Chapter 3

I looked at his face, unable to remember where I had seen him, no matter how hard I tried.

Zayn stirred his coffee and smiled nonchalantly. "It's only normal that you don't remember me. I did suffer under the surgical blades numerous times just to ensure that I looked as close to you as possible."

Hate appeared in his eyes. "Weren't you looking down at me from upstairs ten years ago when my mother and I were at the Millers' mansion?"

The realization of his identity exploded in my mind as I looked at him in shock. Memories from ten years ago came pouring in as I remembered the woman who caused my mother's death and her illegitimate son who hid behind my father, not daring to look up from the ground. It was him.

"I see you remember me." Zayn smiled gleefully as he admired the shock on my face. "After my mother was kicked out of your house, she had to live her entire life in shame from being known as the third party.

"That was the day I swore that I would have my revenge. Too bad that your mother had a short life, which meant I had no choice but to have my revenge on you. Just wait a little longer, and I'll have a grand wedding with Clara and make you taste what it feels like to be the third party!"

I laughed in anger and said through clenched teeth, "Do you think you can win her heart just because you had a little plastic surgery? Clara told me that you've already broken…"

"Does it matter? Clara has feelings for me." Zayn interrupted me and caressed his face slowly. "You slept together in the office that afternoon, didn't you? But even then, she drove all the way to see me without even changing out of her clothes.

"She told me that she can't breathe whenever she's with you because you're spoiled and willful. I spent the entire night pleasing her that day."

Zayn laughed even more gleefully when he saw the stunned look on my face. He took out an access card from his branded bag. "No. 18, Shallow Bay. If you don't believe me, just come over to have a look."

I grabbed the glass of ice water on the table and threw it in his face. After that, I ran out of the cafe. I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting by Weld Harbor, thinking about how Clara and I had been spending time with each other recently.

Clara tried to pacify me by entertaining clients less after work, and would come home often to accompany me, but she no longer cooked for me or clung by my side to feed me. She ate with me, slept by my side in bed, and talked about work with me, but she did everything robotically.

Once, I tried to kiss her in the throes of passion, but she dodged my kiss, and my lips ended up brushing past her cheek awkwardly. She pushed me away, trying to hide the resistance in her eyes. "I'm so sorry. I've been busy at work recently, and I feel a little tired."

I swallowed the bitterness in my mouth, and I woke up early the next morning to make her breakfast.

A few days ago, I discovered Clara had been reading up on early pregnancy, and the gloom in my heart vanished at the thought of her avoiding being intimate with me. The feeling was replaced by happiness, as she was acting this way because she was pregnant with my baby.

That was until today, when Zayn exposed the truth, yanking me out of the beautiful lie I built around myself.

When the sky turned dark, I headed to No. 18, Shallow Bay. It was a quiet residential area. I had mentioned wanting to buy a house in this area, but Clara objected to the idea with a frown, claiming that it was too remote and not convenient. She told me this place had no investment value.

Yet, she ended up hiding Zayn here.

My hands trembled, hardly able to press the access card on the card reader. When the metal gates opened, I walked in with a blank look on my face.

When I saw the garden, it felt like a bucket of cold water was poured all over me, and the blood in my veins froze.