Chapter 2

Chloe Parker POV

“The surgery is over, and the baby did not survive. You can’t move around right now, so it would be best to find someone to stay with you.” The nurse kept her voice very soft and looked at me, who had just finished surgery, with sympathy all over her face.

I stared at the snow-white ceiling, and it took me a long while before I understood what she had said.

Before I fell down the steps outside the interior design firm, I had no idea I was pregnant.

Today was the third anniversary of Ethan Lancaster’s and my engagement.

We had originally agreed to finalize the last version of the interior design plan for our new home, and I had pushed back a meeting to arrive half an hour early, but the receptionist told me, “Mr. Lancaster just canceled the appointment, and the lighting plan for the primary bedroom and all furniture measurements have been postponed.”

I called Ethan Lancaster, but no one answered.

Just as I was about to go downstairs to look for him, I tried to avoid a worker pushing a sample rack, slipped, and fell heavily down the steps. Before I lost consciousness, I was still gripping that new-home design plan tightly in my hand.

Seeing how pale I looked, the nurse could not help asking again, “Do you want to try contacting him one more time?”

With trembling hands, I picked up my phone with its shattered screen and dialed that number again.

It rang for a long time before someone finally picked up, but the voice that came through was not Ethan Lancaster’s.

“Chloe?” Ethan Lancaster’s friend Ryan Carter sounded amused. “Ethan is inside with the kid, so he left his phone with me.”

“Where is he?” My throat was dry and hoarse.

“At the preschool center.” The background noise on Ryan Carter’s end was a little chaotic, and he explained vaguely, “He’s just helping a friend deal with a preschool assessment...”

Before he could finish, the gentle voice of a preschool teacher came clearly from the other end of the line. “The child is very attached to Mr. Lancaster, and he kept calling him Daddy while filling out the forms. For future enrollment, it would be better if a stable parent or guardian could be there with him.”

Ryan Carter immediately covered the receiver, but those words had already entered my ears clearly.

Ryan Carter hurried to explain, “Chloe, don’t misunderstand, Ethan is just helping out...”

“Where is Ethan Lancaster?” I interrupted him, and my hand instinctively moved to my flat lower abdomen. A child I had not even known existed had just been lost there.

The phone was handed over, and Ethan Lancaster’s low voice finally sounded, carrying urgency and impatience. “Chloe Parker, I’m busy right now, so go home and wait for me.”

The nurse beside me could not stand it anymore and leaned toward the phone, speaking coldly. “Sir, your wife just fell down the stairs and had a miscarriage, so please come over as soon as possible!”

The other end of the line went dead silent for a moment.

Ethan Lancaster froze. “What?”

I closed my eyes, and right after that, I heard a woman’s voice come through the receiver. “Ethan, should I put your phone number on the parent commitment form? The teacher said Lily only listens to you right now.”

The way she called him “Ethan” was far too familiar.

Ethan Lancaster did not respond to the nurse, and only lowered his voice into the phone. “Chloe Parker, don’t make a scene today. The child has only just calmed down, and I’ll come over later.”

The call was ended from his side.

The nurse’s face turned livid with anger. “What kind of family member is that?”

I did not cry.

I turned my head, and while the nurse was organizing my paperwork, a payment receipt that did not belong to me slipped out.

Patient: Margaret Bennett. Accompanying person: Ethan Lancaster. Note: Olivia Bennett’s mother.

Olivia Bennett.

The first love Ethan Lancaster had always held closest to his heart.

I looked at my empty palm, and my fingertips ached faintly.