Chapter 3

I still underestimated Chloe’s lack of shame. I expected her to show up on time, but after waiting outside City Hall for hours, she was nowhere to be seen.

I dialed her number dozens of times. Nobody picked up.

Some people would rather drag you down in misery than give you a clean break.

Exhausted, I dragged my feet back to the apartment. The moment I pushed the door open, the sight before me knocked the wind out of my lungs.

Chloe was lounging on the couch scrolling through her phone. My mother was holding the baby, gently bottle-feeding him, beaming from ear to ear.

And most sickening of all, Ashton strolled out of my kitchen holding a craft beer I had just bought the other day.

He looked entirely at home, while I felt like an intruder in my own house.

Unable to swallow the rage rising in my chest, I stormed over and shoved Ashton hard. The beer slipped from his grip, shattering and foaming across the floor.

"You shameless piece of garbage! You think this is your house? Get the hell out!"

The baby wailed in terror at the noise. My mother hurriedly carried him into the nursery, completely oblivious to what was going on, and rushed out to plead with me to calm down.

"Leo, she came back. That means she wants to make it work! Think of the baby and just be patient..."

A bitter lump formed in my throat. I couldn't bear to tell her the truth, terrified her heart wouldn't take the shock.

Chloe tilted her chin up, glaring at me with contempt.

"What are you screaming about, Leo? We're still married. What's wrong with me having a friend stay over?"

"Ashton stayed at the hospital taking care of me! Instead of thanking him, you're barking at him? Where's your conscience?"

"Besides, we haven't settled child support yet. I'm not signing any divorce papers until that's sorted."

I let out a harsh laugh.

Raising a child was undeniably expensive. Neither she nor Ashton had real jobs; how were they going to afford him?

Why on earth should I raise another man's kid?

Chloe thought she was keeping a master secret, never suspecting that I already knew everything.

The day of the delivery, while Ashton was with her in the room and I was waiting outside, I glanced at her iPad that was syncing her SnapChat messages.

She and Ashton had exchanged texts months ago.

"Did he notice the sperm sample was swapped?" Ashton had sent, accompanied by a laughing emoji.

"Relax, my friend at the clinic handled it. Totally covered."

"Thanks for granting my wish. I just hope he gets your good genes."

"If he turns out with his family's coarse skin, I swear I'd rather strangle him."

Reading those vile, shameless messages had hit me like a sledgehammer.

Chloe had constantly mocked my tanned, rough skin compared to Ashton’s pale, delicate complexion.

To keep her living in luxury, I had run under the blazing sun pitching clients every single day. How could I compete with Ashton, who spent his days using sunblock and sheet masks?

She was so obsessed with him that she would rather commit medical fraud to have his child under my name.

When love is gone, cruelty comes easy.

If I hadn't been worried about my mother's health, I would have thrown all the evidence in their faces right then and there.

"I'm not paying a cent of child support. But if you sign the papers, I'll sign the deed to this condo over to you."

I had spent enough money on her over the years. I wasn't going to be her ATM for the rest of my life.

The condo was under my name alone, but for the sake of an innocent child, I showed a sliver of mercy.

Caught off guard by my coldness, Chloe's arrogance faltered, and she began to sniffle softly.

"Can you really be this cruel to a child? You want him to grow up without a father from day one?"

"Even a wild beast protects its young. For the baby's sake, can't we talk this through?"

I sneered inside. It was precisely because of the baby that I had to leave.

She assumed I was still the obedient fool who would move heaven and earth the moment a single tear fell from her eye.

I didn't even look at her.

Seeing no reaction from me, her mask dropped instantly.

"Leo, don't push your luck! I'm humbling myself begging you, and you're acting like this?"

"If you dare divorce me, I'll expose your true colors to the world!"

"I'll let everyone see what kind of monster hides behind the 'doting husband' mask! A deadbeat who won't even support his own son!"

I looked up at her twisted, screaming face. Anyone passing by would think she was the one wronged.

Ashton stood up, putting on an air of righteousness. "We're all adults here. No need to push things to extremes."

Hearing him speak made my skin crawl with disgust.

Two snakes wrapped together, acting like they held the moral high ground.

I didn't lose my temper. The realization that I would never have to grovel to this woman again brought a strange sense of peace.

I kicked both of them out and locked the door behind them. The apartment finally went quiet.

My mother gave me a harsh lecture, completely misunderstanding the situation, before packing her bags and heading straight back to her hometown.

Some pain was better carried alone than shared with family.

Throwing myself into work numbed the ache, or perhaps it was just a convenient distraction.

A notification buzzed on my phone. A text from my best friend popped up:

"Leo, you need to check your wife's live stream right now."

His frantic tone caught me off guard.

When I clicked the link to Chloe’s stream, I finally saw what she had been plotting over the past few days.

On screen, her eyes were red and swollen from crying, clutching the wailing baby in her arms.

"My deadbeat husband abandoned his wife and newborn. He doesn't deserve to be called human."