Chapter 2

Weeks later, the physical pain had subsided, but the hole in my heart remained.

I wanted to thank Chloe properly, despite the lingering, uneasy feeling her name stirred.

Ethan had given her a position at a prestigious research wing he funded at the city hospital.

I bought a small, tasteful gift, a silver locket, and went to find her.

Her office was sleek, modern, a world away from the chaos of that operating room.

The door was slightly ajar, and I heard voices. Ethan's voice, and Chloe's.

I paused, not wanting to interrupt.

"...perfectly, Ethan. The media loves it. My reputation is fully restored," Chloe was saying, a smugness in her tone that chilled me.

"It had to be convincing," Ethan replied, his voice low, intimate. "Inducing the crisis with those specific beta-blockers during her check-up, then the 'placental abruption'... it was risky, but necessary for your comeback, my North Star."

My blood ran cold, my hand flew to my mouth to stifle a gasp.

Beta-blockers? Induced crisis?

"And the baby?" Chloe asked, her voice devoid of emotion.

"Collateral damage," Ethan said, a chilling casualness in his tone. "It was never meant to survive. I made sure they wouldn't resuscitate. It ties me to her, and you know I can't have that. This was always about you, Chloe. Everything is for you."

He continued, "Besides, our marriage isn't even real. The license was a fake, the ceremony a charade. She was just a means to an end, a vessel for this plan. My true love, my only love, is you."

The locket slipped from my numb fingers, clattering softly on the polished floor.

I couldn't breathe. My fairytale, my husband, my life... all a lie.

The world tilted, darkness seeping in at the edges.

I stumbled back, a silent scream trapped in my throat.

My baby, deliberately allowed to die. My marriage, a sham. My love, a tool.

I fumbled for my phone, my fingers trembling so violently I could barely operate it.

I hit record, leaning closer to the door, needing to capture every venomous word.

My mother... Chloe was the intern. The fatal "malpractice."

My father... his ruin, his heart attack after trying to sue. Ethan had "helped" me through that, consoled me, held me.

Had he been protecting Chloe even then? Destroying my family to shield her?

The pieces slammed together with brutal, sickening force.

This wasn't a fairytale, it was a meticulously crafted nightmare, and I was its unwilling, unknowing protagonist.