Chapter 3

My footsteps froze where I stood.

Declan's eyes fixed on me like a scalpel.

"I'm asking you a question, Clara."

I thought he'd finally figured out that I wanted a divorce.

For a fleeting moment, a laughable flicker of anticipation rose in my chest.

But his next words crushed that flicker to dust.

"Are you planning to sue Sienna?"

I almost laughed out loud.

So from beginning to end, the only person on his mind was that woman.

"So that's what you thought."

"If so," he said, enunciating each word, "I need you to stop right now."

"Stop?"

"Sienna has severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Any legal action could push her into a complete breakdown. And you'd drag patient privacy and hospital regulations into a public lawsuit. Do you have any idea that would destroy my career?"

"Your career." I repeated. "So that's all you're worried about."

"She didn't hit you on purpose. She was in the middle of an episode—"

"Declan." I cut him off. "She killed our child. And you want me to let it go?"

His jaw tightened. "You won't win. If you insist on making a scene, you'll lose far more than you think."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a fact." He stood up. "You're extremely unstable right now. Post-surgical complications, the grief of losing a child, depression—as a doctor and as the child's father, my testimony carries a lot of weight."

"If I wanted to, I could prove you're unfit to raise a child. One psychiatric evaluation, and Lily would never be with you again."

The floor beneath me seemed to tilt.

"You're saying... you'd take Lily away."

"I'm saying, don't push me, Clara. You lay one finger on Sienna, and I'll make sure you never even see your daughter's face again."

I could barely breathe.

Having said his piece, he moved to head for the door.

I didn't step aside. Instead, I reached out and pulled Lily to me, rolling up her sleeve.

A patch of bruises and welts was exposed.

"Declan, look at this. This is what Sienna left on your daughter while you were at work."

Declan's gaze fell on the bruises.

For an instant, his fingers twitched, and shock flashed in his eyes.

But the next second, that flicker of doubt hardened over again.

"What kid doesn't get bumps and bruises? You're just too sensitive, insisting on treating her like a villain."

"It wasn't a bump!" Lily rushed over and wrapped her arms around Declan's leg, her voice trembling. "She pinched me, Daddy! She said if I told you and Mommy, she'd lock me in the dark room!"

Declan lowered his eyes, looking at the daughter clinging to his leg.

His gaze drifted back and forth between Lily's reddened eyes and that patch of bruises.

At that very moment, a broken voice rang out.

"I... I can't go on anymore."

Sienna held a knife to her throat, tears pouring down her face.

"It's all my fault. I should have died in that crash..."

"Sienna—" Declan lunged toward her in a single stride.

"Don't come near me!" She shook her head violently, staggering backward. "You all hate me. I'd be better off dead..."

"You're not going anywhere." Declan wrenched the knife away and pulled her into his arms. "You're safe. I'm here."

She collapsed into his embrace, weeping as though her heart would shatter.

And just like that, everything changed.

Lily's injuries, my accusations—all of it was drowned out by those sobs.

Declan glared at me, fury burning in his eyes.

"Are you satisfied now? You drove her to the brink. Is this what you wanted?"

"You're using Lily as a weapon!" he roared. "You taught her to lie, just to get revenge for an accident that Sienna never meant to cause. You are despicable."

In that moment, my last shred of illusion about Declan shattered into powder.

"Let's get divorced," I said.

Declan's hand, supporting Sienna, stilled, as if he hadn't heard clearly. He turned his head and stared at me blankly. "What?"

"I want a divorce."

His face darkened abruptly. "Clara, are you seriously using divorce to blackmail me now?"

He was certain I was merely throwing a tantrum.

I didn't bother explaining any further.

I took Lily's hand, turned, and went back to the guest room.

That night, after coaxing Lily to sleep, I sat alone in the dark.

Footsteps sounded in the hallway.

Sienna stood in the doorway.

"Let's talk," she said, closing the door behind her.

"Clara. Declan knows. He's known all along."

My heart lurched. "Knows what?"

"I hit you on purpose." Her smile deepened. "I told him from the very beginning. Guess what he said?"

"He said he'd handle it. He said he'd make sure you never got hold of any evidence. He said he'd protect me."

She tilted her head and looked at me.

"Clara, he chose me. He's chosen me all along. You were nothing but... a substitute."

She leaned in close and lowered her voice.

"That crash wasn't an episode either, Clara. It was my choice. I wanted you gone. I wanted your baby dead. And I got exactly what I wanted."

She straightened up and smoothed her hair.

"So go ahead and make your scene. Go ahead and run away with Lily. Declan won't stop you."

She turned and left.

I stood frozen in place.

Her words stabbed into my mind like a needle, over and over.

He knew. He knew from the very beginning.

So my husband had known all along, and chosen to cover up everything for her.

I once thought that the night I lost my child and lost my uterus was the deepest rock bottom of my entire life.

Only now did I understand—I was wrong.

Two days later, Declan announced he was taking Sienna to a private retreat in Napa Valley to recuperate.

Just before heading out, he didn't forget to warn me against overthinking.

"Our wedding anniversary is coming up soon. I'll rush back for it. Clara, you and Lily—wait for me at home."

I listened quietly, offering no rebuttal.

I watched him help Sienna into the car, watched that car pull out of the driveway.

Only when the entire house had fallen completely silent did I walk into the guest room and drag out the suitcase I had long since packed.

Lily shouldered her backpack.

Before leaving, I took the signed divorce agreement out of my bag and placed it in the center of the dining table.

Then, I took my daughter's hand.

"Let's go, Lily. Mommy's taking you away from here."