Chapter 2

I couldn't help but laugh.

All I had to show for crying and kicking up a fuss was 99 failures. Moreover, Quinn was the one who treated me with indifference first.

He gave Melody the precious jewelry he'd spent a fortune to buy for me. All he had to say to me was, "You have a lot of jewelry, so you'll hardly miss this one. It's different for Melody."

He broke his own rule of not bringing female partners to business parties by taking Melody with him.

"You can depend on me financially, but the same's not true for Melody. She plans to start her own business in the future, so she needs the experience," he explained.

He did not refute others' assumptions that Melody was his wife.

"It's not easy for a woman to build up a career, but nobody will dare bully her if she goes around bearing that title," he defended.

In fact, he later prevented me from showing up at his company or delivering him lunch. Instead, these responsibilities were handed over to Melody.

When I expressed disapproval, feeling slighted, Quinn frowned and sighed.

"Irrelevant personnel like you showing up at the company all the time is bad for our image. Besides, cooking is tiring, so just leave it to Melody. Why don't you just travel around and enjoy the sights?" he suggested.

He kept me cooped up at home like a trophy wife. There was no true love involved.

So, I couldn't bear it any more and completely gave up on winning his heart.

"I've already found myself a decent place to live. After I'm discharged, I won't ever appear before you two again," I told him.

Quinn clenched his fists and bellowed angrily, "Fine! Then leave! Get a moving company to move your things out immediately! I don't want to see anything belonging to you in my house!"

I nodded and took out my phone to call a moving company.

Quinn's expression darkened at this. "Are you that eager to leave my side?"

I said nothing, but before I could make the call, an incoming call interrupted me—a call from my four-year-old son, Atlas Langley.

"Mommy, where did you put my Mechaformer?" he asked impatiently. "I can't find it again!"

I replied calmly. "I'm moving out, so get your new mommy, Melody, to find it for you."

Atlas was stunned. "What did you say?"

I repeated, "What I'm saying is, Melody will be your mother from now on. I'll no longer be your mother. I'll no longer be involved in your problems."

After a momentary silence, Atlas shouted, "Great! I can finally get a new mommy! Thank you, Ms. Somer!"

With that, he hung up giddily.

Quinn, his eyes bloodshot, said with disappointment, "You're even abandoning your son? Ariel Somer, how can you be so cruel? You'd even cast aside Atlas and me!"

Me? Cruel? Did he not overhear how happy Atlas was?

After all, I'd never given birth to a child in my past 99 attempts.

Atlas was the only child born during a period of mutual love. I treasured him as much as my own life.

Until I passed by Quinn's office and heard Melody's heavy breathing from within, that was.

The two of them were having a secret tryst in the office. I overheard Quinn complaining that I was no longer fun to lie with after giving birth, as I'd become out of shape.

I had a breakdown right then and there.

In order to successfully capture Quinn's heart, I sped up my search for evidence that Melody was faking her illness. During that time, I was motivated by not just my unborn child but also Atlas.

However, Atlas also took a liking to Melody and mentioned more than once that he wanted her to be his mother.

Instead of lecturing him, Quinn treated his words as a joke and said cheerily, "Okay! I'll take you over to Melody's place to play!"

He said to me, "Atlas is only four years old. Children at his age say a lot of nonsense, so don't hold it against him."

I believed him, at least up until last week, right about when I was due to enter labor.

That was when Atlas pushed me down some stairs, yelling, "It's all because you're hogging me and Daddy that Melody can't be reunited with us! Go die!"

At that moment, I clearly understood that Atlas wasn't just spouting nonsense.

As such, my only thought was to give birth to my unborn child, look after her until she was about a year old, then find a good family to adopt her. After that, I would return to my original world.

But now, Quinn had taken my child to Melody before I'd even been able to see her.

Seeing that I wasn't saying anything again, Quinn left angrily.

As the door slammed shut behind him, the system announced, "Ariel, you're scheduled to leave this world in three days. Please be prepared."