Chapter 1

The nurse stood frozen, her hand that was holding the scissors suspended awkwardly in the air.

Through the pain, I reached over and cut the baby's umbilical cord myself in Shayne Lark's place. I looked at the tiny, unfamiliar face and felt utterly hollow inside.

Six years of love and three years of marriage had meant nothing compared to a young woman he'd known for just six months.

When they wheeled me out of the delivery room, my mother, Lucy Kidman, hurried over with a heartbroken expression over my suffering.

After checking on me, she couldn't help voicing her frustration. "I thought Shayne was a reliable man. How could he walk out halfway through his own wife's delivery after taking a call? Whatever emergency he had, how could it be more important than staying by your side through childbirth?"

I forced a bitter smile and said, "Mom, he's fallen for another woman. I'm divorcing him."

The anger on Mom's face slowly faded.

She stared at me for a long moment as tears welled up in her eyes. In the end, she reached over and tenderly wiped the sweat from my forehead.

"Whatever you decide to do, I'll support you," she said quietly.

At those words, I could no longer pretend to be strong. I threw myself into her arms and finally let myself cry without holding anything back.

When Shayne was 18, he'd single-handedly taken on more than dozens of thugs just for me. Even when he was completely exhausted, he'd still pulled me into his arms and comforted me.

However, the man who had once been willing to give his life for me had now turned his attention to another woman.

I should have divorced Shayne the moment I realized his feelings for me had changed.

Yet, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I couldn't bear the thought of our unborn child growing up without a father. She was already three months along, and I could even make out her little facial features on the ultrasound.

So, I confronted Shayne about it.

That night, he'd shut himself away in his study. Meanwhile, I'd stood on the balcony, letting the cold wind blow against me until dawn.

In the end, Shayne chose me. Right in front of me, he submitted a request to the university to reassign his student, Summer Solis. He transferred her to one of his colleagues.

That night, sleeping in separate rooms almost felt like a bad dream. Still, I knew a crack had formed between Shayne and me.

One fine day, it would eventually tear us apart.

I just never expected that day to come so soon.

The day after giving birth, I finally saw Shayne again. He brought Summer with him.

She seemed to be jittery and shaken. She stayed close to his side, taking tiny steps as she clutched the hem of his shirt. Shayne walked in, while she remained by the hospital room door.

Shayne knelt in front of me, looking at me with a mixture of guilt and anticipation. "Is our baby a boy or a girl?"

The scene felt painfully familiar.

That night, he'd knelt at my feet in exactly the same way, promising that he would never have anything to do with Summer again.

I jerked my hand away and summoned every ounce of strength I had to slap him across the face.

"Get out!" I shouted.