Chapter 2 Her Past

It had been three years. Cecelia Wood was still as flawless as ever, her skin smooth as glass.

That was what Donald had once said about her. He said he could not tear himself away from her. He said every time he slept with me, all he could think about was her.

I left Donald so they could be together, and now she came after my second husband. She had his baby before I did. Judging from the curve of her stomach, their affair had clearly been going on for a while.

I bit my lip, and my nails dug into my palm as I approached her.

"Yvonne!" Cecelia pretended to have just recognized me. She grabbed my hand and put on a surprised look. "I didn't think you'd come back to Imperia after leaving Porton. What are the odds! We have the same taste in men, huh?"

I did not listen. My hand was already raised, and I swung it down. But instead of Cecelia, Shawn was the one who took the slap.

He stood before her and covered his cheek. His face fell. "That's going too far! Two slaps is more than enough, Yvonne! She's frail and pregnant! Don't vent on her. You don't want to go through the same thing you did three years ago, do you?"

My body shivered, as if it was transported back to that snowy night.

After I ran into Donald cheating, he dropped the act and questioned me matter-of-factly, "What more do you want? Women usually only last three months with me. I stayed with you for an entire year."

"Even if I do love you, I can't just give up on the other fish in the sea."

To make me submit, he threw every single business tactic he could at me. Freezing my card, taking my cash, and dragging me out like a dog. It was late winter, and it was snowing heavily.

A group of vagrants pinned me down in the snow, and my whole body was covered in marks of abuse. A crimson pool spread underneath me, and my face went white.

Shawn showed up suddenly and beat those vagrants back. He then pulled me tightly into his embrace, his eyes red. "It's alright. I'll protect you even if it costs me my life."

What a joke. Cecelia went on her knees and promised she would repay me even if it took her forever. Then, she repaid it by stealing my husband.

Shawn promised to protect me even if it would cost him his life. Three years later, he fell for that same ungrateful girl.

The snow was not heavy, but it was colder than that first ordeal.

I wiped my tears and picked up my phone. I did not spare the people behind me a look and was going to spend the night in the guest room.

"Wait!" Cecelia said. Right in front of me, she slid her arm around Shawn's neck. "I thought I was getting the south-facing room?"

Then, she looked at me and added with a smile, "And doing it beside the window feels better."

Shawn chuckled and looked at me before scooping her up and going into the room. It was supposed to be our room, and the ceiling had been designed to open up to the night sky. Shawn once said he wanted to hold me there while we fell asleep beneath the stars.

Later, that room was turned into a nursery. He said he wanted our baby to wake up every morning in sunlight.

But the baby had not even arrived yet, and the place that should be filled with love would become their love nest that carried the marks of their sordid affair.

The carpet, the couch, and the balcony. Like Donald, Shawn would ride this woman. They would scream, they would moan…

I closed my eyes. The door slammed shut, and it tore my heart open. I put my hand on the door and barely managed to stand, then my tears started coming.

The air was stifled and heavy. My phone buzzed. An unknown number had texted me. "Want to know why Shawn cheated on you with Cecelia? Seabloom Hall. Nine tomorrow morning."

It was obvious the sender was my ex-husband, Donald. Seabloom Hall was where we first met. Back then, my mother's last belongings had failed to sell at auction. I remembered standing there with reddened eyes, my heart full of sorrow.

The next day, he knocked on my door with that same belonging. Over the next six months, we received so many gifts, they were piling up in our living room.

My father wanted to sell me to the highest bidder. Since he was the richest man in Porton, my father refused the Fosters' proposal and married me off to Donald.

As the heiress of my family, I had long grown used to fake courtesy and people weighing every relationship by benefit. So, I did not expect much from that marriage of convenience.

But with every single clumsy love letter he wrote, he slowly broke through the ice around my heart. When I fell into the sea during a banquet on a cruise ship, he leaped into the waters to save me.

I was unscathed, but the school of fish chomped through his legs until his bones were jutting out.

When I was in pain during my period, he would put aside billion-dollar deals just to make me something warm and stay by my side.

I was overjoyed, thinking I had found the right person, so I invited the underprivileged student I sponsored into Porton.

Then, the two of them made me an unwanted person in that household and kicked me out.

Those thoughts killed the pain I had. I would not feel sad even if I saw Donald again.

He was as handsome as usual, his eyes deep and dark.

However, he did look thinner than he was. "There's something I should tell you."