Chapter 2

"Since this place was bought with my money, it belongs to me."

I stared at Sean, my voice chillingly calm. "I don't want to look at any of you. Get the hell out."

Hannah peeked out from behind Sean, speaking in a timid, fragile voice.

"Lynn, I never wanted to fight you for anything."

"But the deed to this house has my name on it."

She paused, then added in a whisper:

"And the place you're currently living in? It's not yours anymore either."

"Why don't you check the property records when you get home and see whose name is on it?"

I whipped my head toward Sean.

He looked away, avoiding my eyes.

My stomach dropped into a bottomless pit.

That townhouse was the very first property I bought with my own savings. It was my safety net, my sanctuary.

My dad died when I was young, and my mom was always too busy working to raise me.

I grew up bouncing between relatives' homes, walking on eggshells.

I studied until my eyes bled and worked relentless hours on cases just so I could have a place that truly belonged to me.

And now, he had stolen that, too.

"It's just a house," Sean finally muttered, brushing it off casually.

"Think of it as compensation for Hannah."

"I'll buy you a bigger, better house later."

Hannah tugged at Sean's sleeve, her voice dripping with innocence.

"Sean, I don't need compensation."

She glanced up at me, then quickly lowered her head.

"After all... if you hadn't been taking care of me back then, Lynn wouldn't have lost her baby."

The words struck me like a bolt of lightning.

A phantom pain shot through my lower abdomen, dragging back the agony of that miscarriage.

So that was why...

That was why Sean was never home during that time. That was why he never picked up my calls.

Even that night, when I was hemorrhaging in the hospital, begging him to come sign the surgical consent form.

He never answered. He never showed up.

By the time it was over, my baby was gone.

He had knelt by my hospital bed, shaking violently, sobbing and apologizing over and over.

And I believed him.

I thought he was truly drowning in guilt.

"To be honest, whenever Sean was with me before, he always used protection," Hannah continued softly, as if sharing a trivial secret.

"It wasn't until Lynn lost her baby that we decided to have one."

"This baby... was meant to make it up to you, Lynn."

Tears welled in her eyes.

"I won't fight you for him. As long as you let me see him from a distance once in a while, that's enough."

I turned to Sean, my voice trembling with disgust.

"You expect me to raise your bastard child?"

Sean frowned.

"What's wrong with that?"

He looked at me as if I were the unreasonable one.

"Your body took a huge hit after the miscarriage, and the doctors said you might never carry a child again."

"My parents have been breathing down our necks for a grandchild. Doesn't this solve everyone's problems?"

He paused, adding smoothly:

"I had it all planned out. Once the boy gets a little older, we'd finalize the adoption papers through an agency and tell everyone we adopted him."

"It was supposed to be a surprise for you. I didn't expect you to find out on your own."

A surprise?

Looking at his entitled, unbothered face, bile rose in my throat.

He wanted me to raise his mistress's child, and he called it a surprise?

I took a step back, putting distance between us.

"Sean Miller."

My voice was so deadpan it didn't even sound like me.

"I want a divorce."