Chapter 4

In the next few days, Isaac didn’t come back, nor did he send me a single message.

Meanwhile, “The Exes Club” group chat was still buzzing nonstop.

[I heard Isaac’s on a business trip this week?]

[Have you noticed? He didn’t take anyone with him this time.]

[Yeah, exactly!]

Someone quickly chimed in. [Normally, when Isaac travels, he’d at least pick one of us to go along. This time, not a single person went.]

[Don’t tell me he’s really settling down for Grace, is he?]

The moment Grace’s name appeared in the chat, the group fell silent for a few seconds. Then, the silence turned into jealousy.

[No way. Is that woman really so charming?]

[Hard to say… She’s the Webb family heiress. She’s not on the same level as us.]

I put my phone down, and almost instantly, my stomach turned violently. Feeling a sour taste shoot up my throat, I covered my mouth as I stumbled into the bathroom, bent over the toilet, and vomited violently. After rinsing my mouth with water, I braced myself against the sink, trying to steady my breathing.

In the mirror, my face was pale, and my eyes looked hollow. Just then, a thought I had ignored for weeks flashed through my mind: my period hadn’t come this month.

My hands trembled as I opened a delivery app. I typed in the words pregnancy test. Every step after that, from placing the order to paying, felt like I was walking toward an execution.

When the package finally arrived, I couldn’t even bring myself to open it right away. It wasn’t until late that night, after I had forced myself to calm down, that I finally tore it open. The moment two clear red lines appeared on the test stick, my hands and feet went numb. It was real. I was pregnant with Isaac’s child.

After the shock came an inexplicable panic and sense of helplessness. Almost instinctively, I dialed his number from memory.

As soon as the call connected, I said, my voice trembling, “Isaac–”

“What is it?”

I tightened my grip on the phone, about to tell him about the pregnancy, when a soft female voice suddenly came through the line.

“Isaac, what are you doing?”

My heart dropped instantly, like it had been crushed.

His voice immediately became a little more hurried. “I’ve got a meeting. I’ll talk to you later.”

Just like that, the call ended with a cold and piercing beep.

I stood there, frozen, still holding the phone. Not long after, my screen lit up again. This time, it was a message from an unknown number.

[You think Isaac has been on a business trip this whole time? Actually, he’s been with me in Forland watching the northern lights.]

Attached was a photo of Isaac, holding Grace in his arms and kissing her beneath a sky of glowing auroras.

The next few days, I lived like a walking corpse. I couldn’t eat or sleep, and my body grew thinner by the day. Until one night, I was in the bathroom taking a shower when it happened.

My foot slipped, and my body slammed backward uncontrollably. A sharp, tearing pain exploded in my lower abdomen. Warm blood began to flow down my legs, staining the white tiles beneath me. I curled up on the floor, my consciousness slipping away. Instinct alone made me reach for my phone and call emergency services.

While waiting for the ambulance, I tried calling Isaac again, against all reason.

“Isaac… can you come back now? I–”

“Sadie.” He cut me off sharply. “I’m busy. Stop making a scene. Just stay home and wait. Bye.”

Then, a woman’s breathless, intimate moan came through the phone. It didn’t need any explanation. So this was what he meant by “busy.”

The pain in my chest intensified. It was far worse than the physical agony in my body. This time, I made up my mind to leave for a place where Isaac could never find me again.