Chapter 2
The doctor paled.
“Mr. Brooks, if we take any more, she could die
”
After a brief hesitation, the man only said:
“Nina is pregnant. The mother comes first.”
“But-”
I cut the doctor off.
“Just take it. Once you’re done, let me leave.”
Ethan Brooks stared at my pallid face, his eyes
1/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
dark with cold fury. His lips parted—
“Had you really thrown such a tantrum over something so trivial?”
But before he could demand an answer-
“Ethan~”
Nina’s saccharine voice lured him away.
Two days later.
Having been hospitalized due to shock, I just opened my eyes and saw Ethan Brooks, busy reviewing documents at my bedside.
We locked eyes for a long moment.
2/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
Then, wordlessly, he picked up a bowl of congee
and moved to feed me.
I turned my head.
“I can do it myself.”
He watched in silence as I finished half the bowl
before asking, “Are you in any pain?”
Instead of answering, I said, “Give me my
phone.”
My tone was so distant it gave him pause. After a beat, he called the butler to deliver it.
Noticing the flood of missed calls, Ethan
frowned.
3/12
Chapter 2
“Who was calling you?”
He never used to care.
+ 5 Points
Suppressing my irritation, I replied flatly,
“Someone you don’t know.”
Undoing the top button of his shirt, he loomed
over me, his voice icy.
“Claire Shaw, how long do you plan to keep up this spoiled little act?”
“Do you really think you can defy me?”
In the past, I would’ve scrambled to placate him, apologizing profusely.
But now, I simply pointed at his vibrating phone
4/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
and said,
“Nina’s calling you.”
At the sound of this, Ethan Brooks‘ eyes twinkled with a smile. He stepped into the hallway–same old habit.
The moment he left, my phone rang.
Before I could speak, an urgent voice spilled through the line:
“You promised to come to me. Claire, are you backing out?”
“No. There was just… a complication.”
“A complication? What happened? I’m flying
5/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
back-”
Cutting off the incessant words, I lowered my
gaze and pursed my lips.
“Just give me a few more days.”
Ethan returned just as I hung up.
When he saw the faint smile on my lips–one he hadn’t seen in years–something twisted in his
chest.
But he’d already promised Nina he’d return to sing lullabies to her and their unborn child.
So he didn’t ask who I’d been talking to.
Probably that cousin of mine, he thought. After
6/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
all, since marrying him, my world has shrunk to just a few female relatives.
Gathering his files, he tossed over his shoulder,
“Claire, there’s an emergency at the office. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
He didn’t come tomorrow.
Or the day after.
Or the day after that.
Yet thanks to our mutual acquaintances, videos
of him and Nina flooded my phone.
Him escorting her to to parties and dinner
gatherings.
7/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
Him introducing her at banquets like a
lovestruck teenager.
On the day I was discharged, Ethan posted a nine–photo collage on social media.
A sunset. A hot air balloon.
Him cupping Nina’s blushing face in his hands before kissing her deeply.
I left a comment:
[Congratulations. May you two be blessed with
a child and a lifetime together.]
Ten minutes later, Ethan called.
8/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
I didn’t answer.
Thirty minutes after that, as I walked out alone, I spotted him and Nina outside the maternity
ward.
A nurse at the front desk gushed:
“Mrs. Brooks, your husband dotes on you so much! He accompanies you every time.”
“During ultrasounds, he even warms the gel himself because he’s afraid you’ll feel cold.”
The pregnant women nearby all looked at Nina with envy in their eyes.
Absently, my hand drifted to my own abdomen -where a child had once grown.
9/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
I remembered the day I’d lost that baby.
Bleeding out after the car accident, I’d video–called Ethan Brooks through my tears.
But all I saw was Nina Turner, completely naked.
“Mrs. Brooks~ Mr. Brooks lost a bet to me,
so right now he’s handcuffed to the bed as punishment~ Did you need something?”
I hung up without a word.
Less than a minute later, Ethan called back -with a pouting, red–eyed Nina nestled in his arms. He screamed at me for being petty, stupid, unbearable.
10/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
Then he said:
“You couldn’t even keep your own child alive. Pathetic. Honestly, Claire Shaw, you should’ve just let that truck finish you off.”
Snapping back to the present, I tried to slip away unnoticed–but Ethan spotted me.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded coldly.
I kept my eyes down. “I wasn’t following you. It’s just a coincidence. Sorry to disturb you.”
“Wait-”
As Ethan frowned and uttered those words, a flash of jealousy passed through Nina’s eyes.
11/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
She tightened her grip on his arm and smiled sweetly at me.
“Mrs. Brooks, I never properly thanked you for donating blood! Without you, I’d still be feeling so faint.” She turned pleading eyes to Ethan. “Let’s all go home together, okay?”
12/12
Chapter 2
The doctor paled.
“Mr. Brooks, if we take any more, she could die
After a brief hesitation, the man only said:
“Nina is pregnant. The mother comes first.”
“But-”
I cut the doctor off.
་་
‘Just take it. Once you’re done, let me leave.”
Ethan Brooks stared at my pallid face, his eyes
1/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
dark with cold fury. His lips parted—
“Had you really thrown such a tantrum over something so trivial?”
But before he could demand an answer-
“Ethan~”
Nina’s saccharine voice lured him away.
Two days later.
Having been hospitalized due to shock, I just opened my eyes and saw Ethan Brooks, busy reviewing documents at my bedside.
We locked eyes for a long moment.
2/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
Then, wordlessly, he picked up a bowl of congee
and moved to feed me.
I turned my head.
“I can do it myself.”
He watched in silence as I finished half the bowl
before asking, “Are you in any pain?”
Instead of answering, I said, “Give me my
phone.”
My tone was so distant it gave him pause. After a beat, he called the butler to deliver it.
Noticing the flood of missed calls, Ethan
frowned.
3/12
Chapter 2
“Who was calling you?”
He never used to care.
+ 5 Points
Suppressing my irritation, I replied flatly,
“Someone you don’t know.”
Undoing the top button of his shirt, he loomed over me, his voice icy.
“Claire Shaw, how long do you plan to keep up this spoiled little act?”
“Do you really think you can defy me?”
In the past, I would’ve scrambled to placate him, apologizing profusely.
But now, I simply pointed at his vibrating phone
4/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
and said,
“Nina’s calling you.”
At the sound of this, Ethan Brooks‘ eyes twinkled with a smile. He stepped into the hallway–same old habit.
The moment he left, my phone rang.
Before I could speak, an urgent voice spilled through the line:
“You promised to come to me. Claire, are you backing out?”
“No. There was just… a complication.”
“A complication? What happened? I’m flying
5/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
back-”
Cutting off the incessant words, I lowered my gaze and pursed my lips.
“Just give me a few more days.”
Ethan returned just as I hung up.
When he saw the faint smile on my lips–one he hadn’t seen in years–something twisted in his
chest.
But he’d already promised Nina he’d return to sing lullabies to her and their unborn child.
So he didn’t ask who I’d been talking to.
Probably that cousin of mine, he thought. After
6/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
all, since marrying him, my world has shrunk to just a few female relatives.
Gathering his files, he tossed over his shoulder,
“Claire, there’s an emergency at the office. I’ll be
back tomorrow.”
He didn’t come tomorrow.
Or the day after.
Or the day after that.
Yet thanks to our mutual acquaintances, videos
of him and Nina flooded my phone.
Him escorting her to to parties and dinner
gatherings.
7/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
Him introducing her at banquets like a
lovestruck teenager.
On the day I was discharged, Ethan posted a nine–photo collage on social media.
A sunset. A hot air balloon.
Him cupping Nina’s blushing face in his hands before kissing her deeply.
I left a comment:
[Congratulations. May you two be blessed with
a child and a lifetime together.]
Ten minutes later, Ethan called.
8/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
I didn’t answer.
Thirty minutes after that, as I walked out alone,
I spotted him and Nina outside the maternity
ward.
A nurse at the front desk gushed:
“Mrs. Brooks, your husband dotes on you so much! He accompanies you every time.”
“During ultrasounds, he even warms the gel himself because he’s afraid you’ll feel cold.”
The pregnant women nearby all looked at Nina with envy in their eyes.
Absently, my hand drifted to my own abdomen -where a child had once grown.
9/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
I remembered the day I’d lost that baby.
Bleeding out after the car accident, I’d video–called Ethan Brooks through my tears.
But all I saw was Nina Turner, completely naked.
“Mrs. Brooks~ Mr. Brooks lost a bet to me, so right now he’s handcuffed to the bed as punishment~ Did you need something?”
I hung up without a word.
Less than a minute later, Ethan called back -with a pouting, red–eyed Nina nestled in his arms. He screamed at me for being petty, stupid, unbearable.
10/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
Then he said:
“You couldn’t even keep your own child alive.
Pathetic. Honestly, Claire Shaw, you should’ve just let that truck finish you off.”
Snapping back to the present, I tried to slip
away unnoticed–but Ethan spotted me.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded coldly.
I kept my eyes down. “I wasn’t following you. It’s just a coincidence. Sorry to disturb you.”
“Wait-”
As Ethan frowned and uttered those words, a flash of jealousy passed through Nina’s eyes.
11/12
Chapter 2
+ 5 Points
She tightened her grip on his arm and smiled
sweetly at me.
“Mrs. Brooks, I never properly thanked you for donating blood! Without you, I’d still be feeling so faint.” She turned pleading eyes to Ethan. “Let’s all go home together, okay?”
12/12
