Chapter 3

He bent down without warning and bit my lip.

The metallic taste of blood spread fast, and I winced at the pain.

One year of dating, four years of marriage, and he had never once kissed me first.

Even in our most intimate moments, it was always me reaching for him.

There was a time I used to dream he'd come to me on his own, just once.

But now, all I felt was disgust.

I bit him back, hard.

He flinched at the pain and shoved me away.

I lifted my head, eyes red, glaring at him. "You want a child? Go find another woman to give you one. That little assistant of yours looks like she'd jump at the chance."

Victor froze. "What did you just say?"

My eyes burned as I screamed it out. "I said, if you want a kid, go make one with that little assistant of yours! Stop coming around here making me sick."

"Victor, the man you are right now truly, truly disgusts me!"

He stared at me, hard, as if he could nail me to the spot.

Three seconds later, he suddenly laughed.

"Fine! Since you're so generous, I'll give you exactly what you want."

"Don't you dare regret it! And don't come crying to beg me!"

The door slammed shut behind him.

Silence settled in.

I stared at the closed door, tears falling without a sound, until I finally broke and sobbed out loud.

As if to cry out every grievance of all these years at once.

Victor, this time, I won't regret it.

And I won't grovel and beg you ever again.

I raised a hand to wipe my tears and made a phone call.

"Hayden, the funding we gave Victor back then. Pull it."

Victor didn't come home all night.

Early the next morning, I went to the law firm to draw up the divorce papers.

It was the weekend, so he didn't have to work.

But I had no idea where to find him.

Just then, a video popped up on my phone.

Right behind it, my best friend's voice came blasting through.

"Val! Isn't this that ice-cold, untouchable husband of yours?"

"I was shopping at Lumiere One and saw him out with some woman! He actually crouched down and tied her shoelaces for her!"

"You're only four months pregnant, and he's already out hunting for fresh meat? That bastard, does he have any shame left at all? Ugh, I swear I'm going to kill both of those lowlifes!"

I tapped the video open.

On the screen, the man who had always loomed over me, untouchable, gave in to a few coaxing words from the girl beside him and crouched down to tie her shoelace.

She laughed and filmed him with her phone, and he was smiling too, helpless against her.

My heart still ached, no matter how I tried to stop it.

It wasn't that I'd never wanted that from him.

It was just that back then, he always wore that look of being above it all.

He never refused, but he never did it either.

He left me to awkwardly find my own way out of the moment.

I tugged at the corner of my mouth and texted her back.

"He and I are getting divorced."

The message had barely sent when an unknown number called in.

"Is this Ms. Pruitt? Your husband got into an altercation with a friend. Please come down to the police station as soon as you can."

My best friend had a temper, but I never expected her to move this fast.

I hurried out and flagged down a cab.

The moment I reached the door, the shouting was still going strong.

"Victor! Can you live with what you've done to Valerie? She's only four months pregnant, and you couldn't even keep it in your pants! You actually paraded your mistress around shopping and tied her shoes for her! Why don't you just go die!"

"Our Val was so good to you, loved you so much—"

"Wasn't that her own choice, throwing herself at me?" Victor cut her off, his face cold.

I froze where I stood.

Victor's voice kept going. "Did I ask her to be good to me? Did I ask her to love me? Wasn't she the one who debased herself back then, the one who came chasing after me, who climbed into my bed, who married me the second I crooked my finger? So what does her devotion have to do with me? I don't love her. Why should I owe her anything in return? Now she's pregnant. Does that mean I'm supposed to stay chained to her forever?"