Sela's POV

The other end of the line went completely silent.

I waited for a few seconds, but only the sound of heavy breathing could be heard.

Shawn happened to come out of the kitchen just then. Seeing me on the phone, he dashed over frantically and snatched it away. When his eyes landed on the call log, his expression darkened instantly.

"Are you insane?" he roared.

"What did I do wrong?" I shot back. "You hid an affair from me for so many years, and you even have a child with her! Why can't I call her and demand an explanation?

"If you've got the guts to keep a mistress, then you should have the guts to admit it!"

Right then, the woman called back.

Shawn ran his hand through his hair in frustration, hesitating between answering the call and hanging up.

I pried the phone from his hand and answered it.

"Who are you?" the woman demanded before I could speak.

"And who are you?" I retorted. "You've been with Shawn all this time. Shouldn't you be the one explaining yourself?"

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line.

"Of course, I know Shawn has a family."

My heart lurched.

"Because I'm his first love and his legally wedded wife," she added. "So in what capacity are you speaking to me?"

Her answer was like a savage slap across my face. I could feel the stinging pain and hear the loud ringing in my ears.

First love. Legally wedded wife. So the one who was the dirty little secret… was me.

My hands began to shake uncontrollably, and tears poured down my face. My mouth gaped open as my chest heaved violently, and only then could I draw in enough air to breathe.

I could no longer tell whether I felt more sorrow or more despair.

Memories flashed before my eyes like scenes from a movie. Shawn taking off his own jacket to warm my freezing feet in our tiny rented apartment. Him going to construction sites to haul steel and bags of cement, then using his daily wages to take me out to buy wholesale ice cream.

And because he couldn't afford a wedding, I'd worn a wedding dress I'd sewn myself, and we'd exchanged handmade rings. In this very apartment, I'd handed myself and the rest of my life over to him, swearing to trust him, love him, depend on him, and never betray him.

And he'd used his cheap lies to easily swindle away my priceless youth and love.

"Why? Why, Shawn? Why?"

By the end, my words had turned into a piercing shriek.

Shawn tossed the now-dark phone back onto the couch. His eyes looked up at the ceiling, then down at the floor—anywhere but at me. He pressed his lips together until they lost all color. Only then did he finally speak.

"I promised Kelly that I would only ever marry her. We were promised to each other as kids. Later, my family went bankrupt, and I left to make a living on my own.

"And then I met you."

He sighed. "Sela, you were just so… wonderful. Truly. You were so wonderful that I couldn't bring myself to reject you or push you away. I could only watch myself fall deeper and deeper for you.

"I admit that the marriage I gave you was fake, but my love for you is real," he said, his expression painfully earnest. "Four years ago, I got back on my feet and officially married Kelly. But Sela, I never forgot about you. I was just too terrified of losing you, so I used lies to cover up lies."

My limbs had gone from feeling cold to feeling utterly numb. Shaking my head, I kept backing away.

He felt like a total stranger to me.

"Sela, I have money now. And I love you. I'll give you everything you ever wanted. Once our baby is born, they'll be living an exceptionally privileged life, too. I can guarantee that the both of you will live the rest of your lives completely carefree."

He advanced toward me, step by step.

"Sela, just pretend none of this ever happened. After all—"

I slapped him across the face, cutting him off.

Sela's POV

Like a woman possessed, I grabbed everything within reach and hurled it at Shawn. I even grabbed the food he'd just finished cooking and, ignoring the scalding heat, dumped it all over his body.

Steam billowed up between us, blurring our figures.

I didn't know who he was anymore.

"Get out! Get the hell out! I'll never forgive you!"

The whole time, Shawn stood there with the same unreadable, silent expression. If he'd shown the slightest guilt, or any indication that he'd seriously planned a future with me and considered giving me a real place next to him, I wouldn't have been this devastated.

That only meant that from the very beginning, I'd been nothing but someone slated for sacrifice, a plaything during the transitional period of his life.

I'd never had the right to leave even the smallest mark in Shawn Leake's life.

"You're a monster, Shawn Leake!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. His scalded jaw ticked, clearly indicating that he was losing patience.

He tossed his black card at me. "Take some time to calm down. I'll come back to see you in a few days."

When he reached the door, he stopped and added, "I'm at fault here, so I'll do everything I can to make it up to you. But I don't want you bothering my wife again."

The door slammed shut behind him.

I collapsed amid the wreckage, staying wide awake through the night until dawn broke.

I retrieved my own phone. Only then did I discover that Shawn, who never posted on social media, had shared a new update.

"Simple but happy".

The accompanying photo showed a bowl of tomato pasta—something that Shawn made for me all the time. Two hands—one large, one small—both wearing wedding rings, rested side by side. There was even a small bite mark from a woman on the web of Shawn's hand.

I couldn't tell if he'd done this to soothe her, allowing her to mark her territory for me to see, or if he simply felt there was no point in hiding anything anymore.

A message from Shawn popped up.

"Kelly's already accepted things. Don't be angry anymore; you're still pregnant. Stress isn't good for you. I promise I'll spend time with you once a week from now on, okay?

"It'll be our wedding anniversary the day after tomorrow. Is there anything you want? Or shall I prepare a surprise for you?"

The turbulence inside me gradually settled until it was nothing but a pool of stagnant water.

I blocked him, then opened the hospital app and scheduled an abortion for that afternoon.

That would be my surprise for him.