Chapter 2

The applause in the hall was thunderous, so loud it made my eardrums ache.

I stared, unblinking, at the smiling faces of that family of three, enlarged on the giant screen above the stage.

Ethan was wearing the black tailored suit I'd had custom-made for him. He stood tall and straight. He glanced down at the woman beside him, his eyes overflowing with a tenderness that looked almost too deep to be real.

Her name was Vivian Cole.

The starfield gown she wore was a globally limited edition from one of the most exclusive luxury fashion houses in the world.

Last month, Ethan told me that a core centrifuge in the lab had broken down. He said they needed to rush-order a replacement from Germany, and they were two hundred thousand dollars short.

Without a second thought, I dragged my fever-wracked body through four extra hours of livestreaming and wired him the money.

That two hundred thousand dollars was now wrapped around Vivian Cole's body.

"Mr. Shaw, the journey to developing this treatment must have been full of obstacles," the host said with a smile, holding out the microphone. "What kept you going?"

Ethan squeezed the hand of the woman beside him, his expression warm and gentle. "She did. My wife. She's been by my side every step of the way, and she gave me this wonderful son -- Noah."

Another wave of thunderous applause swept through the hall.

I sat in that dark corner and bit down on my lip until I tasted blood.

Noah.

Seven years ago, I was five months pregnant. We were crammed into a studio apartment that barely fit the two of us, and we spent an entire week going back and forth before we settled on that name.

He said, "Lily, when our baby comes, let's name him Noah."

The baby didn't make it.

That day, I was hemorrhaging on the operating table. I called him over a dozen times. Every single call went straight to voicemail.

Afterward, he knelt beside my hospital bed with red-rimmed eyes and slapped himself across the face again and again, saying he'd been locked in the lab running the most critical data tests of his career and had missed everything.

He said, "Lily, let's keep the name Noah. Save it for our next one."

I believed him.

I believed him for seven years.

I thought he was pouring his soul out for the sake of humanity. I thought he was carrying the weight of our future on his shoulders.

Turns out, he was just draining me dry -- so another woman could live in comfort and ease.