Chapter 5

I woke to the sterile scent of antiseptic. Chloe, my best friend, was sitting by my bed, her eyes red and swollen. "You scared me half to death," she whispered.

The dam broke. I told her everything. The lies, the party, the award ceremony. I told her about Seraphina and Noah, and the baby I had just lost.

Chloe's face hardened into a mask of pure fury. "That bastard. I'm going to kill him."

"No, Chloe," I said, my voice hollow. "It's over."

I spent five days in the hospital. Julian never came. Not once.

The day I was discharged, Chloe drove me to my lawyer's office to pick up the divorce papers. Then, I had her drop me off near Noah's kindergarten. I waited.

When school let out, Noah spotted me from across the street. He turned to his classmates and pointed, his voice shrill. "Look! It's the monster auntie who can't have babies!"

A few moments later, Seraphina emerged. She saw me and her face twisted into a mask of outrage. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, loud enough for the other parents to hear. "Are you stalking my son? Are you trying to kidnap him?"

I ignored the stares and met her gaze. "I have something for you."

We ended up in her car, the air thick with tension. I placed the thick divorce agreement on the dashboard. "Get him to sign this, and I will disappear from your lives forever."

A slow, calculating smile spread across her face. She picked up her phone and swiped through a few photos, then angled the screen toward me. It was my home studio. My design drafts, years of work, had been torn to shreds and glued into a messy collage on the wall.

"Noah's latest art project," she said sweetly. "He was so happy after you lost the baby. Said now no one could compete with him for his daddy's love."

The words were a physical blow. But she wasn't finished.

"Oh, and speaking of the baby," she added, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Your prenatal vitamins? I had Julian swap them out for regular multivitamins weeks ago. Surprise."

I stared at her, my blood running cold. This wasn't just a rivalry. This was a calculated, venomous cruelty I couldn't have imagined. I finally understood. There was nothing left to save.