Chapter 2

"Miss Chloe, Mr. Walker has been notified of your arrival and has requested we escort you to his private room."

The restaurant manager hurried over, stopping respectfully beside the young woman.

The manager didn't even spare me a glance.

It made sense. The way I was dressed, I hardly looked like a guest who belonged in a VIP room.

But the young woman grabbed my wrist warmly. "Come with me, won't you? It's no fun eating alone. I'm enjoying our chat."

I was about to refuse, but the words died on my lips. I swallowed them.

"I'd be honored."

Following her into a hidden second-floor area, I discovered a whole other world within the restaurant.

In the private booth, the crystal chandelier was adorned with real gold tassels, and the sofas were custom-made from imported black calfskin.

The cashmere carpet under my feet was so soft that it made the furnishings in my family's estate pale in comparison.

"It has a great atmosphere, doesn't it? My name is Chloe. We should be friends."

Chloe pulled me down onto the leather sofa, watching as I silently took everything in. Then she took out her phone, ready to add me as a contact.

"I don't have many close friends in this city, and I feel a real connection with you. We have to be friends."

I took her phone. The screen lit up, revealing a wallpaper of a sunrise over a snowy mountain.

A slash of golden sunlight cut across the snow line, revealing a churning sea of clouds below.

My breath caught in my throat.

Because Kevin had sent me this exact photo just last week.

"Took this on my business trip," he had said. "Absolutely stunning. Had to send it to you."

"What's wrong? You think it's beautiful, too?" Chloe followed my gaze, her eyes lighting up. "My husband took this for me on his trip. He said the view reminded him of me."

"He also said that after the baby is born, he's going to take me to that mountain to see it for myself."

I managed a faint, weak smile and said nothing.

A waiter wheeled in a cart and served a pre-sliced steak.

Chloe toyed with her fork and sighed.

"When my husband is home, he always cuts my steak for me. And at night, he warms a glass of milk for me before I go to sleep."

"Do you miss your husband when he's on a business trip? I can't sleep a wink when he's gone."

"You might laugh, but every night he has to talk me to sleep."

My hand froze. Something sharp stabbed at my heart.

I remembered when we first fell in love, Kevin used to take care of me just like that.

Every night, he would cut up fruit for me, warm a glass of milk, and hold me until I fell asleep.

"Jess, you're my little princess. Let me rock you to sleep for the rest of our lives, okay?"

But after we got married, all of that disappeared.

"We're an old married couple now. You're a mother. Don't be so clingy. Go to sleep."

"If you can't sleep, take some melatonin. You can't just keep bothering me."

Back then, I truly thought I was being dramatic, that I wasn't being considerate enough of his stress.

But the truth was, all of Kevin's tenderness and devotion had long been reserved for another, younger woman.

"My husband travels for work a lot, too," I heard myself reply calmly. "When you need him, you just have to get through it on your own. You get used to it."

A flicker of pity appeared in Chloe's eyes.

"Jessica, you're so strong."

"I couldn't do that. I can't do anything without him, and he doesn't like me to be out of his sight."

"See? I just came out for a meal, and he had to call and check on me in the middle of a meeting."

She held up her phone and wiggled it.

The caller ID read: [My Dearest].

Clinging to a sliver of hope, I double-checked the number. It was Kevin's.

Chloe answered the call and put it on speaker.

The voice I had known for seven years drifted from the speaker, but it was laced with a sweetness I had never heard before.

"Baby? Sneaking out all by yourself? Are you trying to get into trouble?"

"If I hadn't checked your location, I wouldn't have known you were so bold. You're pregnant, what are you doing running around?"

"Bundle up. Don't let any other men look at you, or your husband is going to have to punish you properly tonight..."

Chloe cooed in response, her cheeks flushing.

And in that instant, the strength I had been mustering vanished into thin air.

Kevin had never used that kind of tone with me.

With me, he was always rational, a man of few words.

I had thought that was just his nature, but now I knew. With the person he truly loved, he could be childishly affectionate and incredibly clingy.

For the past seven years, I was simply not the one he loved.

In that single moment, seven years of marriage became an absolute joke.