Chapter 4

"I just wanted you to calm down," I said. "George is my friend. I won't let you hurt him."

I helped George to his feet.

Bertrand grabbed my arm, jealousy blazing in his eyes. "You went to Acreatic with this guy for days! Have you forgotten you're my wife?!"

He was about to explode with accusations, but I met his gaze and said calmly, "Did you forget? Because of your secretary's sprained ankle, we never actually registered our marriage."

His face turned deathly pale in an instant.

"It wasn't because of her ankle, Annie. The company had an emergency…"

"Oh?" I cut him off. "What kind of emergency is more important than getting married? Go on, tell me."

George chuckled from the sidelines, adding fuel to the fire.

I waited in silence for Bertrand to answer, but he fumbled and stammered, unable to say a word.

I wasn't surprised.

"Bertrand, let's end this."

I didn't plan on telling him about the baby. I was afraid he'd lose control and try to take my baby's ashes away from me.

"No! Annie, I won't agree to this! This is because of him, isn't it? You want to break up because of that guy?"

He couldn't comprehend it. In his mind, all he'd done was delay the wedding. How had it come to this?

George, now pulled into the drama, let out a bitter laugh.

"If it weren't for you, she wouldn't have lost the—"

I quickly grabbed George's arm and cut him off. "Forget it. Let's just go."

Bertrand burned with jealousy as he stared at my hand resting on George's arm. "Annie, let go of him. Don't try to provoke me. You know how I get when I'm jealous. I don't know what I'll do."

I met his gaze without flinching. "I'm only doing what you taught me. There's nothing going on between me and George. So why are you so furious?"

Those were the very same words Bertrand had once used to scold me.

He staggered back a few steps, his face awash with regret.

"That's not what I meant, Annie…"

He tried to explain, but I no longer cared to listen.

After leaving the airport, I found a peaceful cemetery and laid my baby to rest.

For the child who never got the chance to be born, I chose the name Noan.

Once everything was arranged, I returned to the hotel, utterly drained—body and soul—from days of travel and emotional upheaval.

But just as I lay down, Bertrand's urgent shouting and pounding echoed from outside the door.

Reluctantly, I opened it.

He burst in, frantically searching the room before turning on me with rage. "Where is he?!"

"Who?"

The absurdity of his question made me laugh, bitterly.

"Bertrand, I'm not as dirty-minded as you think."

He clenched his jaw. "You moved out of our home because of him! You even threw away our keepsakes! Annie, do all these years mean nothing to you?!"

I looked into his bloodshot eyes and spoke softly, "You're right, Bertrand. I regret it all."

I had been so desperate to marry him, I hadn't even realized I was pregnant. Just a few months ago, I'd humbled myself and taken a menial job at his law firm.

But instead of acknowledging me, Bertrand had kept our relationship a secret and allowed Marina, his secretary, to order me around as she pleased.

"Annie," Marina had once said, "if you can't beat me, then what good are you?"

In my naivety, I accepted the challenge.

But every bit of credit for my work was stolen by Marina.

When I found out, I confronted him, and we had a vicious argument.

Face flushed with anger, he shouted, "Stop being unreasonable, Annie! Marina's skills are well-known in the industry. You've just entered the field. How could you possibly have written such an impressive report?"

He had forgotten that my father had been a brilliant lawyer too.

As I looked at Marina's overly painted lips and the smudge of lipstick on his collar, I lost all will to fight.

After that, I quit his firm and stopped keeping tabs on him altogether.

Maybe sensing my withdrawal, Bertrand suddenly tried to make amends. And for a brief moment, I thought maybe we had a chance.

But time and again, he chose Marina over me.

What he didn't realize was, the day we were supposed to get married was the last chance I was ever going to give him.