Chapter 3

###Chapter 3

Nicolas froze for a moment before throwing his head back and laughing.

"Denise, you cut ties with your family years ago just to be with me. Now you're heavily pregnant. Where could you possibly go if you leave me?"

"You've threatened to break up with me dozens of times over the past ten years. I'm already sick of this little game."

I parted my lips, about to tell him that this time I was serious, when a soft, delicate voice interrupted me.

"Sister-in-law, please don't be angry with Nico, okay?"

Hazel came down the stairs, walking somewhat awkwardly.

Audrey immediately glared at me. "Why is Hazel limping?"

Ronan chimed in, "Did you do something to the poor girl?"

I couldn't even be bothered to give them a cold laugh. "If you're going to accuse me, at least bring some evidence. I never even touched her!"

"Ouch~"

Hazel's leg suddenly gave way. Nicolas reacted instantly, wrapping an arm around her waist and naturally pulling her into his embrace with familiar intimacy.

Hazel looked up at me with tears in her eyes. "Sister-in-law, Nico is only helping me with my fear of marriage. This is all my fault. You can hit me or yell at me if you want. I won't dare fight back."

Without waiting for me to speak, Nicolas' firm and commanding voice rang. "She's the one being unreasonable and cold-hearted. You don't need to apologize!"

He was the one who had betrayed me, yet he had the nerve to turn around and call me cold-hearted.

Tsk. How ridiculous.

At that moment, I suddenly remembered the day I first brought Nicolas home to meet my parents. They had warned me that he wasn't someone I should entrust my future to.

I had gotten into a huge fight with my family and left home with him. Together, we built the Jenkins Corporation from the ground up, and I had worked tirelessly for him ever since.

On the day the Jenkins Corporation went public, Nicolas had knelt on one knee before me, his gaze was gleaming with sincerity. "Denise, you'll always be the most precious person in my life. I'll love you forever."

But those passionate vows had been hiding betrayal all along.

The way he glared at me for the sake of the woman in his arms made me feel completely numb to it all.

"So this 'treatment' of yours is really just taking it all the way to bed—"

"It hurts!" Hazel's cry drowned out my question.

She collapsed weakly into Nicolas' arms and whispered something to him with a shy expression.

His face changed immediately. He scooped Hazel up into his arms and rushed toward the garage.

His voice drifted back from a distance. "When you've learned your lesson, we'll get our marriage certificate!"

For years, I had convinced myself that because Hazel was all alone, it was only natural for him to take extra care of her.

After all, we had been together for ten years. I was confident that I would always be the only one in his heart.

It turned out I had only been deceiving myself.

...

I took a taxi to the hospital and lay alone on the operating table.

The cold instruments moved inside me, and the pain was so intense that my heart seemed to cramp with every movement.

When I was wheeled back to the hospital room, my best friend had already arrived. The moment she entered, she clenched her fists.

"No wonder that bastard refused to let me be your bridesmaid no matter what. He had already planned to replace you with a new bride! I swear, I could kill those two!"

I patted her hand and shook my head. "Anyway, the baby is gone. The last bond between him and me is gone too."

Her eyes reddened as she hugged me. "It's okay, Den. All the bad luck ends today. From now on, it's nothing but good luck for you."

Suddenly, she raised a finger to her lips and motioned for me to be quiet.

I followed her gaze toward the door.

Outside the half-open door, Nicolas was pushing Hazel past in a wheelchair. His voice was gentler than I had ever heard it before.

"Does it still hurt? It's all my fault. I got too carried away when I saw you wearing the wedding dress, and I ended up hurting you."

Hazel looked up at him, their fingers intertwined, and gave him a shy smile. "It doesn't hurt anymore with you here."

Beside them, Nicolas' doctor friend playfully bumped his shoulder.

"Not bad, bro. You finally got what you wanted today."

Then he turned to Hazel. "Every time he saw you getting close to another man, the look in Nicolas' eyes was practically murderous."

"The last time there was a torrential downpour, I heard you were out with some rich playboy. Nicolas actually abandoned his pregnant girlfriend halfway there just to beat that guy up. They both ended up at the police station."

On hearing his words, my head buzzed.

So the supposed rescue from some thugs that day was nothing of the sort. Hazel had simply been with another man, and Nicolas had been consumed by jealousy.

They were never siblings at all! He was obviously deeply in love with her.

The doctor rested a hand on Nicolas' shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "I also filled out the treatment form. You two need a hundred exposure-therapy sessions, so you can just enjoy yourselves..."

Nicolas glanced at Hazel's flushed face and smirked. "Enough. Don't say things like that in front of Hazel."

"By the way," the doctor asked, adjusting his glasses, "what exactly are you planning to do about Denise? Are you still going to marry her?"

Nicolas lit a cigarette, his tone casual. "She's been with me for ten years. Without the marriage as a pretext, it would be difficult for me to arrange this wedding, and Hazel wouldn't be able to go through the entire wedding experience with me properly."

"Since I promised to marry Denise, I'll still get the marriage certificate. Besides, after we're married, I can always use business trips as an excuse..."

I could no longer make out the rest.

My best friend was furious and rolled up her sleeves, ready to charge outside. I hurriedly grabbed her arm, doing my best to endure the tearing pain in my chest.

"There's no need. I'll punish him myself."

I had lost everything for Nicolas back then. Now, I was going to make him pay a devastating price.

I took out my phone, found the number I had kept buried for years, and dialed it.

"Mom, you were right. Nicolas is no good. He betrayed me."