Chapter 6

Gillian's brows furrowed deeply, and I turned to leave.

I had barely taken a step when Jude stepped in front of me. "Thomas, it's just a house. I'll give it up. Why are you making things so hard for Gill?"

He looked fiercely protective of Gillian, but his clenched jaw showed how humiliated he felt.

I looked at him coldly. "Get out of my way. You were the one who asked for the house in the first place. So don't pretend to care about Gillian now."

Jude's face tightened at my words. I knew I had hit a nerve. If he hadn't wanted the house, Gillian never would have given it to him.

Jude instantly balled his hands into fists, looking ready to swing, but before he could make a move, Gillian shoved me hard. I stumbled backward and slammed my lower back against the corner of the desk.

Before I could even cry out in pain, Gillian slapped me across the face. The sharp crack echoed through the room, and my cheek immediately began to swell.

I was still trying to process what had happened when her furious voice rang out, "Thomas, when did you become so unreasonable? How could you talk like that?

"You signed the property transfer yourself. All we did was change the name on the house. It's not like we're kicking you out. How long are you going to keep taking this out on Jude just because we registered our marriage?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she turned to Jude. She gently cupped his face in both hands, soothing and apologizing to him in a soft voice as if he were something precious.

As Jude saw that Gillian was taking his side, his anger vanished.

He lowered his head. His eyes turned red as he said, "I'm sorry, Gill. I'm not even your real brother. If Thomas really can't stand having me around, I'll move out tonight. I don't want to make things difficult for you."

He reached for the door, but Gillian grabbed him and pulled him back. "Jude, do you really have to do this to me? Don't ever say that again. You're not the one who needs to leave."

Her last words stung. She didn't need to say it outright for me to know she meant me.

Sure enough, the next second, she grabbed me by the arm and threw me out the door.

"Thomas, you've gone too far this time. I won't let you talk to Jude like that." She looked down at me, her eyes cold and completely devoid of affection.

But this time, instead of feeling hurt, I felt strangely calm. I smiled faintly and got to my feet. I didn't want to stay around her any longer.

As I was about to leave, a high-pitched buzz filled my ears.

I turned around, but before I could see what was happening, a taser hit me, sending me crashing to the ground. Pain and numbness shot through my body.

Then, I heard a security guard's trembling voice above me. "I'm sorry, Ms. Chadwick. I'll take your boyfriend out right away."

Gillian's expression turned cold, and her harsh words hit me like a blow. "Whatever our relationship is outside this office, he's just an intruder here. If this happens again, you're fired."

The security guard immediately nodded and apologized before roughly dragging me toward the elevator.

My lower legs scraped against the floor, burning with pain, as hundreds of employees around us whispered among themselves.

So, this was how far Gillian would go for Jude. She even had a security guard use a taser on me just to make Jude feel better.

I wanted to laugh, but I couldn't even force a smile.

Through my hazy vision, I thought I saw a flicker of hesitation in Gillian's eyes. But she closed the door without a second thought, and I knew I'd imagined it.

The security guards were nothing if not thorough. They threw me out onto the street even though it was raining.

I didn't know when I passed out. When I opened my eyes again, I was already lying in a hospital bed.

Someone was holding my hand, which hung over the side of the bed.

"You're awake, Thomas?"

I turned my head and saw Gillian's exhausted face. She had two pimples around her mouth from staying up all night. She must have been sitting by my bedside for quite a while.

In the past, I would have hated seeing her neglect herself like this and insisted she go home and get some rest.

But now, I didn't even blink. I calmly pulled my hand away and turned my head toward the window without a word.

Gillian stared at her empty hand for a few seconds before smiling in relief.

"Still mad at me? Don't worry. Jude and I have already filed for divorce, and the property transfer is being processed. Are you happy now?"

She sounded as though she were giving in to me, but her words were full of resentment, as if I were the one being unreasonable.

I gave a faint smile. I couldn't even be bothered to get angry anymore. I simply nodded to show I understood.

Instead of looking happy, Gillian furrowed her brows.

She sensed that something was off, but before she could figure out what it was, the hospital room door was pushed open.

"Ms. Chadwick, your husband's sperm test results are back. Everything meets the requirements for IVF. You can start preparing for egg retrieval."

The doctor's well-meaning reminder left the room in an awkward silence.

Even though I no longer expected anything from Gillian, my hands tightened around the blanket, a dull ache spreading through my chest at those words.

I understood every word, yet I couldn't quite process what they meant together.

I looked up at Gillian, but she avoided my gaze.

After seeing the doctor out, she grabbed my hand and looked at me with complete sincerity.

"Thomas, listen to me. Don't get angry yet. Jude has always wanted a child of his own, but he doesn't have a girlfriend, so he asked me to help him.

"The doctor doesn't know about our relationship, so when he said 'husband,' he was talking about Jude. Don't take it seriously."

Gillian was trying to explain herself, but she didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

I stared at her. I thought my heart had already gone numb and couldn't hurt anymore.

I never expected that the most absurd scenarios I had ever imagined would actually come true.

All the emotions I'd been holding back for so long finally exploded. I shoved her away and raised my hand to strike her, but my hand froze in midair.

After a long moment, I forced myself to lower it. I gritted my teeth and glared at her. "Gillian, why?"

Stunned by my raised hand, she froze without a word. Just then, the door swung open.

It was Jude.

Gillian snapped back to reality and instantly forgot to confront me. Her face was tense as she stood up to leave.

When she reached the door, she stopped and said angrily, "Thomas, calm down first. We'll talk when you've cooled off."

The door slammed shut behind her, and my heart fell completely still. I wasn't angry. I was just disappointed. I had simply lost all hope.

Gillian wouldn't see the day that I "cooled off".

I spent the rest of the day crying. Once night fell, I checked myself out of the hospital without a second thought.

When I went home to pack my things, I took the bank card Gillian had given me for our wedding. There were 200 thousand dollars in it. I figured that could count as a discounted payment for the house I'd bought for us.

Just as I was about to close the drawer, something fell out of the hidden compartment.

It was a diary.

I opened it slowly. The more I read, the more stunned I became. By the time I finished reading, all I could do was smile in quiet resignation.

I didn't put the diary back. Instead, I left it somewhere impossible to miss in the living room. A little surprise for Gillian before I left.

After that, I was completely done with the Chadwicks.