Chapter 2

I watched from above as Charlotte stormed into her flashy sports car. The engine roared, shattering the evening's silence.

She didn't even glance at the old neighborhood I'd lived in for years. With a sharp turn of the wheel, she sped toward the upscale apartments on the west side of the city. I knew she was going to find Leo.

The scenery outside the window blurred into streaks of color. I had no choice but to follow, tethered to her motion by a force I couldn't break.

Five years had passed, and I thought I'd grown numb to her life. But watching her rush with such desperate urgency to another man, the old wound tore open afresh. A familiar, crushing ache tightened in my chest right where my heart used to be.

Charlotte's car stopped in front of a brightly lit apartment building. She didn't wait for the elevator doors to fully open before forcing her way out.

When the doors parted, Leo was already standing in his doorway, still in his bathrobe. Upon seeing her, his brow immediately furrowed with concern.

"Lottie, how did it go? Did you find Shane?" he asked.

Charlotte threw her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest. Her voice came out muffled, thick with tears.

"No. That asshole is hiding somewhere. Even his neighbor is covering for him, saying he's dead."

Leo's eyes flickered for a moment before his expression softened with concern. He reached out and pulled her into his arms. "You've gone through so much for me, Lottie."

"Don't say that," she murmured, leaning into his embrace.

Her voice softened as she continued, "For you, it's all worth it. Don't worry. I'll make him come out. This time, he has to take the fall."

I was forced to follow them into the absurdly lavish apartment.

I watched as Leo fetched a glass of water for Charlotte with attentive care. Seeing her nestle in his embrace and place her trust in him sent a pang through the part of my chest where my heart no longer beat. There was a time when I was the one she depended on.

At that instant, memory came flooding back like a broken dam. I knew everything about Leo.

He was Charlotte's first love, the one who had been a part of her adolescence and college years. They were madly in love and were inseparable.

However, the Blakes were too sharp to be fooled by Leo's charming exterior. They saw straight through to the idleness and unrealistic ambitions beneath.

Her parents could tell he was clinging to their daughter for her inheritance. They vehemently opposed the relationship and even threatened to disown her.

In the end, they went to Leo and offered him a sum large enough to set him up for life. Their only condition was that he leave her and never return. Tempted by the money, he took it and left without looking back.

When Charlotte learned about that, she collapsed from grief. After that, she seemed to have lost all faith in love or in the idea of marriage. That was when she chose me.

At the time, I was only a junior project manager at her company. I was a man of few words who proved himself through action.

I knew Charlotte was choosing me out of spite, but I agreed anyway because I genuinely loved her. After we married, I cared for her attentively and cherished her every day.

I remembered all her preferences and woke early to make her breakfast. I waited outside her office when she worked late, and stayed up all night when she was sick. When she was in a bad mood and snapped at me, I never talked back.

Eventually, she started smiling at me. She ate the meals I made and came running when I picked her up from work.

Sometimes, she'd even nuzzle my shoulder before falling asleep and murmur groggily, "Shane, you're the best."

Later, Charlotte became pregnant. When I found out, I was overjoyed.

Every night, I'd read to her growing belly and solemnly tell her, "Baby, I'm going to give you and Mommy the best of everything in the world."

She'd stroke her slightly rounded belly with a somewhat distant expression, but at least she smiled.

I thought my turn at happiness had finally come. But it all shattered the day Leo secretly returned to the country. Instead of building a life abroad, he'd only gotten himself into a mess and came crawling back to hide.

He found Charlotte and tearfully told her how much he'd missed her all these years. He even said he'd tried to come back several times, but someone had always stood in his way.

Leo strongly implied that someone was me, and she believed him. She didn't care that I had just stayed up all night to prepare soup for her.

Charlotte pointed a finger at my face, her voice sharp with accusation. "I can't believe you're like this. Are you really so jealous of my happiness?"

I had no way to defend myself. Charlotte hated me so much that she wouldn't even look at our newborn daughter.

"Seeing her just reminds me of you. It makes me sick," she spat.

She sent someone to take the child away. I ran out after them and fought to take my wailing daughter back into my arms. From then on, I raised my child alone in a home that no longer felt like mine.

It wasn't until one day that Leo drove and hit someone while under the influence.

Charlotte came to me with red-rimmed eyes and begged, "Shane, just this once. Please help him… I've taken care of everything. You just need to serve three years. When you get out… When you get out, we'll live a good life together. Okay?"

I looked into her tear-filled eyes and knew it was a trap I was walking straight into. But I still nodded because I loved her.

I thought I could win her back. I told myself I was only serving for three years. Still, I never imagined that meeting would be our final goodbye.

"Daddy…"

A soft voice pulled me back from my memories. I looked down and saw my daughter's small, translucent form hovering beside me. Her big eyes were fixed on the two figures below, who were embracing.

"Why… Why does Mommy always stay with that man?" she asked.

My throat tightened. I reached out to touch her head, but my hand passed through empty air.

"Because… She is happier when she's with him."

She looked at them, confused.

"But you're the one who's always been nicest to Mommy."

My daughter was right. Even a child could see the truth Charlotte refused to believe. She only believed in that man who'd repeatedly abandoned her, used her, and ultimately caused the death of her own child.

Leo was kissing the top of Charlotte's head, his voice tight with worry.

"Lottie… What if Shane really is dead? Won't I be—"

"Don't be ridiculous," she cut him off, her tone resolute.

"Someone like him values his life above everything. How could he possibly be dead? He's definitely going into hiding.

"Besides, that bastard is still in my hands. He wouldn't dare disobey me now."

I looked at Charlotte's confident profile and felt a hollow, bitter laugh rising in me. This was the woman I had loved enough to die for. Even after my death, I was nothing but a coward she could use and manipulate at will.

Charlotte still didn't know that the "bastard" she was using to threaten me had already been killed by Leo on a cold, rainy night.