Chapter 3

After we finally managed to calm down, just as we were about to rest, Vicky called.

Claire and I exchanged a look. We hesitated for a moment, then answered.

“Caroline? Claire? I’m so relieved you’re okay.”

“They told me you were upset. I really need to explain. We’re just friends.”

From the other end of the line, I could hear laughter.

Voices from our husbands were close and careless.

“Stop it! Lucien, Ethan! I’m trying to explain things to your wives. This isn’t the time to joke around. Hey, stop it!”

I had never heard Lucien laugh like that before.

So light. So unrestrained.

“Put me down. Put me down. Don’t mess around!”

I didn’t want to imagine what they were doing.

Even if I confronted them, they would only brush it off with the same excuse.

They had known each other for a long time.

This was how they had always behaved around each other.

Vampires were closer with each other than humans ever were.

At least, that was what they claimed.

No cheating. Just closeness between friends.

After the call ended, Claire and I looked at each other and gave bitter smiles.

“Vampires really are… open-minded,” Claire said. “I wonder if their bed at home is even big enough.”

Then she seriously started wondering whether STDs could spread among vampires.

I laughed despite myself, then winced as the movement pulled at my wound.

After a moment, I said, “It’s fine. Let’s call a lawyer. Let’s get divorced as soon as possible. Before we catch something from them.”

The lawyer told us the documents had already been delivered to our husbands.

We, however, received no response.

Maybe they were too busy having fun with Vicky to even read them.

Or maybe they thought we were just being jealous again.

Saying divorce just means we are throwing a tantrum.

That we would never actually go through with it.

But the babies were gone.

Was I supposed to keep waiting for a cheating husband after that?

Why did he think I would keep loving him forever? Keep being his wife?

I quickly lost my patience and called Lucien.

After an entire day and night without hearing from his pregnant wife, the moment he answered, all he did was yell.

“I’ve seen the papers. There should be a limit to your jokes. Do you have any idea what my subordinates would think if they found out I was getting divorced?”

“ Are you trying to humiliate me? How long are you going to keep throwing this tantrum?”

I sighed.

He hadn’t even noticed that I hadn’t been home for two days.

Claire and I were both hospitalized.

No one checked on us.

No one even thought to go home and see if we were there.

“Hey, Lucien. Show your wife some respect.”

Vicky’s voice was very close to the phone.

“Humans are fragile,” she said softly. “Pregnancy makes emotions unstable. Don’t blame her. This is my fault. I’ve troubled you too much.”

The moment she finished talking, Lucien rushed to respond, his tone noticeably gentler.

“Don’t push yourself. It’s not a burden at all. We’ve known each other for how long now? Caroline and I have only been together a few years. She should understand.”

I couldn’t listen anymore.

I leaned over the side of the bed and started retching.

Back then, he had lied to me. He said he was lonely. That he needed a wife by his side.

He had promised to turn me after I gave birth, told me not to worry about the strain on my body.

If all this pain had been Vicky’s instead, would he have allowed it?

Because I am human, he had always looked down on me.

Maybe he had never truly loved me at all.

I was nothing more than a tool. Something to make Vicky jealous.

Claire wrapped her arms around me again, holding me steady.

“Don’t cry over a disgusting vampire like that,” she said. “Once we recover, we’ll have the lawyer set a meeting and finalize the divorce.”