Chapter 2

I took a cab straight to the hospital and called my father back in Bayhaven.

"Dad, I lost the bet. Book me a flight home for three days from now.

"Pull all our investment out of Carter Group. I'm coming home, and I'll do things your way from now on."

The moment I hung up, the tears finally came.

I couldn't understand how Frank and I had ended up like this.

We had once loved each other so fiercely.

When my mother's keepsake went missing, Frank had faced down an armed man with nothing but his bare hands to get it back for me.

For his sake, I'd willingly walked away from a six-figure job. Then I spent six years at home caring for his bedridden mother so he could focus on his career.

For seven years, Frank and I had stood by each other through the darkest times of our lives.

Poverty, illness, even bankruptcy - none of it had torn us apart.

I'd truly believed we would be happy together for the rest of our lives.

But promises, it turned out, could be broken so easily.

All it took was one new hire who hadn't even been with the company for three months to unravel everything we'd built over seven years.

At least it wasn't too late to walk away.

I went in for the procedure.

When I opened my eyes again, my lower abdomen felt strangely hollow.

The tiny heartbeat I'd carried for three months was gone. But I didn't have time to grieve.

I wiped away my tears and went back to the house Frank and I had bought for our future together to pack my things.

On the way, I kept rehearsing how I would tell Frank's mother that Frank and I were over.

But the moment I opened the door, I heard laughter coming from inside.

Patricia Carter, Frank's mother, had spent six years bedridden.

Even after rehab got her back on her feet, she still refused to drink unless I brought the glass right to her lips.

Yet now, she had prepared an entire spread by herself.

She had even taken the Carter family heirloom bracelet off her own wrist and slipped it onto Chloe's wrist.

I recognized it immediately.

Frank's grandmother had given the bracelet to Patricia years ago, telling her to pass it down to her son's future wife.

I'd waited seven years for that moment. I thought Patricia had simply forgotten.

But now I realized the woman she'd chosen as her future daughter-in-law had never been me.

Frank noticed where I was looking and immediately tried to explain.

"Chloe was joking about wanting to wear it for a few days, so Mom let her.

"If it bothers you, I'll have her take it off right now."

"Fine," I said without hesitation.

Frank froze.

I walked straight past him and stopped in front of Chloe.

Before I could even reach for the bracelet, her eyes welled with tears.

"Cecilia, I just thought the bracelet was pretty. I only wanted to wear it for a few days.

"Can you stop being so petty and picking on me all the time?"

Me? Picking on her?

I almost laughed.

I was the one who'd been humiliated.

I was the one who'd gotten hurt.

I'd even lost the man I loved and the baby I'd been carrying.

And somehow, I was the one picking on her?

My chest tightened painfully, and I instinctively reached for the medication in my pocket.

But Patricia shoved me aside and stepped protectively in front of Chloe.

"Enough! You made a scene at the wedding and refused to go through with it. Chloe's been blaming herself ever since.

"We finally convinced her to come over for dinner, and now you're trying to hit her?

"I gave that bracelet to Chloe. She's the only woman I want as my daughter-in-law."

I looked at Patricia and remembered everything I'd done to help her recover.

I'd pushed myself so hard during her rehab that I'd lost about thirty-three pounds in a single month.

Back then, she'd held me in her arms and sworn that if Frank ever hurt me, she'd be the first to make him pay for it.

So Patricia's promises were just as worthless as Frank's.

I glanced at Frank out of the corner of my eye.

His lips parted, but he said nothing.

I gave a bitter smile and bent down to pick up the medication that had fallen to the floor.

Chloe beat me to it. She snatched it up, hurried into the kitchen, and dumped it down the sink.

Then she turned back and winked at me.

"Cecilia, pregnant women can't just take whatever medication they want.

"I know you're upset that I'm here. Fine, I'll leave. Just don't do anything to hurt the baby you and Mr. Carter are expecting."