Chapter 2

"Don't bother," I say.

I press my hand against my stomach. The dress caves inward.

"There's no point anymore."

Hunter turns around. His breath just stops.

Yara claps a hand over her mouth. "Sis! Hunter didn't fall for your little act, so you—you lost the baby out of spite?!" Her eyes go red. She looks at Hunter. "Hunter, how could she do that?!"

Hunter's eyes rim red. He grabs my wrist. "Are you insane?! Because I wouldn't give you three grand, you let our baby die?!"

"I didn't kill him," I say, voice cracking. "I told you. It was an emergency."

"Hunter! Look, she's lying to you again!" Yara marches over, waving my prenatal chart. "Every single checkup was perfect! There's no way she suddenly lost the baby last night!"

"You know exactly why I 'suddenly' lost him." I stare her down. "You think I don't know what you slipped into my soup?"

"Enough!"

Hunter shoves me hard. My lower back slams into the corner of the table.

"Stop pinning everything on Yara. Haven't you framed her enough already?"

Yara bites her lip, blinking up at me like a kicked puppy.

I hold my back. And suddenly I want to laugh.

It's always like this. Yara pushed me down the stairs? I made it up. Yara "lost" her own stream script? I set her up. Yara poisoned my soup? I'm making wild accusations.

I look at this man. The one I've loved for seven years.

I'm just tired.

"Fine. I'll never accuse her again."

I pull open the drawer. I slide the divorce papers across the table.

"I wish you both nothing but happiness."

Hunter freezes. His voice shakes. "Willow…"

"Ha." Yara scoffs. "Hunter, what did I say? When Plan A fails, they always pull out the divorce papers."

Hunter's hand hovers midair.

Yara turns to me.

" Hunter cares about you, so he gets played."

"But I'm a woman."

"I see right through you."

"Kneel with the bump, then abort and blame the miscarriage on him — make him feel guilty forever."

"Then the divorce papers, just in case."

"Honestly?"

"Most men wouldn't survive that combo."

"Even if he did divorce you, you'd milk his guilt for a fortune."

The panic in Hunter's face drains away. His eyes turn cold.

"Fine. Divorce. But you won't get a dime."

He snatches the papers. Flips to the asset section.

Stops dead.

Every line says the same thing. I walk away with nothing. Zero.

Hunter's head snaps up. Even Yara frowns.

"Sign it, Hunter," Yara says softly.

"She's betting you'll cave. If she offers to walk away with nothing, you'll pity her and hand over a fortune anyway. Then she gets the moral high ground and the money."

Her voice sharpens. "But a woman who'd use her own baby as a bargaining chip? She doesn't deserve either."

Hunter's grip tightens on the pen.

"Sign it. Once she sees the trick didn't work, she'll stop pulling it on other men."

Hunter laughs. Bitter. "Willow. I am so disappointed in you."

He scrawls his name across both copies. "You wanted to walk away with nothing. Enjoy."

He throws my copy at me. He's watching my face. Waiting for something.

I just tuck it away. Nothing on my face at all.

He frowns. Grabs Yara's hand. Walks out without looking back.

That night, Yara's stream blows up again.

"Ladies, watch closely. This is a woman weaponizing divorce to guilt a man into paying up. And I called it."

Our divorce papers fill the whole screen.

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