Chapter 2

I scheduled an abortion. It was the second time I had found myself on an operating table.

The first had been during the year Derek and I got married.

He had brought a thirst-trap influencer home to join my parents and me for New Year's Eve dinner. My father was so furious that he overturned the table, sending the family dinner he had spent all day preparing crashing to the floor.

As fireworks burst across the sky outside, pain ripped through my abdomen as if something inside me had exploded. Warm blood streamed down my thighs, and in the end, the baby did not survive.

Derek dropped to his knees in front of my parents and me, swearing that he would never hurt me again. He even transferred all his assets into my name, and my resolve weakened.

A woman's love for a man always began with the excuses she made for his mistakes.

Yet after I was discharged from the hospital, Derek did not change. If anything, my forgiveness only convinced him that he could get away with even more.

"Ms. Sullivan, the procedure is done."

I opened my eyes and found two tears at their corners. The surgical lights must have been too bright.

When I was wheeled out of the operating room, Grace was waiting for me with eyes even redder than mine.

"Gracie," I said softly, trying to comfort her. "I'm fine. It's not like this is my first time."

Grace came home with me to collect the last few things I had left behind. We had barely stepped through the door when we saw Jenny wandering barefoot from room to room, inspecting the house as if it already belonged to her.

She pointed to the painting on the wall and turned to Derek, who was standing behind her.

"I don't like that painting. It looks out of place there. Can we replace it?"

The painting had hung on that wall for nearly five years. Derek and I had created it together, a portrait of who we were in each other's eyes.

Derek stroked Jenny's hair, his voice full of affection. "Of course. What would you like to put there instead?"

"Your phone wallpaper."

"All right. I'll have someone replace it immediately."

His wallpaper was an intimate photograph of him and Jenny together on an island. Until then, he had always chosen something stark, minimalist, and businesslike.

Apparently, he loved her enough to change for her.

I turned and headed for the door. I could not bear to spend another second in that tainted house.

Derek hurried after me and closed one hand around my wrist. "Where are you going? I have something important to discuss with you."

His tone was as imperious as ever.

"Jenny has genuine talent as a designer. All she needs is someone to guide her. Professor Harper at the Design Institute is your mentor, so I want you to introduce Jenny to her."

Neither wealth nor influence could buy an audience with Professor Harper. She cared only about the quality of the work placed before her.

I tore my wrist from Derek's grip. His fingers had left angry red marks around it, and an answering pressure tightened in my chest.

"This is the important thing you wanted to discuss?"

"Of course it is. Jenny's competition entry is at stake."

"Not a chance," I said, making sure to enunciate every word. "What makes you think I would lift a finger to indulge your mistress?"

Derek frowned, evidently taken aback by my refusal.

Jenny looked as though she had suffered some terrible injustice.

Tugging gently at Derek's hand, she said, "If Zoe doesn't want to help, forget it. I'll just have to figure something out on my own. I don't want to put you in an awkward position."

Derek's expression immediately darkened.

I took a step back, putting some distance between us. "What I have to tell you is far more important. Derek, I want a divorce."

"A divorce?" Disdain spread across his face.

"What are you making a fuss about this time? Go on, tell me. Which piece of jewelry caught your eye now?"

"I'm not making a fuss," I said, meeting his gaze.

"Staying together will only make both of us miserable. There is no point in dragging this out any longer."

He dismissed my words without a second thought.

"After all these years, you still haven't learned how to conduct yourself as Mrs. Shaw. You're taking us to see Professor Harper today, whether you like it or not."

Before I could react, he strode forward, roughly hoisted me over his shoulder, and carried me toward the garage.

Grace gasped and ran after us. "Do you have any idea what Zoe just went through? She had a..."

I shook my head, signaling for her not to finish.

There was no point in telling Derek that I had just lost another baby.