Once I'd finished talking with the HR rep from a certain multinational, I was on my way out.

Passing one of the private rooms, the voices inside stopped me in my tracks.

"Congratulations, Matthews. No more putting on that 'fear of women' act in public."

"Though, Lisa, you were gone all those years, and Matthews here kept his belt pretty loose. You really don't mind?"

A coy little voice answered. "He doesn't want me wearing myself out in bed, so he found a few others to practice on. Sleeping with Kate Swanson was something I personally signed off on, you know."

"Thaddeus, when are you actually going to divorce her? Baby and I both want to be loved out in the open."

"Right, Matthews. If it hadn't been for Kate back then, your grandfather would never have found out about you two. The old man's gone now. What are you still keeping her around for?"

"Give it a little more time. She just had a miscarriage."

In the middle of their laughing and teasing, I pushed the door open and walked in.

"No need to wait. Thaddeus Matthews, the divorce papers will be in your hands the day after tomorrow."

……

On the sofa, Lisa Dudley had her head tipped back, taking Thaddeus's kiss.

At the sound of my voice, Thaddeus turned his head first, then stood, tucking the woman in his arms behind him.

When he looked at me, his brows knotted nearly into one.

"Kate, you followed me?"

My expression didn't change.

"Yes. My husband with the fear of women has been coming home smelling like perfume these past few days. I figured I should confirm his sexual orientation."

I tilted my head and glanced at the woman behind him, my tone laced with mockery.

"Good thing. At least I wasn't sharing a husband with a man."

Thaddeus looked startled for a moment by how plainly I said it, then slid into an easy manner.

He pulled Lisa to his side.

"Fine by me. Saves trouble. We can divorce, but you won't get a cent."

His shamelessness made me laugh.

"You're the one who cheated."

Before Thaddeus could speak, Lisa blinked, all innocence.

"Miss Swanson, Thaddeus has a fear of women. The kind a doctor diagnosed, even. How could he possibly cheat?"

The room broke into laughter.

I walked over to Lisa and let my eyes settle on her belly.

"Then we'll wait until your child is born to divorce. Let this little bastard be my evidence."

That clearly got to Lisa. Her hand shot up to slap me.

I was about to block it when she lowered it again. Something calculating flickered in her eyes, and instead she clutched her stomach, crouched to the floor, and let out a moan.

"Thaddeus, my stomach hurts so much. The baby must be upset that someone called him a bastard."

Thaddeus scooped her up at once, his face tight with worry.

"Don't be scared. I'm taking you to the hospital right now."

As he passed me, he threw out one vicious line. "If anything happens to the baby or to Lisa, you'll never have a good day for the rest of your life!"

The others scattered soon after, leaving me alone in the room.

The bitterness of being toyed with and then thrown away washed over me.

I forced down the dull ache and decided to go home and start arranging the divorce.

Then a cramp seized my lower belly without warning.

Thaddeus didn't know I was pregnant again.

I braced myself against the wall, caught my breath, and left on unsteady feet.

Driving to the hospital for a checkup, my mind drifted, heavy and hazy, into memory.

Lisa Dudley was Thaddeus's widowed sister-in-law, a few years younger than him.

After Thaddeus's older brother died in a car accident, Thaddeus took it upon himself to look after her.

The two of them grew closer by the day.

Until, at a family dinner, Cecil Matthews caught them tangled together.

His older brother's mourning period wasn't even over.

Cecil was so furious he spent five days in the ICU.

When he woke, the first thing he did was send Lisa abroad.

The second was to have me, the granddaughter of his old comrade-in-arms, marry Thaddeus at once.

This marriage had been arranged before my grandfather passed, and Thaddeus had been putting it off all along.

It was my grandfather's last wish, and I'd been quietly in love with Thaddeus for a long time, so I agreed.

Thaddeus could no longer refuse.

But at the wedding, his breathing turned ragged out of nowhere, and his hands wouldn't stop shaking.

They rushed him to the hospital, and he was diagnosed with a fear of women, supposedly the scar of some old heartbreak.

After the wedding, Thaddeus couldn't stand to be near me.

Then, in the third year, he was finally willing to touch me.

And I actually thought I was the happiest woman in the world.

But the truth was, I was only something for him to practice on. He even hated me.

Thrashing in those waves of pain, I heard it all at once — the screech of brakes, and then there was no time left for anything.

When my eyes opened again, it was a phone ringing that woke me.

It was the HR contact I was meeting tonight, sending over a few more details about the company.

I replied almost without hesitation: *I've decided to accept the position. I'll come to Los Angeles to start as soon as I can.*

All these years, to take care of Thaddeus's "fear of women," I'd turned down offers from one major firm after another, just to stay by his side a little longer, to go with him to his therapist, to give him encouragement and the right kind of company.

And then, the moment I caught the scent of perfume on him, I decided to leave.

It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the light before I realized I was in a hospital.

After the doctor confirmed the baby was safe, I checked myself out.

At the entrance, I came face to face with Thaddeus and Lisa. Worry was still written on his face.

The moment Lisa saw me, she stalked straight over. This time, the slap actually landed.

"You bitch! Tearing Thaddeus and me apart back then wasn't enough for you? Now you want to kill our baby!"

I'd only just been discharged; I was weak to begin with. She'd swung with everything she had, and I staggered.

Thaddeus reached out a hand, then quickly drew it back.

His eyes darkened a little.

"What are you doing at the hospital?"

The baby kicked me just then, and my hand went to my stomach on instinct.

Thaddeus asked, "What's wrong with you?"

He and Lisa could never know I was pregnant.

I shook my head, keeping my voice even.

"It's nothing. I came to see a friend."

He didn't ask again, and left with Lisa.

Thaddeus stayed out all night once more, but I couldn't bring myself to care anymore.

In a week I'd be leaving for Los Angeles, and there was still a lot to do.

Early the next morning, I called a divorce lawyer.

She also recommended a private investigator to gather evidence of Thaddeus's affair.

The insurance company called and said they needed to pull the dashcam footage to determine fault for the accident.

While exporting the video, I clicked on a file from an earlier time by mistake.

Thaddeus never rode in the same car as me, let alone did that kind of thing in one.

As I sat there puzzled, a woman's low murmur came through the recording.

"Thaddeus... all these years, I've missed you so much... and you? Have you missed me?"

The man didn't answer, only breathed her name.

"Lisa... Lisa..."

The recording went on. I bit down hard on my lower lip, and the taste of blood was already there.

With shaking hands, I checked the date the audio was recorded.

A month ago, the night I lost the baby...

What came before the tears was the nausea churning in my stomach.

In a daze I rushed to the toilet and threw up, again and again.

I don't know how long it was before one hand finally braced against the sink, the other clutching my chest, and I broke into sobs.

That night, the rain had come down in sheets.

I was at home, getting ready for bed, when an anonymous text arrived.

With a crack of thunder, my phone started playing a horror video on its own.

The fear sent me into hard, unrelenting contractions, and I begged the butler to drive me to the hospital.

But he came rushing back from the garage to tell me my car was gone.

Frantic, I lost my footing and fell down the stairs.

I lost the baby.

It turned out Thaddeus had taken my car. Just for the thrill of it.

At some point Thaddeus appeared in the bathroom doorway.

He asked, "Are you feeling unwell?"

I didn't answer. As I passed him on my way back to the room, I said, "Thaddeus, I mean it about the divorce."

He gave a cold laugh.

"I told you. You won't get a single cent out of this divorce."

I was too exhausted to pull out that recording and confront him then and there.

So I only answered flatly, "Do as you like."

His temper snapped all at once. He pinned me against the wall and seized my chin.

"Kate, did you ever mean any of it with me? Even once?"

What a joke. A man who only ever slept with me, asking me for sincerity.

As if he'd registered how absurd he sounded, he sneered.

"After all, back then you only told Grandfather about me and Lisa so you could marry into money, didn't you?"

His look stung me for an instant before I steadied again.

"Mm. But I don't want it anymore."

His chest rose and fell, and at last he let go of me and slammed the door on his way out.

I sent the divorce papers to Thaddeus. He didn't reply.

It didn't matter.

That afternoon he called, but it was about something else entirely.

"Mrs. Lambert is hosting a charity gala tonight. She's always been fond of you. We'll go together."

Mrs. Lambert and I were on good terms, and before I left I did owe her a proper goodbye.

"Fine."

Thaddeus said we'd go together. I didn't dwell on it.

He was the head of the Matthews family now. There was no longer any need to hide the thing with Lisa, and he might even use the chance to make their relationship public.

That evening I went to the ballroom alone.

The moment I walked in, I felt the room sizing me up.

Guests leaned in to whisper, not bothering to hide it.

"Mr. Matthews and Miss Dudley are inseparable these days. She came here to humiliate herself?"

"Maybe she knows she's about to get kicked out, and she wants one last taste of high society!"

I couldn't be bothered with them and kept walking, looking for Mrs. Lambert.

A little way off, I spotted Thaddeus and Lisa. They stood at the center of a crowd, talking and laughing easily.

Lisa noticed me first, a smug little smile curling at her lips.

She rose on her toes and murmured something in Thaddeus's ear, and he looked over at me too.

He wore the same arrogant air as always, then suddenly laced his fingers tight through Lisa's and announced to the room, "Everyone, Lisa and I have set our wedding for next month. We'd love for you all to come."

The words landed, and the hall broke into cheers.

Lisa was so moved by the public declaration that she burst into tears.

I watched the whole performance coldly. The instant I looked away, Lisa spoke up.

"Thank you, everyone, but there's one person whose blessing I want most." She turned to me. "Miss Swanson, if it weren't for you back then, Thaddeus and I wouldn't have been apart so long. Why don't you offer it as your apology?"

I met her eyes and smiled faintly.

"Of course. I'll bless not only the two of you, but also... the baby in your belly. He won't have to be born a bastard now."

"You—!"

Lisa's brows shot up in fury.

Just then, Mrs. Lambert finally appeared.

Her face dark, she rounded on Thaddeus and Lisa.

"This is my gala! If you want to put on a love show, go build your own stage for it!"