctors spent 6 hours saving my life. Afterward, one of them handed me the medical report.

The impact had severely damaged my uterus. I lost the baby and would never be able to have children.

For months, guilt consumed me, and I lay awake night after night.

I blamed myself for driving while exhausted. I blamed myself for being careless.

I hadn't even dared to tell Ethan because I was afraid he would be devastated or leave me.

Now I knew the truth. It wasn't exhaustion that had made me lose control. Chloe had drugged the milk I drank before I got behind the wheel.

Ethan and Chloe had destroyed my life.

"You sick bastard!"

I lunged at Chloe and slapped her hard across the face.

I struck her again and again. Every slap carried 6 months of grief and rage.

"Vivian! What are you doing?"

Ethan charged into the room and shoved me away with all his strength.

My back slammed into the edge of the coffee table. Pain shot up my spine, and a cold sweat broke out across my skin.

He hurried to help Chloe up and gently touched the marks on her face, his eyes full of concern.

When he turned to me, only impatience and disappointment remained.

"Can you stop losing your temper over everything? Chloe and I are like family. Stop being so petty. If you're still angry, we'll go to the City Hall tomorrow and get married. Happy now?"

I looked at him and almost laughed at the sheer hypocrisy.

He still believed that offering to marry me was some grand favor that could erase every wound.

"Don't bother." I braced a hand on the table and forced myself upright. "Ethan, we're done."

I pushed past him and walked out of the bar.

Dawn was just beginning to lighten the sky.

I took a cab back to the apartment, grabbed the suitcase I had already packed, and went straight to the airport without looking back.

As the plane lifted off, I closed my eyes.

That was the end of our 5-year relationship.

End of Vivian's POV

*****

Ethan didn't realize something was wrong until 3 days later.

At first, he assumed Vivian was throwing another tantrum and would come back, as always.

Then his calls stopped going through, and the studio told him Vivian had already resigned.

He searched for Vivian frantically but found no trace of her.

That evening, a business news alert appeared on his phone.

"Vivian Hart Returns to Lead Hart Group's Domestic Real Estate Division"

The woman in the photo wore a sharply tailored suit and stared into the camera with cool authority—the same woman Ethan had always dismissed as obedient and boring.

His knees gave way, and he collapsed onto the floor.