Chapter 3

I picked up the pregnancy report, my hands shaking so much I could barely hold it.

Tears poured down, blurring my vision.

Suddenly, I burst into laughter, my tears dripping onto the paper.

"Ethan, you really are ruthless."

He smiled, gently stroking my hair with a mix of warmth and absolute malice.

"Good girl, Chloe. You don't have a choice."

"Just remember, don't let Sienna know you found out about this. I don't want her to carry any psychological burden, understand?"

I stared at his threatening, protective expression, feeling as if I were seeing him for the very first time.

He stood up smoothly and walked right over me without a backward glance.

I rushed into the bathroom and threw up violently into the toilet.

A wave of intense nausea surged up from my stomach.

I couldn't tell if the burning pain was coming from my heart or my gut.

I knelt on the cold floor, trembling all over, laughing and crying at the same time.

Finally, with mechanical movements, I took out my phone, stopped the voice recorder, and saved the entire conversation.

Then, I booked the earliest appointment for an abortion.

Ethan was wrong. I did have a choice.

As long as I was more ruthless and reckless than him, I could choose.

The next day was supposed to be the day we went to City Hall to sign our marriage license.

Ethan called me repeatedly, but I didn't answer.

Eventually, Sienna called me.

"Chloe," her voice was gentle, laced with a bit of sisterly playfulness. "Today is the day you sign the license. How can you throw a tantrum and not show up?"

"Did you and Ethan have a fight? I'll scold him for you, okay? Just be a good girl and come get registered."

I listened to her voice in a daze. She sounded like an entirely different person from the woman who was moaning in Ethan's arms the other night.

For a moment, I wished that night had just been a terrible nightmare, and that once I woke up, Sienna would still be my loving sister, and Ethan would still be my dependable fiancé.

But alas...

Leaning against the hospital bed, I spoke in a hoarse voice:

"I'm sick. I can't make it."

"Tell Ethan we'll do it another day."

I hung up immediately and opened the dashcam app on my phone, which was synced to Ethan’s car.

The video stabilized. It showed Ethan and Sienna inside the car.

Sienna looked worried. "Ethan, what's wrong with Chloe? Why is she acting up out of nowhere?"

"Do you think she found out about us..."

"No way," Ethan leaned over to kiss her lips. "She's too stupid to notice anything."

"Even if she did, she wouldn't dare do anything," he said with absolute confidence. "Sienna, I won't let anyone hurt you."

Sienna still looked anxious. "But if she doesn't sign the license, how are we going to..."

"Then we won't sign it. The wedding ceremony will still go on as planned anyway, just for show," Ethan said lazily.

Suddenly, he looked at Sienna with deep intensity. "Sienna, let's get married."

Sienna gasped. "What did you say?"

Ethan pulled her into his chest.

"I'll give her the ceremony, but I'll sign the license with you."

"From now on, you will be my only true wife."

On the other side of the screen, my breath caught.

I already knew they were dirty.

But seeing the man I once loved with all my heart look at another woman—my own sister—and say those words still pierced my heart like a dagger.

On the screen, Sienna's eyes welled with tears.

She nodded instinctively, then shook her head rapidly.

"No, we can't. We've already wronged Chloe so much. This... this is too cruel to her."

"And isn't it cruel to reject me?" He leaned closer. "Sienna, are you going to choose your sister over me?"

Sienna struggled, her face twisted in pain.

Finally, as if making a monumental, tragic decision, she nodded.

"Okay. We'll sign the license."

"Even if we have to annul it or divorce later, I don't care."

She looked at him with tears in her eyes, as if she were a martyr sacrificing herself.

"Ethan, in this life, we can at least say we were husband and wife once."

They gazed into each other's eyes, locked in a deep, passionate kiss.

On the other side of the screen, my tears fell like rain.