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Chapter 8
Ethan clung to his belief that I was lying.
He kept muttering, his voice full of desperation.
“No… no, you’re lying to me!”
“You’re saying this to get back at me, aren’t you?”
“Yes–that’s it! You’re doing this to hurt me. It can’t be true. It’s impossible!”
My heart felt like it was being torn apart–like someone had reached inside and crushed it with both hands.
This was the deepest wound I carried. The deepest scar I carried.
Back then, Ethan had been overwhelmed with work–exhausted, overworked, distracted.
I kept the pregnancy to myself. I didn’t want to burden him with more stress.
For two years, I lived in silence, blaming myself, convinced that something was wrong with me.
I had no idea it was his doing all along.
Ethan grabbed my arm tightly, his grip trembling.
“Tell me you’re lying! Say it’s all made up! That you said it just to get revenge!”
I looked at him, hollowed out, my voice low.
“If you don’t believe
me,
then
no explanation will matter. You can think whatever you want.”
I had no intention of tangled with him any further.
“The truth is out. The press conference i
I dismissed the reporters.
over.”
They began to leave in waves, some still stealing glances back at Ethan as if they couldn’t believe the wreck he’d become.
But he just stood there, dazed, mumbling the same words over and over.
“No… it’s not true. She’s lying. She has to be lying.”
Julia and Rosen tried to pull him away, but he wouldn’t budge.
Finally, Rosen slapped him–hard.
“Snap out of it, Ethan! After everything you’ve done, how do you still have the nerve to stand here?!”
“Get out of here. Go home.”
Ethan dominated the trending headlines, the internet swarming with fury over his betrayal and cruelty.
and mily
Paparazzi staked out the Sinclair house, livestreaming the moment Julia was kicked out of the famil
Lily trailed behind her, confused, unaware of the storm she’d been born into.
Then the truth came out: Lily had never belonged to the orphanage at all.
It had all been a setup–an elaborate ruse by Ethan and Julia to manipulate me into adopting their child.
But in the end, they’d only exposed themselves. Their scheme had backfired in the worst way.
Ethan refused to accept the divorce. He stalked me, begged, harassed–anything to stop me. Chapter 8
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I had no choice but to take him to court.
Armed with overwhelming evidence, I filed for dissolution.
That courtroom was the last place I ever saw him.
After more than a month, he was barely recognizable–gaunt, frail, like the wind might carry
He stood opposite me in court and never uttered a word in his defense.
The proceedings were swift. I won easily.
He was the one who destroyed our marriage–and he paid for it. He walked out with nothing.
Outside the courthouse, the wind howled so loud I almost didn’t hear him call my name.
“For the child we lost,” he said, holding something out.
It was a teddy bear.
It looked just like the teddy bear- our first keepsake. But the stitches were crooked, uneven.
I noticed the bandages on his fingers.
him away.
“The factory that made the original shut down years ago,” he said. “I couldn’t find another one, so I… I made this myself.”
I was silent for a long moment.
Then I finally spoke.
“Keep it. For your
Those were the last
ever said to Ethan.
Not long after, the Sinclair Group collapsed under the weight of public outrage.
They filed for bankruptcy.
Ethan’s family was forced out of their
gated
and moved into an aging apartment complex on the city’s outskirts.
Neighbors said the yelling never stopped–arguments broke out constantly. Some said it turned physical.
But none of that had anything to do with me anymore.
My company grew stronger, more powerful.
And with it came the beginning of my new life.
