Chapter 2

The thick, sticky frosting slid down my cheeks, blinding my eyes.

Vanessa wiped the cream off her fingers and leaned down, whispering in my ear.

"This press conference is just a cleanup. Before our actual engagement, we need to completely sweep you—the trash of Austin's past—out of the way."

"You're nothing but garbage he's tired of playing with."

"Vanessa, behave yourself, will you?" Austin sighed helplessly, taking some tissues from an assistant to wipe my face.

I turned my head away, letting his hand hang in the air.

I wiped my eyes open, meeting Vanessa’s smug gaze.

"Speaking of which, when you lost that Truth or Dare game years ago, you owed me three head-bows on your knees. I'd hate to make Austin do it, so why don't you do it on his behalf, wifey?"

She took a step forward.

I wanted to back away, but Austin tightly gripped my arm.

A chill ran down my spine.

This was the man I had once loved with everything I had.

"Let go of me!"

I used all my strength to wrench my arm free. The moment Vanessa reached out to grab me, I shoved her hard.

She stumbled backward and crashed onto the marble floor.

"Sabrina, how dare you touch me?!"

"I'll do more than just touch you!" I grabbed her by her styled hair and dragged her, throwing her straight into the hotel's indoor fountain.

It happened so fast. Vanessa froze for two seconds before letting out a piercing shriek.

But then, she looked at me and flashed a hidden, sinister smile.

Her body swayed, and she sank into the shallow water, thrashing wildly as if she were actually drowning and suffocating.

"Vanessa!"

Austin panicked and jumped into the fountain.

He scooped up the "frail" Vanessa, refusing to listen to any of my explanations.

His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at me, roaring.

"Sabrina! Are you trying to kill her?!"

"I didn't! She did it herself—"

"Everyone saw you push her!"

He screamed, cutting me off, and kicked me hard in the stomach.

A sharp, agonizing pain flared up. I was kicked back, crashing heavily into the freezing water of the fountain.

Water rushed into my nose and mouth. The pain in my abdomen was so intense I couldn't even breathe, let alone struggle.

I managed to drag myself out of the water, my body scraping against the broken glass on the floor. I watched the crowd hurriedly leave, escorting them out.

I walked to the nearest clinic alone, limping all the way.

As the nurse pulled the glass shards out of my skin, my phone buzzed. It was a message from Vanessa.

I tapped it. It was an ultrasound report, followed by a photo.

In the photo, Austin was gently kissing Vanessa’s belly.

"Jealous? The things you've dreamed of having your whole life, I get them without even trying."

As the glass was pulled out piece by piece, the physical pain merged with the ache in my chest.

Three years ago, when we were madly in love, I had asked him to grab my coat, and he had complained, saying a man shouldn't be bossed around by a woman.

Seeing that I didn't reply, Vanessa sent more texts.

"For the past three years, Austin and I have done it on the balcony, in the kitchen, and even in your bed. We’ve tried a thousand different positions."

"Unlike you. You were married to him for three years and never even slept with him. He didn't want to touch you at all!"

"Oh, let me show you something interesting."

She sent an audio file.

The timestamp was from three years ago, shortly after the car crash.

Austin's voice played: "Sabrina needs to learn a lesson. I protected her too well before. This is actually perfect—she won't be around to ruin our fun. Otherwise, we’d have to sneak around every time we wanted to hook up."

"But don't worry, I've hired people to keep an eye on her. She won't die."

My world shattered.

It turned out that all the misery of the last three years had been carefully orchestrated by the husband I loved.

The audio was quickly unsent.

Then, a new message popped up. This time, from Austin.

"Since you're hurt too, go get it treated. Vanessa is fine, so I won't hold this against you."

"Come home tonight. I've prepared some compensation for you."

I returned to the house I hadn't stepped into for three years, only to find the lock had been changed.

In the front yard, my belongings were piled up like trash.

Everything I owned had been thrown out in the rain.

A neighbor opened their door, glanced at me, muttered "crazy woman," and slammed the door shut with disgust.

After trying every password combination to no avail, I curled up in the freezing hallway, my body burning with a high fever.

I didn't know how much time had passed before a pair of headlights illuminated the dark hallway.

Austin was back.

Seeing my miserable state, he picked me up and carried me into the house that no longer felt like mine.

My body and mind felt incredibly heavy.

"Let's... get a divorce."