Chapter 4

Daniel and I went to work together the next morning. While he was in the restroom, he finally replied to Chloe.

Chloe: “Why did you ignore me all night? I was alone in that bar, and men put their hands on me. Do you even know that?”

She sent one frantic message after another, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. Daniel could only offer a few hurried words of comfort.

For the next several days, I stuck to him like glue. He barely had a chance to talk to her.

“I think my wife suspects something. We should end this. Don’t contact me again.”

Then he blocked and deleted her.

Decisive of him.

Chloe played the innocent little flower in front of Daniel, but in reality, she was a hard-partying regular on the bar scene.

Before she met him, she’d hooked up with—and offended—plenty of men in those bars. All I’d done the night before was make a call asking someone to teach her a lesson, and quite a few local thugs had shown up looking for her.

As for what happened after she left the bar, I had no idea.

Daniel and I were leaving work together when we spotted a disheveled woman outside the office. Her hair was a mess, dark circles ringed her eyes, and her clothes were rumpled.

“Ah!”

She looked like a ghost. Several employees jumped.

Daniel pretended not to see her and tried to hurry me away, but Chloe grabbed his arm.

“Daniel! Are you trying to dump me after everything? I’m pregnant! I’m carrying your baby!”

“Everyone, come look! Your boss is abandoning his own child…”

Her shouting drew stares. I slapped her across the face with a sharp crack, knocking her to the ground.

“Honey…” The same hand struck Daniel’s face, snapping his head to the side.

I sent the surrounding employees away, then spoke coldly.

“Stop pretending, Daniel. She’s the girl who came looking for you on Valentine’s Day, isn’t she?”

Daniel dropped to his knees.

“Honey, I was wrong. I know I was wrong… I already broke up with her. I don’t know why she came here. I really don’t.”

Chloe threw herself at him and clung to him. He shoved her away.

“Daniel, I’m carrying your baby! You can’t treat me like this!”

She tossed out a medical report, and I picked it up.

She’d been tested two days earlier. Four weeks pregnant.

“Honey, you have to believe me. She seduced me…”

I looked at his terrified face and said generously, “Daniel, I can forgive you. But you need to handle this yourself.” I stepped away and watched them struggle with each other from a distance.

A man’s devotion was such a joke.

All the care he once put into loving you could just as easily be turned toward hurting you.

Deciding it had gone on long enough, I was about to approach when Chloe fell down the stairs during their scuffle. Blood quickly soaked her tattered skirt.

I called an ambulance immediately.

The doctor said the baby couldn’t be saved. He also said she’d suffered a severe sexual assault the night before.

Karma, I thought.

Sitting in a taxi, I felt a surge of irritation. I took out my phone and messaged Noah.

“Come over. I want you.”