Chapter 4

Now that Shayne and I finally had a child, the future he'd once promised me would never come to pass.

The front door unlocked. Summer walked in with her arms wrapped around Shayne. The smiles on their faces froze the moment they saw me.

"Why are you back?" Shayne asked.

I held up my suitcase. "Can't I come back to my own home?"

Shayne's expression immediately darkened. "Couldn't you at least have told me you were coming back? Why are you being so passive-aggressive?"

His gaze fell on my suitcase. "And you didn't even bring the baby? Are you planning to move back in with your mother?"

I retorted, "Didn't you already see the divorce papers? You're the one who cheated. The apartment and the child are both mine."

Shayne didn't react, but Summer's expression soured dramatically as she stood beside him.

She said, "How could you say that, Mrs. Lark? There's nothing going on between Professor Lark and me! Besides, I saw you the other day..."

At that point, she abruptly covered her mouth. "I didn't mean to let that slip. It's just..."

Her hesitant expression made Shayne's expression turn grim. "What did you see?"

Summer replied, "I saw Mrs. Lark at a bar playing some kind of kissing game with several men. But… maybe I was just seeing things."

Summer took out her phone and showed Shayne the photos.

After looking at them, Shayne turned his icy gaze on me. "Is this why you've been so determined to divorce me? You've fallen for someone else, Naomi!"

I looked up at him in disbelief. "Do you seriously believe her? I just gave birth! I've spent the entire past month at home. How could I possibly have gone to a bar?"

Shayne froze.

Summer began to sob. "I must have been mistaken, Professor Lark. Please don't argue with your wife because of me."

Her phone suddenly chimed as notifications popped up. She glanced at the screen as if she'd seen something horrifying. Then, she shrieked and threw herself into Shayne's arms.

"S-Someone found my contact information and started sending me messages. They're calling me a slut and a homewrecker!"

With tears streaming down her face, she looked at me. "How could you do this to me, Mrs. Lark? You know perfectly well that there's nothing going on between Professor Lark and me!"

Shayne shot me a disgusted look. "Did you do this?"

Although he'd phrased it as a question, his tone made it clear that he'd already found me guilty.

I tried to defend myself, my voice weary. "It wasn't me."

Shayne didn't believe me. "Who else would do something like this? Why would you go out of your way to ruin a woman five years younger than you?"

He shoved his phone in front of me, his eyes filled with disappointment.

"How dare you accuse me without proof?" I countered.

Shayne sneered, "You came back at this exact moment because you wanted to see Summer suffer with your own eyes, didn't you? When did you become so vicious, Naomi? Apologize to Summer now!"

I bit my lip, stubbornly refusing to back down. "Where's your proof? Do you have any evidence that I did this?"

He was momentarily at a loss for words. But when Summer started crying again, he grabbed my hand and forcibly dragged me to my knees.

The moment my knees hit the floor, a stabbing pain shot through my lower abdomen. My vision went black from the pain, but I clenched my teeth and refused to make a sound.

Shayne still had a death grip on my wrist. He was squeezing so hard it felt as though he would break my bones. He looked down at me with eyes full of coldness and a sense of unfamiliarity that I'd never seen before. It was as if I were some unforgivable criminal.

"Apologize to Summer!" He repeated the command, his voice leaving no room for argument.

Summer burrowed herself in his arms, smiling triumphantly at me.

I laughed. In fact, I laughed so hard that tears streamed down my face. Then, I shoved him away and threw the documents I'd gathered from my investigation at him.

"Shayne, open your damn eyes and take a good look! Take a good look at what kind of woman this precious student you've been defending really is!"