Chapter 4

After all these years, I stepped foot once again into the house where Harry and I used to live.

Only then did I realize that the decor inside remained almost entirely unchanged: the sofa, the dining table, all chosen according to my taste.

I stood still, my eyes slowly sweeping across this hauntingly familiar place.

Harry came downstairs wearing a robe. Catching sight of me standing there dazed, he let out a cold snort.

“What? Seeing that everything you bought is still here, do you think I can’t let you go?”

I opened my mouth, at a loss for a reply. Biting my lip, I watched Harry lower his head to light a cigarette.

“Actually, back then…”

Before I could finish my sentence, someone shoved me hard from behind. I stumbled forward and crashed into the entryway cabinet, splitting open my lip.

Rachel’s displeased voice boomed from behind me.

“Are you out of your mind, blocking the doorway like that?”

Scrambling up from the floor, I tasted the metallic tang of blood spreading in my mouth as I watched Rachel sink into Harry’s arms, the two of them locking lips in a passionate embrace.

Suppressing the bitterness surging in my heart, I carried the groceries I had bought into the kitchen.

Unfortunately, I could still hear the noises they were making in the living room, which were growing louder by the second.

I couldn’t even describe what I was feeling. All I knew was I slipped and sliced straight into my finger while chopping vegetables. The sharp clang of the chef’s knife hitting the floor sounded unusually jarring.

The very next second, Harry barged into the kitchen. His dark, brooding eyes locked onto me, his face once again twisting with disgust.

“Can’t you even hold a knife now, having worked from a bed for so long? You expect to get paid looking like this?”

Rachel followed closely behind, wrapping her arms around his waist, an unsated flush dying her cheeks. “Harry, ignore her. Let’s go to the bedroom, shall we?”

Harry turned around, scooped her up into his arms, and headed straight into the bedroom.

I finished cooking dinner, but the food grew cold while they refused to get out of bed.

It was only after I reheated the meal for the third time that Harry finally emerged, a cigarette dangling from his lips as he slung an arm around Rachel’s shoulders, ordering me to clean the room.

The moment I stepped into the bedroom, an intimate, sickeningly sweet scent rushed over me.

The bed was even made with the exact sheets I had personally bought five years ago. I let out a bitter laugh, numbly sweeping up the chaotic mess scattered all over the floor.

After serving dinner, I rushed to the hospital to see my son. The nurse was sitting by his bed, reading him a picture book.

Seeing that his complexion looked slightly better than a few days ago, a wave of relief washed over me.

Once Leo’s illness was cured, I would take him and leave this place, never to see Harry again for the rest of our lives.

Because Harry refused to let Rachel move into his house, the two of them argued fiercely for days.

In a fit of rage, Rachel slammed the door and stormed off.

It wasn’t until I finished preparing dinner and went upstairs to call Harry for his meal that I found him dead drunk.

Seeing him slumping on the floor completely unresponsive, I had no intention of bothering with him, grabbing my bag to head back to the hospital.

But on my way down, I heard the sharp crash of a shattering wine bottle, so I headed back upstairs to check on him.

The moment I stepped through the door, Harry slammed me against the corner wall. His liquor-laced breath fanned across my face as he narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing me relentlessly.

“Do you not feel even a single shred of guilt toward me?”

I reached out to push him away, but he remained rooted like an iron wall. Seeing me remain silent, he leaned down and bit hard into my lips.

“Your love for money doesn’t seem to have helped you much. Since you love selling yourself so damn much, I’ll be your buyer. I’ve plenty of cash lying around.”

It was impossible to tell whose lip had been bitten open, but the iron taste of blood bloomed between our mouths.

Using every ounce of strength I had left, I shoved him off, my clenched fists trembling uncontrollably.

Harry merely looked up at me for a split second before lunging forward again, pinning me back into the corner like a rabid beast and biting down viciously on my earlobe.

“Ah, you two!” A piercing scream echoed from the doorway. Rachel stood there, her eyes wide with shock, her chest heaving violently as she glared at us.

I wanted to pull away, but Harry pinned my wrist in an iron grip, his gaze falling onto the document held in Rachel’s trembling hand.

Only then did I make out the bold, prominent words printed on it: “Paternity Test Report”

As if instantly regaining his sanity, Harry dragged me behind his back and extended a hand toward Rachel. “Give it to me!”

Glaring at me with pure venom, Rachel let out a cold sneer and placed the report into Harry’s outstretched hand.