Chapter 2

I hadn't checked my phone for an hour. Fifty-eight missed calls, ninety-nine unread messages.

A grim sense of satisfaction rose in my chest.

Three years ago, when Julian didn't come home and spent the night in bed with Chloe, I had spent the night blowing up his phone, crying, texting like a desperate fool.

It wasn't until the next day, when I checked his phone, that I saw he had put my contact on 'Do Not Disturb'.

Every call, every panicked text, was delivered into silence.

Back then, the pain had suffocated me.

That agonizing humiliation was carved into my memory forever.

The next morning, Julian's assistant knocked on my door, his face pale and grim:

"Mrs. Moore, Julian's mother is in critical condition. Mr. Moore is begging you to come to the hospital."

My heart skipped a beat.

Julian's mother, Eleanor, had some minor health issues over the past few years, but she was usually well-managed.

As much of a bastard as Julian was, Eleanor had always treated me like her own daughter.

She had even thrown away her usual elegance, publicly confronting Chloe in a shopping mall, slapping her and warning her to stay away from her family.

Over the years, the elderly woman had worn herself out trying to protect our marriage.

Honestly, she treated me far better than she treated her own son.

Hearing that she was in the ICU, panic seized me. Tears sprang to my eyes instantly.

I rushed to the hospital as fast as I could.

In the room, Eleanor was covered in tubes, completely unconscious.

Julian was sitting by the bed, his eyes red and swollen.

The moment he saw me, he stood up and roared:

"Why didn't you pick up your damn phone?!"

"Why didn't you reply to any of my texts?!"

I wasn't about to get into a screaming match in front of his dying mother. I answered coldly:

"Three years ago, you muted my number. I simply muted yours."

"That way, you and Chloe could enjoy your romance without an outsider getting in the way."

I paused, pointing firmly at the bed.

"This is an ICU, Julian. Your mother is lying right there!"

He put his hands on his hips, trying desperately to swallow his fury, lowering his voice into a harsh hiss:

"Oh, now you care? Where was this concern before?!"

"Mom has been sick for an entire month, and you didn't visit once! No calls, no texts!"

"What kind of childish tantrum are you throwing this time?!"

I let out a chilling sneer:

"Why is she lying in that bed? Don't you know better than anyone?"

"What right do you have to point fingers at me?!"

A brief flash of guilt flickered across Julian's face.

On my way here, his assistant had already filled me in.

Chloe had marched into the Moore family estate with her three-month ultrasound report, demanding Eleanor's blessing.

"I'm carrying your first grandchild!"

"You have no choice but to accept me!"

"Julian says I'm the only woman he truly loves. You're just going to have to deal with it!"

"If you apologize to me and treat me right, maybe I'll let my baby call you Grandma. Otherwise, don't even dream of it!"

Eleanor had been so furious that her blood pressure spiked; she collapsed, hitting the back of her head on the marble floor, triggering a massive hemorrhage.

While the tension hung thick in the air, the monitors beside Eleanor suddenly let out a shrill, piercing alarm.

A swarm of doctors and nurses rushed in, immediately wheeling the bed toward the emergency surgical suite.

Before the heavy doors swung shut, Julian's phone rang. Chloe's sobbing voice echoed from the speaker:

"Julian, your mom is just faking it to break us up! Fine, she gets what she wants."

"Forget about me! I'm leaving your life forever!"