Chapter 3

He didn't speak. His chest heaved violently.

I saw his hands clenching into fists at his sides, his knuckles turning white.

For a second, I thought he was going to hit me.

But he didn't.

He took a deep breath and suddenly let out a laugh.

A laugh that made the hairs on my arms stand up.

"Chloe." He called my name, his voice returning to that calm, almost pitying tone. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"I know exactly what I'm doing."

"No, you don't." He shook his head, looking at me like I was a clueless child. "You go investigate me, and if you find nothing, how do you expect to fix this? What happens to our marriage? What happens to Lily? Have you thought about any of that?"

He was threatening me.

Using our marriage and our daughter to keep me in line.

"Then tell me the truth," I said. "Julian, I'm giving you one last chance. Where did you take Lily?"

He stared at me, the fake smile slowly draining from his face.

A long, suffocating silence filled the room.

Then, he said something I will never forget for the rest of my life.

"Where I take my daughter is none of your business."

At that moment, the last shred of hope in my heart shattered into dust.

When Lily first told me, I had tried to comfort myself. Maybe I misheard. Maybe she couldn't express herself clearly. Maybe it was a misunderstanding.

I had even hoped that maybe she really did mix it up with a cartoon, and Julian had just taken her to a theme park.

But now, I was certain.

There was no misunderstanding.

This man had taken his three-year-old daughter to a brothel. He felt zero guilt. He didn't even think there was anything wrong with it.

"Julian, Lily isn't even four yet."

"I know how old she is."

"No, you don't!" My voice finally cracked, a painful mix of rage and sorrow spilling over. "You have no idea what you've done! Do you have any idea how a place like that will affect her? What is she going to think when she grows up and remembers this? You’re her father! How could you—"

"Shut up!" he cut me off brutally. "Stop being so dramatic! What if I took her there? She didn't see anything! Just a couple of girls chatted with her for a minute! Is that worth crying over?"

She didn't see anything.

Just a couple of girls chatted with her.

My mouth opened, but no words came out.

It wasn't that I had nothing to say. It was that too many words were choking my throat, blocking my airway.

I stared at him like he was a stranger.

No, worse than a stranger.

A stranger wouldn't hurt your child. But this man would, and he didn't even realize he was doing it.

"Julian," I finally found my voice, every word trembling. "From this day on, you are not allowed to go near Lily."

He blinked, then laughed.

A mocking, dismissive laugh.

"Chloe, who do you think you are?" His voice was slow, dripping with sarcasm. "Lily is my daughter. She carries my last name. My name is on her birth certificate. You think you can just ban me from seeing her? You don't make the rules here."

I looked at his face. It was filled with arrogance and absolute certainty.

He was certain I couldn't do anything to him.

He was certain I wouldn't dare make a scene.

He was certain that for the sake of our marriage, our reputation, and our kid, I would eventually swallow my anger and stay quiet.

He was dead wrong.

"I don't make the rules," I heard my own voice, cold as a winter wind. "But the law does."

His smirk froze.

"What are you going to do?"

"I want a divorce."