Chapter 4

Micheal’s expression darkened. He opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something.

Camellia suddenly let out a pained moan. Micheal’s attention snapped back to her, and he gently wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead. He only offered two words to me, “Suit yourself.”

I took the hint, quietly walked out of the room, and closed the door behind me.

I wandered down the street like a ghost. The temperature was pushing forty degrees, yet I could not stop shivering.

I found a lawyer and had the divorce papers drawn up, then I packed our things as quickly as I could and picked Tristan up from his after-school lesson.

I asked Tristan, “Tristan, I'm going to separate from your dad. Will you live with me from now on?”

He warped his little arms tightly around me and nodded. “Wherever you go, I’ll go!”

At last, a flicker of warmth reached my shattered heart. Whatever else I had lost, I could at least take comfort in knowing I had not lost everything.

The moment Tristan and I stepped out of the villa, a car pulled up and blocked our path. Camellia burst out of it, still wearing her hospital gown. Her face was pale white, her eyes swollen and red. Without a word, she stormed over and slapped me across the face.

“Chloe Hales, the entire internet is tearing me apart. Are you happy now?”

She pulled out her phone and hurled it at me.

Only then did I realize a video of our confrontation at the hospital had been posted online. It had instantly gone viral.

“It’s all because of you! Someone trashed my law firm, and my business partners are terminating their contracts! You killed my baby, and because of you, everyone’s calling my child a bastard! Chloe, I hate you!”

She grabbed me by the collar, her sharp nails scratching angry red lines across my neck.

I staggered backward, staring at my sister in disbelief. Those eyes that had once looked at me with nothing but tenderness were now filled with hatred.

Almost instinctively, I shot back, “Aren’t these the consequences of your own choices? If you want someone to blame, blame yourself!”

“Shut your mouth!”

Camellia grabbed a fistful of my hair and jerked my head back. “I'm just in love with Micheal. What did I do wrong?! Chloe, I fell for him before you ever did. I’m prettier than you, and I’m better than you in every other way.

"So why were you the one who got to marry him? Do you really think I studied law for you? I did it for Micheal. I wanted to stand beside him for the rest of my life. You’re the one who destroyed my happiness!”

Her words hit me like a blow to the head. I froze for a moment. Every inch of my body went numb, as though even my breath had been ripped away.

This was the truth…

It was not just my love that had been a lie. Even the sisterhood I had once cherished was nothing but an illusion.

“Don’t hurt my mommy!” Tristan came running toward us, crying as he raised his little fists and pounded against Camellia’s thighs.

“Get out of my way!” She spun around and shoved him with all her strength straight to the middle of the road.

A sharp horn pierced the air.

Tristan was thrown through the air. A truck rolled over him, blood splattering across the crosswalk.

My heart shattered, and I collapsed onto the pavement.

“Tristan!”

“Camellia!”

Micheal rushed to Camellia’s side and pulled her into his arms. His face was frantic with panic and concern. She immediately went limp against his chest, as though she had fainted.

I crawled toward him in desperation and grabbed onto his pant leg, pointing frantically at the road. My voice broke, and the words tumbled out in fragments. “Tristan… He’s been hit… Please, take him to the hospital!”

However, Micheal would not even look at me. He simply scooped Camellia into his arms.

“Stop pretending, Chloe. I thought you wanted a divorce. Turns out, you were just using public opinion to force us apart. And now, you’re even using our son? If I’d known you’d turn out like this, I would’ve rather watched you die at your father’s hands.”

I screamed and sobbed, trying to explain, but he would not listen. He would not believe me.

The driver had already fled.

I stumbled to the side of the road and knelt beside my son. Blood poured from his mouth. His little leg was twisted at an unnatural angle.

“Tristan, hold on. I'm here. I'll save you. I promise!”

I called every emergency number I could think of. I begged strangers for help and dropped to my knees before them, but no one would take us to the hospital. Anyone who helped me would be making an enemy of the entire legal community.

I forced myself to lift my son into my arms and ran toward the hospital.

Somewhere along the way, I lost my shoes. My bare feet split open against the pavement, blood mingling with sweat and leaving crimson footprints behind me.

When I finally reached the hospital, I dropped to my knees before the doctors and begged through my sobs. “Please, please save my son…”

However, the doctor could only shake his head with a heavy sigh. “You came too late. There’s nothing we can do.”

A deafening ringing filled my ears. The world around me seemed to fade into darkness. All that remained was hatred burning inside my chest.

I lost both of my children in a single day.

I forced my broken body to move. Step by step, I made my way to Camellia’s hospital room. The moment they saw me, Micheal shot to his feet and positioned himself between us.

“What are you doing here? Are you trying to hurt her again?”

I laughed. Two streams of tears mixed with blood ran down my face.

I rushed forward, grabbed the fruit knife from the bedside table, and raised it.

“Chloe!”

Micheal reacted as though I was a threat and shielded Camellia with his entire body.

However, I turned the blade toward my own heart.

Then, with all the strength I had left, I drove it into my chest. Word by word, I whispered, “You two saved my life back then. Today, I gave you two lives in return. Isn’t that enough?”