Chapter 3

"Damien Hunt, is this what you call 'busy'?"

My throat felt like it was filled with blood.

"What are you doing here?"

Damien instinctively stepped in front of Sydney, as if I were some kind of monster.

I laughed coldly. "I should be asking you that."

He frowned, his tone tinged with impatience.

"Sydney got her heart broken. She said she wanted to experience being a mother. I was just trying to help her."

"Help her?"

My voice nearly cracked.

"Damien Hunt, where exactly do you put me?"

Sydney walked over and glared at Damien.

"Damien, how can you talk to Chloe like that?"

She grabbed my hand. "Chloe, I just wanted a child. We're all close, so I borrowed Damien's seed."

"You don't mind, right?"

"Damien and I have always just been bros. Don't worry, we didn't cross any lines."

I laughed coldly and shook her off, trembling with rage.

Right. No lines crossed. They just slept together.

"Damien Hunt, let's get divorced."

I turned around and closed my eyes.

Without waiting for his answer, I went home and started packing.

Halfway through, Damien came back.

He grabbed my hands.

"After all these years, you're sure you want to throw it all away?"

"You've never worked. How will you survive out there?"

"That's none of your business." I shook him off.

He suddenly pulled me into his arms, wiping my tears.

"Honey, I was wrong. It's my fault."

"For the sake of all these years, don't divorce me, okay?"

"Then make her get an abortion and send her away!"

"Okay."

He paused, then agreed.

I gripped his collar tightly. "I want you to have a child with me. Now. Right now."

He looked at me for a long time before finally agreeing.

"Okay."

I kept him home, day and night.

Endless supplements, countless remedies.

Finally, three months later, I got pregnant.

Damien finally breathed a sigh of relief, like he'd completed a task.

But when he looked at this child, there was none of the adoration and joy I'd imagined.

He wasn't exactly bad to me. He still accompanied me to checkups, bought me supplements on time.

Even when I cried at night, he'd hand me tissues and warm water.

But I could tell he was just going through the motions mechanically.

His body was here, but his mind was always elsewhere.

Until I was five months pregnant, he started going out frequently again.

Not answering calls.

One afternoon, he snuck out while I was sleeping.

I followed him to the old mansion.

Sydney's belly was huge, wearing his shirt, leaning on the sofa eating ice cream.

But these past days, Damien never let me touch his shirts.

Now, he gently took away her ice cream.

Massaging her legs.

"Only two bites. I haven't been able to be with you these past days. You've had it tough."

I pushed the door open hard, my lips and teeth trembling uncontrollably.

"You said you'd make her get an abortion. Damien Hunt, you lied to me?"

Seeing me, Damien's veins bulged. He finally exploded.

"Chloe Miller, will you ever stop?"

"You said you wanted me around, I'm around. You said you wanted a child, I gave you one."

"Sydney's carrying twins and she's far along. Do you know how much it hurts me to watch her on the surveillance cameras?"

"They're both my children. Do you really have to be so intolerant?"

"But you promised me!" I clenched my fists tightly.

Sydney smirked and deliberately rubbed her belly.

"Chloe, these two kids have outgrown their clothes. Damien's shirts fit just right."

"The doctor even praised me for being amazing, pregnant with two at once. Though I think I could still do cartwheels."

"It's just Damien being overprotective. Won't let me ride motorcycles or watch horror movies."

"But I'm not some delicate little princess. I've got plenty of energy."

I finally couldn't hold back. I grabbed a vase and hurled it at her.

"You're disgusting!"

"Sydney, watch out!"

Damien suddenly blocked it. He glared at me viciously.

"How can you be so malicious!"

"Don't you know she's carrying twins!"

"Chloe Miller, I've taken care of you for so many years. If you can't handle this, then get out."

Nausea roiled in my stomach. I wiped my mouth.

"Fine. I'll get out!"

I felt completely drained. I turned and left.

I knocked on my best friend's door.

Crying, I told her what happened.

But she just kept frowning.

"Chloe, I hate to say this, but you're being really unreasonable."

"Sydney's a good person. She just asked Damien to father a child. Did you really need to react like this?"

I couldn't believe my ears.

"What are you saying?"

"You're so cruel. Actually trying to make Sydney get an abortion. That's a life too."

"Sydney hasn't fought with you over anything since you got pregnant. You're making way too big a deal out of this."

She continued selecting items.

"What do you think I should give Sydney as a gift when she has the babies?"

Something like congealed blood stuck in my throat.

I couldn't spit it out, couldn't swallow it down.

Even my best friend of many years was on Sydney's side.