Chapter 2

Vivian Sterling POV

The next afternoon, Natalie handed me a file.

The contents were laid out in crystal clarity.

The woman's name was Chloe Sutton, four years younger than Jonathan.

Five years ago, she met Jonathan at an upscale club.

And the boy named Toby Hayes was born exactly nine months after I was discharged from the hospital.

Which meant that while I was still fighting for my life in the hospital,

Jonathan had already cheated with another woman.

My fingers gripped the edges of the papers so tightly that my knuckles turned white.

Attached to the back of the report were Jonathan's transfer records over the past five years.

A two-hundred-square-meter luxury flat, registered in Chloe Sutton's name.

A fixed monthly allowance of a hundred thousand.

And every year, Jonathan took an entire month off under the pretext of business trips, when in reality, he was vacationing with Chloe and his child.

Five whole years.

Everyone had been fooled by him.

I even remembered how every time Jonathan returned from a business trip, he would embrace me and say:

"Honey, the business trip was exhausting. Thinking of you waiting for me at home was the only thing that kept me going."

As it turned out, his exhaustion came from dallying with his mistress.

I looked at the photos. In them, Jonathan was holding his mistress and son, smiling radiantly.

It was a look of pure ease he never showed at home.

Natalie was furious. "Vivian, let's call the reporters and expose him! Let's make a scene at Hayes Group! Ruin his name!"

"Expose him?"

I fell silent for a moment, then wiped my tears and slipped the report back into the envelope.

My eyes were cold as ice:

"What good would that do? Make him kneel and apologize? Or send the child away and pretend nothing happened?"

"What's done is done. An apology could never make up for it."

With that, I took out my phone, found a number, and dialed.

The phone rang just once before being answered, and a slightly surprised voice came from the other end:

"Vivian? Why the sudden call? Did Jonathan Hayes do something to hurt you?"

Hearing my father's familiar voice, a sudden wave of sorrow rushed up my nose, but I quickly suppressed it.

"Dad, about taking over the European division you mentioned before... I accept."

There was a pause on the other end, followed by a serious tone:

"You've thought it through?"

"Yes." I lowered my gaze. "Come pick me up in a week."

My father didn't ask further questions, only saying in a deep voice:

"Good! Don't worry about anything back home. I'll take care of it for you."

"No need, Dad." My heart ached, but I kept my tone as calm as possible. "There are some things I need to settle myself."

After hanging up, Natalie stayed with me for a long time.

Only when she saw I was truly composed did she leave.

And I continued to sit alone for a long while.

Until the sun set and the entire room sank into darkness.

The sound of the front door opening broke the silence.

Jonathan walked in, carrying a takeout bag.

Seeing the living room dark, Jonathan paused for a moment before switching on the lights and hurrying over to the sofa.

Looking at me with exhaustion and tender concern, he crouched down before me, reaching out to clasp my cold hands:

"Honey, why are you sitting in the dark? Is your head hurting again?"

I didn't pull my hands away; I just looked at him expressionlessly.

Completely oblivious, Jonathan held out the warm container in his arms as he always did:

"I just got off the plane and made a special stop at your favorite bakery to get you tiramisu. I had to wait in line for quite a while."

As he spoke, he deftly opened the cake box and presented it to me, his eyes brimming with affection:

"Try some. While I was away, my mind was full of you. The second I finished my work, I rushed back."

I looked at my husband's handsome face, his eyes overflowing with love.

This was the man I had once loved with my very life.

But when I remembered how yesterday he used a business trip as an excuse just to spend time with his mistress,

a wave of nausea washed over me, churning my stomach violently!

I turned my head sharply, avoiding his hand.

Jonathan's hand froze in midair, his brow knitting slightly:

"Vivian, what's wrong? Are you mad at me? Angry that I was away on business for so long and didn't spend enough time with you?"

He sighed, gathered me into his arms, rested his chin against the crown of my head, and coaxed me gently:

"I know you're lonely at home by yourself. Once the company's IPO is settled, I'll take you abroad on vacation, okay?"

His embrace was as warm as ever.

But pressed against my back, it felt as cold as ice.

Right then, Jonathan's phone buzzed.

The screen lit up with a notification banner.

Jonathan picked up the phone in a slight panic, subconsciously turning the screen away from me as he unlocked it.

In that split second, my peripheral vision still caught the message.

It came from a female profile picture saved as Chloe Sutton: *Our son is crying for his daddy. Jonathan, are you coming over tonight?*