Chapter 1 CHA

Clara's POV

In the Bristol hospital, the air was filled with the scent of antiseptics that clung to me, and my heart hammered against my chest. I clutched the laboratory report. The letters spun around, but the diagnosis seared itself into my brain: cancer. I had kept it a secret from everyone, most especially from my husband, Edward Harrington. I did not want him to be alarmed. I had been talking to a doctor friend, Dr. Spencer, in the corridor when Edward's car arrived. I didn't see him, but he saw me, and the angry look he gave me, I will never forget. He simply drove away.

Just as I was about to call him, my phone rang instead. It was my uncle. "Clara, is everything all right between you and Edward?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

"Yeah, we're fine, I guess?" I replied, my own tone feigning lightness and flippancy as I seethed inside.

"Well, because I just overheard Edward took a woman with him to a checkup the other day," he said bluntly.

A bitter laugh escaped my mouth. "Are you considering he has a mistress?"

"Yes!"

he replied.

"Don't worry," I said, my bravado a transparent disguise. "Even if all the men in the world were unfaithful, Edward wouldn't!"

I put down my phone and dialed Edward's number. It rang and rang, each ring a blow to my heart. At last, he picked up. "I'm busy, so don't bother me if it's not urgent. That's it!" He spoke in an icily sharp voice, the blade of a knife cutting through the silence. He hung up before I could utter a word. My hand on the lab report tightened a little, my heart froze. All my expectation, all my excitement, had just disappeared.

Edward and I had been married for three years. It had started out as a whirlwind, a passion and all-consuming romance. But in recent months, his passion had turned into emotional captivity. He was always cold, always cranky. He'd accuse me of things I wasn't doing, and the last public meltdown had broken my heart. At the Thompson's gathering, he had seen me laughing with Daniel Harlow, a classmate, and openly accused me of being unfaithful. The complete embarrassment had been devastating. What had altered Edward so?

In a daze, I had turned back. A woman writhed in front of me, and a soft voice resonated in my ear. "Hey, sister." I heard the voice and saw Imogen Clarke standing beside me with an older woman.

Glaring at Imogen, my half-sister by marriage, my blood ran cold. My husband's father's illicit child, she had been resentful of me the whole time and had plotted to have Edward believe that I was cheating on him. I glared. "Don't refer to me as your sister. My mother only had a single child!" I answered coldly, a glare of pure distaste on my face.

Unfazed by my demeanor, Imogen smiled and asked gently, "Are you here to cheat on Edward again, dear sister?"

"That's none of your business," I growled, gritting my teeth.

"Isn't it time you asked me why I'm here?" Imogen smiled and continued, "I'm expecting! The baby is Edward's!"

I only then realized that Imogen's tummy was a bit more curvaceous than before. I knew she'd always had a long-term thing for Edward, doing everything she could to lure him into bed before we were married. "You're not right in the head," I sneered, the words souring on my tongue.

"You don't believe me? Why don't you look at this then?" Imogen had a medical consent form on the table, and my face turned white the minute I saw the handwriting on it, familiar and jagged all over. "Edward's signature? How is that possible?" I was stunned, my heart shattering into pieces.

"Edward and I were together on one night four months ago. He was so hyper that he did not let me sleep at all throughout the night and then, I became pregnant!" Imogen gazed at her friend with a look of satisfaction. "He does truly care for this child, you realize. Have this baby, then, resign as his wife!"

"B*tch!" My body jerked at a rage so overwhelming I could not breathe. I punched Imogen's face. She just fell to the floor and cried, "Ouch, my belly!" I was stunned. I had just punched her face, and yet fresh blood was trickling down her pants. "How did I manage to do that?" I wondered.

Imogen was taken to the emergency room by hospital personnel. I, having no bravery to leave, followed.

A couple of minutes in the emergency unit had lapsed when I heard approaching footsteps. It was Eleanor Harrington, the mother of Edward. She squinted upon seeing me. "What is it? Imogen had been well, but why has she been brought to the emergency room now?"

"It was Miss Whitmore. No, it was Mrs. Harrington, she pushed her!" said the middle-aged woman who was with Imogen earlier.

"You cheating b*tch! You are just like your mother. You can't be faithful and you're not letting others be happy either?" Eleanor slapped me on the face with immense force. She never got along with me. The slap was so powerful that my face swelled at once.

Prior to that, I had also thought Imogen was making up a story, but my mother-in-law's demeanor had only gone to make things as clear as day.

There was a sense of desperation creeping into my heart. I was so choked up I felt like I was going to faint. But at that moment, the door to the operating room slowly opened. A nurse came out and delivered the news that Imogen had miscarried.

Eleanor was extremely enraged upon hearing the news. She pounced on me, punching me and kicking me and pulling my hair.

I was battered until my eyes lost their focus, and I then tumbled into unconsciousness.

When I woke, all that I was able to see was white. I tried to sit up, but it hurt because my body ached so horribly. Nevertheless, I was able to lean on the bedside. While I was still gasping for breath, the door was opened, and a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses entered the room.

"How are you, Miss Whitmore. I am Mr. Harrington's lawyer."

"A lawyer?" I gazed at the man standing before me in shock.

"Indeed. I am Mr. Harrington's own attorney. Mr. Harrington has instructed me to negotiate with you, Miss Whitmore, about the divorce."

"A divorce? Edward is asking for a divorce?" I thought I must have dreamed he said that.

The lawyer stepped closer and gave me a document. "This is the divorce settlement agreement. Do have a look."

My hands shook. I had never fantasized in my imagination that one day Edward would give me a divorce agreement. I would not even look at it. I shifted my gaze at the attorney and declared, "Tell Edward Harrington to arrive and have him inform me personally!"

"Mr. Harrington is a busy man; he's not available!" declared the lawyer callously.

"He's busy? Not available?" I joked. How had my relationship with Edward fallen to this state? Even to not see him?

I grabbed the phone from the bedside table, dialed Edward's number, and waited with my eyes shut. To my surprise, the call wouldn't get through.

How far had Edward and I fallen? First, an affair, and then a divorce?