Chapter 2

My forehead throbbed, veins bulging!

This was an open provocation!

I didn't answer. I just switched off my phone.

When I went into the bathroom to shower, I suddenly spotted a pregnancy test in the trash can. Two red lines.

I froze.

I’d been away on a business trip for a month. Sarah and I hadn’t been intimate in three months.

But she was pregnant. Whose child was it?

I stared intensely at the pregnancy test.

Then, I burst into laughter!

Followed by a torrent of tears!

She and I had no future left.

It was my own fault for investing too deeply, for loving the wrong person.

After my shower, I saw our wedding photo on the wall, us smiling so brightly and happily, arms around each other. But now, everything had changed.

I tore my half of the photo down and tossed it into the trash.

I called my lawyer friend, and soon a divorce agreement was delivered.

I signed it and arranged for it to be sent to the company. Sarah would see it first thing in the morning.

After doing all this, I felt an abnormal sense of relief.

But what about our four-year-old son, Leo?

That night, Sarah didn't come home again.

The next day, I went to my parents' house, intending to take Leo to preschool.

Unexpectedly, Sarah was already there.

She’d shown the divorce papers to my parents, Robert and Susan.

My dad, Robert, stood up and shouted at me, "Will, how long are you going to keep this up?"

"Sarah is such a good woman; you want to divorce her?"

My mom, Susan, tried to reason with me. "Will, Leo is already in preschool. Don't be foolish now."

Sarah's eyes teared up. "Will, I'm the CEO of the company. Sometimes I need to bond with my employees. Why are you so jealous? Do you really have to divorce me?"

After a long moment, I stared into her eyes. "Sarah, the baby you're carrying… it’s Brooks's, isn't it?"

Silence instantly fell over the room.

Sarah's body trembled. "H-how did you know?"

"You don't need to know how I know."

"Let's divorce."

Sarah cried heartbreakingly. "Will, I made a mistake. I don't want a divorce."

"Divorce."

Slap!

It wasn't Sarah who hit me. It was my dad!

"So what if the baby isn't yours? You're really going to divorce her over this?"

My mom also said, "Sarah has helped our family so much. She paid for your dad's hospital surgery, remember?"

"And Dylan's four years of college, and his house down payment… all came from her."

Sarah grabbed my arm. "Will, let's not divorce, okay?"

She pulled me aside, her voice apologetic. "About the baby… I was just so lonely that night… it was just one time. I didn't expect to get pregnant…"

But on her face, I saw a look of pure happiness.

"If you have to blame anyone, blame me, okay? Don't blame Brooks, he's just a young man…"

I laughed, tears welling up. "A twenty-six-year-old 'young man'?"

I turned to leave.

But my brother, Dylan, blocked my way.

"Sarah just made a mistake in a moment of weakness."

"You should forgive her."

"When the baby is born, we'll just raise it like Leo's little brother or sister."

At that moment, four-year-old Leo walked up and hugged my leg, crying, "Daddy, don't leave Mommy! And don't be mad at Uncle Brooks, he's so nice to me…"

This was my child! He was even siding with Brooks!

I felt profoundly alone, my heart pierced as if by a knife.

They were all using their own self-interest to force me to stay with Sarah!