Chapter 3

The next morning, at the courthouse.

Just as I reached the doors, I bumped straight into Jacob. He was holding hands with Taylor Fisher on the steps, looking as intimate as a pair of newlyweds.

Taylor was wearing a white dress today, one hand resting protectively over her stomach. Her eyes were rimmed red, looking like the picture of innocence.

When she saw me, she shrank behind Jacob's back.

Jacob didn’t hide, though. Instead, he walked right up to me and looked down at me condescendingly. “Lila, let’s talk.”

I didn’t budge. “About what?”

He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it.

“I don’t want to take this to the extreme. After all, we were married. The conditions are simple. You agree to the divorce, and the house on the east side of town is yours. As for your little boy toy, I won’t pursue it.”

I laughed. “Jacob, are you doing me a favor now?”

Jacob flicked the ash off his cigarette and stayed silent.

“Do the math yourself. What good does making a scene in court do for you? With concrete evidence of cheating, you won’t get much money. What I’m offering you is out of respect for our five years together.”

Five years together… It turned out it was worth a single house.

I stood tall and stared straight into his eyes.

“I hadn’t even come after you for your affair, and yet you two just can’t wait to throw yourselves in my face to act like absolute scum? A scumbag and a trashy mistress—what a match made in heaven.”

Jacob’s face darkened. He stubbed out his cigarette without a word. Behind him, Taylor stepped forward and gently tugged on his sleeve.

“Jacob, forget it. Lila is just in a bad mood right now…”

Jacob ignored her and kept his eyes fixed on me.

“Lila, you’re getting one thing wrong. I came here today to give you an out. What’s the point of you clinging to all that property? Taylor is carrying a Graham. They should inherit my property,” he said, his tone as flat as if he were simply stating a fact.

“You can’t have kids. That’s fate. I’ve accepted it, and you should too.”

My jaw tightened, my gaze shifting to Taylor’s stomach. Underneath the soft fabric was a slight bump.

Taylor was pregnant? They had been messing around behind my back to this extent?!

Before I could even say a word, Taylor stepped forward, biting her lip with a face full of apology.

“Lila, I want to apologize to you. I know breaking up a marriage is wrong, but I really didn’t mean for this to happen. Jacob said the love between you two was gone a long time ago.”

“And I just wanted to give him a child. After all, with your condition, you can’t give him an heir. Normally, I’d despise being the other woman.”

Looking at her innocent face, I suddenly laughed. “Hypocrite. Don't act like the victim while playing the home-wrecker.”

Taylor’s face stiffened.

I stood up, walked right in front of her, and spoke in a bone-chilling tone. “You do something so disgusting, yet you still want to pretend you’re high and mighty. If you really had any pride, why didn’t you abort the baby?”

She took a step back, tears welling in her eyes. “Lila, how can you say that? The baby is innocent…”

Jacob immediately pulled her behind his back, his voice dripping with disgust.

“Lila, that’s enough! Just because you can’t have kids doesn’t mean you get to stop others from having them!”

My heart slammed against my chest, my eyes widening as I stared at him. “What did you say?”

He let out a bitter laugh. “Did I say something wrong? You call Taylor a hypocrite, but are you any better? Hooking up with a college boy, and you still have the nerve to blame others?

“I really regret it. Back then, I only had them take your uterus! If I’d just ended your life back then, I wouldn’t be standing here making a fool of myself today.”

In an instant, the world went still.

I stood frozen on the spot.

A year into our marriage, I found out I was pregnant. Back then, I was so filled with joy and excitement, eagerly awaiting the baby’s arrival. I’d even set up a nursery in our home in advance.

But because of an accident, I lost the baby. The damage to my uterus was so severe that I could never bear children again…

Yet never in my wildest imagination did I expect that my baby had actually been murdered by his own father!