Chapter 2

Late that night, when Julian slipped into the bedroom, I was already in bed pretending to sleep.

He reached out and gently rubbed my stomach, his voice as tender as ever.

"Chloe? Are you awake?"

I fluttered my eyes open, pretending I had just woken up.

"Why are you so late?"

"Had an emergency video conference with the team. Just wrapping things up."

He put on an apologetic look.

"Tomorrow morning, our company has a critical investor meeting. The VC pushed the time up, and I really can't miss it."

Julian sighed, taking my hand.

"I didn't want you to be alone at the hospital, so I asked Vivian to stay by your side. Is that okay?"

In the past, I would have understood his hustle. Now, it just felt sickeningly absurd.

"But... having a baby is huge. You won't be there with me?"

I faked a devastated look, letting my eyes turn red.

"Other husbands stay by their wives' sides."

A flash of annoyance crossed Julian's eyes, but he kept his voice soft.

"Babe, I'm doing all this for our future.

You've always been the sensible one. Please, just be patient with me this one time, okay?"

Patient with him raffling me off like a piece of meat?

I lowered my gaze to hide the ice in my eyes and nodded faintly.

"Okay. Let Vivian come."

Julian breathed a visible sigh of relief and kissed my forehead.

"I'm gonna shower. Big day tomorrow."

The moment the bathroom door closed and the water started running, I threw off the covers.

I reached for his backup phone on the nightstand.

He never let me touch this phone, claiming it contained proprietary corporate data.

I had trusted him blindly and never checked.

But earlier tonight outside his home office, I caught him unlocking it.

The passcode was Vivian's birthday.

The screen unlocked, and a group chat popped up immediately.

Austin: "The top tipper just DM'ed me! He said if we stream her crying and begging her husband during labor, he'll drop ten grand in gifts right away!"

Ryan: "She can still make bank giving birth! Julian, I want a thirty percent cut. If I hadn't leaked her childhood videos to build your audience, would this account have blown up this fast?"

Julian: "No problem, man. Vivian, tomorrow make sure the doctors don't spot your camera. The client specifically requested high-res footage. And whatever you do, do NOT let her get an epidural!"

Vivian: "Leave it to me!"

I bit my bottom lip so hard that the copper taste of blood filled my mouth, fighting back the tears.

Three years ago, when we first started dating, a speeding truck had swerved toward me on my walk home from work.

Without a second thought, Julian shoved me out of the way. The truck crushed his leg instead.

Back then, he was only worried I'd be traumatized. Through gritted teeth, he smiled at me and said, "Chloe, don't be scared."

From that day on, he became the only light in my life.

The scar on his leg still ached whenever it rained.

So when he said he needed seed capital for his startup after we married, I poured my entire trust fund into his hands without hesitation.

When he said he wanted to keep our marriage low-key for his career, I gladly stepped into the shadows.

I never imagined I was digging my own grave.

I wiped the moisture from my eyelashes.

I screen-recorded every single piece of evidence and sent it straight to my personal phone.

While he slept soundly that night, I pulled out a signed divorce agreement from the bottom drawer.

I had drafted it last month after discovering Julian was secretly draining our joint accounts.

Back then, I assumed his startup was struggling and he was too proud to ask for help.

I had planned to talk it out with him after the baby arrived.

Now, there was nothing left to talk about.

Still, I wanted to see just how far down the gutter he could sink.