Chapter 5

The house was a complete mess. That was James’s first thought when he pushed the door open.

The entire living room had been smashed beyond recognition. Broken glass, overturned furniture, shattered decorations—everything lay in ruins. In the middle of it all, Remi sat on the floor, knees pulled to her chest, her head lowered.

Without stopping to ask what happened, he rushed over and pulled her into his arms. “Sweetheart, are you hurt?”

She slowly lifted her head to look at him. The panic and concern in his eyes were real. It was impossible to connect that devoted man with the same person who had betrayed her behind her back.

She shoved him away, her voice ice-cold as she asked, “Who is Sydney Parker?”

Shock flashed across James’s eyes. His lips turned pale almost instantly. “Sydney Parker? I don’t know who that is.”

Remi let out a bitter laugh. She grabbed the pregnancy report and threw it at him.

“You don’t know her? Fine. In that case, why is your name signed on her pregnancy report?”

His entire body trembled. For a second, he could not breathe.

“Sweetheart, I–”

She wiped her tears away harshly with the back of her hand and said firmly, “James, I know everything. Stop lying to me. Let’s get a divorce.”

In a panic, he pulled her tightly into his arms, his voice shaking. “No. No, I don’t want a divorce!”

She looked up at him, finding it all ironic. “But you’re already soiled. You disgust me.”

His face turned white. “That was an accident, Remi. I only slept with her once. I’m not soiled.”

“But in my eyes, you are.” Her voice trembled with anger. “You betrayed me. You betrayed our marriage!”

She closed her eyes in despair, finally saying, “Let’s get a divorce, James. We’ll part peacefully.”

He held her even tighter. “Remi, don’t divorce me. As long as you don’t divorce me, I’ll agree to anything.”

She slowly shook her head. “Your promises mean nothing to me anymore. Since I’m letting you go, and you should do the same for me, too.”

With that, she turned and walked away.

Watching her leave, his hand trembled as he pressed it against his chest, as if trying to crush the pain inside. However, the ache only grew sharper.

“Remi… do you really have to leave me?”

“Yes.” She shut her eyes, forcing herself to stay composed.

Finally, the man lost control. He took a deep breath and turned to the nearby household staff.

“Take the missus back to her room. Without my permission, no one is to let her out.”

Remi froze and turned back in disbelief. “James, are you imprisoning me?”

He shook his head immediately. “It’s not imprisonment. I just want you to calm down. Remi, listen to me. She looks like you, and the baby will look like you, too. After she gives birth, I’ll send her away. We’ll pretend nothing ever happened. We’ll go back to how we were before. Okay?”

Remi thought she had just heard the most absurd joke in the world. He was having a child with another woman, and he expected her to pretend nothing had happened?

She looked at him with disappointment. “It’s impossible. The moment you had a child with her, we could never go back.”

His body stiffened. His face turned deathly pale, but he remained stubborn.

“It’s fine, Remi. We have plenty of time.”

Then, he waved his hand, signaling the servants to escort her back upstairs.

“Keep an eye on the missus,” he ordered. “No one is allowed to see her except me.”