Chapter 3

Chloe Parker POV

By the time Ethan Lancaster appeared in the hospital room, it was already the evening of the next day.

He was holding the test results he had just picked up from the nurses’ station, and he turned to instruct the caregiver behind him in a low voice. “Don’t miss Margaret Bennett’s evening follow-up. Olivia Bennett can’t handle everything alone, so call me directly if anything happens.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Lancaster. Ms. Bennett even said just now that it was all thanks to you for arranging the specialist appointment.”

“It’s what I should do.” Ethan Lancaster’s voice was very steady.

I lay in the hospital bed with an IV catheter in the back of my hand, and when I heard those words, my stomach churned.

Ethan Lancaster and I had been engaged for three years, and when I got sick or had a fever, he only asked his assistant to send medicine. When I asked when we would get married, he said the company was too busy. But the moment Olivia Bennett came back, he could rush to pick her up at the airport, accompany her to a preschool assessment, and even remember exactly what time the caregiver’s shift changed.

Ethan Lancaster pulled open the curtain, and when he saw that I was awake, his brow furrowed slightly. “You’re awake? What did the doctor say?”

“The baby is gone.”

Ethan Lancaster’s movements paused, and his Adam’s apple bobbed before he finally asked after a long moment, “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

I suddenly found it absurd beyond words. “If I had known earlier, would I still have gone to that interior design site you canceled on your own to look for you? Would I still have waited for you to tell me not to make a scene?”

Ethan Lancaster’s face darkened, and he reached out as if to touch my shoulder. “I’ll handle this, so focus on recovering first.”

I turned my head and avoided him.

His hand hovered in midair, and his brows tightened. “Are you blaming me?”

“Shouldn’t I blame you?”

Ethan Lancaster choked on the question, and just as he was about to speak, his phone suddenly lit up.

There was only one word on the screen: Ethan.

I clearly saw Ethan Lancaster’s eyes change in an instant. It was an instinctive kind of tension.

He walked to the window and answered the call, his voice pressed extremely low. “The interview didn’t pass? Don’t cry, it’s not your fault. Lily just came back from overseas and isn’t used to it yet, so I’ll talk to the teacher again.”

After hanging up, he turned around. “I’ll come see you again tonight.”

“You’re going to Olivia Bennett?” I asked calmly.

A trace of unnaturalness flashed through Ethan Lancaster’s eyes, and his tone turned stiff. “She just came back, the kid’s preschool enrollment isn’t going smoothly, and she has no one around.”

“Do I have anyone around me?”

The words were very light, but they made Ethan Lancaster freeze where he stood.

He lowered his voice, and a warning entered his tone. “Chloe Parker, don’t compare yourself to her. Olivia Bennett is divorced, and it isn’t easy for her to raise a child alone.”

“I just had a miscarriage, and it isn’t easy for me either.” I looked into his eyes, my voice cold.

A crack finally appeared in Ethan Lancaster’s expression. But very soon, his phone lit up again.

This time, he did not even bother to explain, and he grabbed the coat draped over the back of the chair. “I’ll ask the caregiver to come stay with you.”

The hospital room door closed.

I slowly turned my head and looked out the window.

I used to think that if I behaved a little better and was a little more forgiving, I could warm this man’s heart.

It was not until today that I finally understood completely: Ethan Lancaster had not been pushed away, and he had simply never planned to stand beside me from the very beginning.

On the day I was discharged, Ethan Lancaster did not come, and only sent his driver with a few changes of clothes and a bank card.

“Mr. Lancaster had something come up suddenly, so he asked me to take you back to the villa first.” The driver stood to the side awkwardly.

The villa was the engagement house Ethan Lancaster had bought, and my name was written on the property title. He once promised that with that house, I would always have a home.

I sat silently in the back seat.