Chapter 2

This time, I was determined to disappear from their lives completely.

I frantically packed everything, stuffing it all into suitcases. I didn't want to leave a single trace of myself in this place.

The sickly sweet conversation from the living room drifted through the door, and my hands trembled slightly as I organized my field notes.

"Liam, let's pick a name for our precious baby."

"How about Finnian?" Liam said.

Hearing that name, the last line of defense around my heart crumbled.

Finnian.

That was my late grandfather's name.

It was the name Liam and I had chosen, sitting under a brilliant sky in Paris, dreaming of the day we would have a child of our own.

What had Liam said back then?

"Ava, your grandfather was a great scholar. I hope our child can be just like him one day, contributing to the world of science."

Now, those memories were like a poison-tipped steel needle, stabbing deep into my heart.

I suddenly remembered our anniversary two months ago. When I'd rushed back, I was carrying a bottle of Retsina I'd brought all the way from Europe just for him.

Unlike the panic on Liam's face, Chloe had stared at me with a look of pure confusion, as if I was the one who had the wrong address.

She acted like she owned the place, pointing at the armful of bags I was struggling with.

"What is that filth? Get it out of here!"

"Are you lost? This is my home."

I saw her swollen belly and said nothing.

A business trip, long distance, my husband, and his first love.

Even someone as unobservant as me could put the pieces together.

Noticing my expression, Liam had instinctively reached for my hand but then pulled back, moving to shield Chloe instead. "This is my wife, Ava."

To my surprise, Chloe's posture became even more proprietorial as she invited me in.

While Liam went to get some water, she leaned in close, whispering in a voice only I could hear:

"Liam says you've spent all your passion out in the research. He needs a warm home."

"Poor Ava. You still don't get it, do you? You were only ever my replacement."

"The moment I came back, you lost."

It was the height of summer, but my body felt as cold as ice.

I spent the entire night in the apartment building's fire escape, ignoring countless calls from Liam.

When he finally found me, his eyes were bloodshot and his face was covered in stubble. He looked as if he'd aged years overnight.

"Ava, what are you doing? I've been going crazy looking for you," he said.

So, he did still care about me, at least a little?

After I went home with Liam, Isabella, who had heard the news, immediately launched an attack.

She accused me of causing a huge scene the moment I returned, making a spectacle for the entire neighborhood to see.

She said that for a thirty-year-old woman, I was acting childishly, and if anything had happened to me, it would have been my own damn fault.

She had known about Liam and Chloe all along. She hadn't seen anything wrong with it; in fact, she fully supported it.

In just one year, Isabella had come to see Chloe as her brother's rightful wife.

I was the only fool.

Liam had tried to brainwash me more than once.

"Ava, I never meant to deceive you. It's just that Chloe's health is terrible. The doctors said she has six months to live, at most. Her only wish was to experience being a mother, to have a child of her own."

"She saved my life. I couldn't bear to see her leave this world with such a deep regret..."

"I was going to talk to you about it, but you were in Europe doing your research, and I didn't want to distract you. Besides, you love children too, don't you?"

"So, can you please just join me in giving this child a complete home? I'm begging you, Ava."