After He Ruined My Baby, I Left For Good

Chapter 2

Audrey's POV:

The next morning, I went to the office to apply for an overseas transfer, only to realize I'd left my passport at home. I had no choice but to go back and get it.

But when I reached my front door, the fingerprint scanner wouldn't recognize me.

It kept flashing, "Unauthorized entry."

I frowned.

I pulled the key from my bag and let myself in.

Clothes belonging to a man and a woman were scattered across the entryway. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened the night before.

Just then, Julian walked out of the bedroom.

He glanced at me, his tone dripping with mockery.

"Look who finally decided to come home."

"Did you change the fingerprint lock?" I asked, staring at him.

Before Julian could answer, Chloe stepped out of the master bedroom in a revealing satin camisole.

"I must've accidentally deleted your fingerprint while I was playing with it yesterday. Sorry, Audrey."

Her voice was sweet and playful, but there wasn't a trace of remorse on her face.

Julian immediately stepped forward.

"Careful. You'll catch a cold."

He picked up a coat from the floor and draped it around her shoulders with practiced familiarity.

Then he defended her without hesitation.

"You don't need to apologize to her. You didn't do anything wrong."

He turned to me, his voice turning cold.

"You, on the other hand, left without saying a word. I think you need to learn a lesson."

A lesson?

The whole thing was absurd.

When Julian and I first got together, Chloe hadn't even appeared yet.

My mother had just passed away, and I'd fallen into a deep depression. He was the one who stayed by my side and helped me through the darkest period of my life.

He was also the one who promised to protect me for the rest of our lives.

But the year we got married, Chloe appeared as his secretary.

He told me she had been lively and cheerful since she was little, and that having this bubbly young woman constantly chattering around him was actually fun. His job was exhausting, he said, so it was nice to have someone like her around.

I understood.

So when Chloe accompanied him to business dinners and the two of them stayed out all night, I put up with it.

When it was my birthday and Chloe called him, saying, "The lights at home are broken and I'm scared," he rushed over to take care of her.

I put up with that, too.

But now, after five years together and three years of marriage, my husband had brought his mistress into our home and slept with her in our marital bed.

And he had the nerve to say he was going to teach his wife a lesson.

It was almost laughable.

I stopped wasting my breath on them, went inside, grabbed my passport, and turned to leave.

Julian blocked my path.

"Where are you going now? Can't you just stay home and behave?"

I glanced at him.

"Of course I'm leaving. I'm making room for someone who actually needs the spot."

Julian's expression darkened.

"What the hell are you talking about? Chloe had a fever yesterday and no one was there to take care of her. I just brought her home to look after her. That's all."

Chloe's eyes immediately turned red.

"I'm sorry, Audrey. I shouldn't have gotten in the way of your marriage. I'll leave right now."

Julian immediately grabbed her hand, gently wiping away her tears.

"That's not what she meant. Why are you leaving? It's freezing outside."

I looked at them, my heart completely numb.

Then Chloe raised a hand in a wounded gesture, and I noticed the gemstone necklace around her neck.

I grabbed her and demanded, "Why are you wearing my mother's necklace?"

"I gave it to her. She liked it, so I told her she could have it."

Julian sounded completely matter-of-fact as he reached over to pry my hand away.

As if this were nothing worth making a fuss over.

"She's younger than you. Give her a break. I'll have my assistant buy you another one later. How about that?"

I stared at him silently as something inside me sank deeper and deeper.

Just like always, he assumed that the moment he spoke, I would obediently give in.

But after all these years, how much had I already given up?

This time, I had even given him up.

A man could be given away.

But my mother's necklace?

Never.

It was the only thing she had left me in this world.

I grabbed Chloe by the arm and tore the necklace from her neck.

"Ow!"

Chloe struggled and suddenly jerked her arm away.

The force knocked me off balance.

The necklace struck the edge of the dining table and shattered across the floor.

Julian panicked.

He immediately rushed to Chloe, holding her by the shoulders and checking to make sure she hadn't been hurt.

Only after confirming that she was fine did he finally let out a breath of relief.

He pulled Chloe into his arms and looked down at me coldly.

"Audrey, you're getting more and more unreasonable. If you want to leave, then go. I'm not stopping you anymore."

Julian led Chloe into the master bedroom and shut the door behind them.

Blood dripped from the cut on my hand, one drop after another splattering onto the pristine white tile.

I thought my heart couldn't hurt anymore.

But seeing that scene still felt like a knife to the chest.

Behind the closed door, Julian gently soothed Chloe in a soft voice.

Outside, I carefully wrapped my injured hand in a tissue.

But tears blurred my vision before I could stop them.

'Julian, our child and I will never consider you family again.'