Chapter 3

~Eliza~

I raised my hand to open the front door but stopped.

This was still my home, no matter what Daniel had done. I had every right to be here. He did not, not after today.

I glanced down at myself and sighed at the blue gown. I realized what this might look like to the staff.

But a few minutes ago, I had been desperate to escape Atlas’ overwhelming presence and hadn’t waited to get my clothes.

After I slapped Atlas, the room fell silent, and he shut off completely. I stammered out an apology, alarmed and ashamed of my rash action.

But he merely gave me a completely unreadable look. Then he swung around and left the room.

I hadn’t waited for him to return before grabbing my phone off the side table. I got out of his house quickly. His driver dropped me off here, supposedly on his boss’ orders.

But I wasn’t so sure that could be right. I knew what I saw in his eyes right before he turned away. It was disgust and mockery.

It didn’t help that a small part of me knew he was right.

I had briefly wondered whether it wouldn’t be better to just forget about what Daniel did. That maybe it would be easier to ignore his betrayal and just move on.

However, I couldn’t bring myself to do that. It would be unfair to myself and the baby he made me lose.

Cheating was already a terrible offence. But to do it with Isabella, of all people? That was simply unforgivable.

Atlas could jump off his high horse for all I cared, I thought darkly, gritting my teeth.

After wasting a whole twenty-four hours stuck in bed, I had to get my plan into action. Fast.

I shoved the door open and entered. I stopped in my tracks at the edge of the living room.

Daniel and Isabella were on the couch I had spent a week selecting.

Their legs were entwined as she lovingly fed him grapes by hand.

Bile rose in my throat, but I dug my nails into my palms and inhaled deeply.

“Wow, I see you have moved her in so quickly,” I sneered, watching dispassionately as they sprang apart.

Daniel rounded the couch to stand before me, bristling. Isabella stretched out with a satisfied smirk.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” he yelled.

His hair stuck out in all directions and the top three buttons of his blue shirt were unbuttoned.

At that moment, all the love I thought I had for him seemed to disappear into thin air. The only thing pounding in my heart was a deep-seated hatred for what he did to me, to us.

I welcomed the pain in my palms. It allowed me to coolly lean back from him. “Can you keep your voice down like a reasonable adult?”

“You need to leave right now, Eliza!” He thundered, pointing a stiff finger at the door.

I forced myself to chuckle as if I didn’t feel an overwhelming urge to hurl my breakfast from two days ago.

“You can’t force me out of my own house, Daniel,” I stated dismissively.

His brows were two dark slashes on his forehead as he bent to hiss at me, “Well, guess what, sweetheart.”

“You don’t even own this house anymore,” he said, enunciating each word.

Something popped in my head as I stared at him for a moment before bursting into movement. I darted past him, down the hallway, ignoring his angry spluttering.

I slid to a stop in front of the door that was supposed to be our nursery. Somehow, I knew what he had done, even before I opened the door. But seeing it was still like a punch to my throat.

A gasp escaped me and I was left reeling as the door opened into an empty room. The cradle Daniel and I had assembled was gone. Not even the wall decorations or the rocking chair that used to be in the corner.

In fact, the room was scraped clean as if there had never been any plan for a baby. It made it seem like the past years hadn’t happened. My baby would have been three years old, but now, it was as if she never existed.

A voice snarled in my head as I turned and walked back to the living room.

“Daniel, you have two seconds to explain yourself,” I seethed, storming closer to him with my fists clenched at my sides. “Where is all the baby’s stuff?”

Alarmed by the look on my face, Daniel shifted backwards, but I followed him. There was a throbbing pain lodged somewhere in my chest that fueled the anger coursing through my veins.

“What? I threw them away and let Isabella have the space since she wanted to use the space as her leisure room,” he replied defensively.

An irrational giggle slipped past my lips as I nodded, as if what he said made sense. “Oh, oh, I see. A leisure room. Okay, that’s cool.”

“I understand now that you never cared one bit about our baby,” I chortled, and a look of hurt flashed across his face. “You fucking bastard!”

That pissed me off even more, but I clenched my teeth and shoved back the throbbing pain in my chest. I could break down and curse my blind stupidity later, but I had to do something first.

In the nicest voice I could muster without going berserk on him, I asked, “Can you at least return my company now?”

After losing my first pregnancy in an accident, I had—foolishly, I see now— allowed my darling husband to take charge of the company.

It was supposed to be a temporary fix until I got over my grief. That hadn’t been the case, and now, this bloody fucker had taken the opportunity to…

I should have known something was up when I got thrown out by those unfamiliar guards. He must have pulled some trick, but I was willing to give him a chance to make things right.

He scowled and cocked a brow at me. “Yeah, that’s never going to happen, Eliza,” he huffed.

My mind went wild. That’s it! I would rather die than let him take my company.

The last thin line of control I had left snapped.

With an anguished yell, I leaped on him, biting, punching, and kicking any part of his flesh that I could reach.

The room turned into a cacophony of noise as Isabella joined in, yanking on my hair in an attempt to pull me off him. I held on tightly and let loose all my hurt on the two-faced bastard.

But then, one of Daniel’s flailing hands landed a heavy blow on my stomach. That knocked the fight right out of me.

I was out before I hit the floor.