Ethan frowned deeply, urgency creeping across his face.
Clara's gaze fell on the words "ten minutes" on the tablet, her heart tightening at once.
Ethan's anxious voice rang in her ears.
"There's a shootout in the west side. The second-in-command and his people are at each other's throats. I'm the only one who can keep it under control. Honey, if I don't go, people will die."
Before Clara could even respond, he turned and hurried away.
He really was worried he wouldn't make it within ten minutes.
Clara let out a cold laugh and began tapping rapidly on her tablet. Her computer skills were exceptional. Hacking into Ethan's phone and tracking his location was effortless for her.
She had simply never bothered to do something like this before.
What she hadn't expected was that in less than ten minutes, Ethan appeared at the old house in the slums where she, Ethan, and her mother had once lived.
After her mother passed away, she sold the old house. She needed money for the funeral, and she feared greedy relatives would swoop in and take everything. So she took Ethan and left, struggling to survive elsewhere.
That house carried her memories with her mother, and the bond she shared with Ethan.
After they finally gained money and power, Ethan bought the house back immediately and gave it to her as a birthday gift.
Yet they hadn't returned there in a very long time.
Clara sent a voice call request to Ethan's phone and remotely forced it to connect. At once, Ethan's ingratiating voice came through. "Ten minutes. Just in time. I'm not late."
A loud kiss echoed, followed by a woman's soft, delicate voice. "At least you made the right choice. I thought you were going to ditch me for that old woman."
Ethan showed no displeasure at all. Instead, he kept coaxing her.
"You heartless little thing. I come to see you the moment I get free. Look, this is the Heart of True Love diamond ring I just won at auction. It's for you."
Clara froze slightly, bitterness flooding her chest.
She remembered how a woman once mocked her for being old. Ethan had walked up and slapped that woman several times without hesitation.
Six months ago, when the Heart of True Love ring was first released, he promised he would buy it for her no matter what.
Now, he handed it to another woman without the slightest hesitation.
Listening to their flirting, Clara felt as if her heart were bleeding.
After her mother died, the slum house filled her with fear and grief. Whenever she came close, tears would spill uncontrollably, the pain so intense it made her faint.
Every time she tried to endure the pain and go back, Ethan would stop her, his face full of concern.
So that was why. He was afraid she'd discover his affair.
The woman's breathless moans and the man's hoarse growls filled her ears, thick with desire.
Just from the sounds, Clara knew exactly where they were. On the sofa her mother had loved most.
On the table nearby sat her mother's portrait and ashes.
If her mother could see this from beyond the grave, how much would it break her heart for Clara?
Clara covered her mouth, sobbing soundlessly. Yet she forced herself to listen to every unbearable sound.
At last, she wiped away her tears, resolve slowly hardening on her face.
She pulled out a phone she had never used from beneath her pillow and dialed the only number saved on it.
"Didn't you always want me to acknowledge you as my father? Come pick me up in three days. I'll agree to become your heir."
Clara had stayed here for love. Now that love was gone, there was no reason to remain.
During the six months Clara spent in the hospital, Ethan came every evening to eat with her, talk with her, and stay by her bedside until she fell asleep.
In all of Asterfall, everyone knew she was the woman closest to his heart.
Yet no one knew that even a man like him could be unfaithful.
Ethan sat by the hospital bed, arranging the meal in front of Clara and lifting his spoon to feed her. Then he looked up and saw her swollen, tear-filled eyes.
He hurried over and pulled Clara into his arms, gently patting her back.
"What's wrong? Is the baby bothering you again? When the baby's born, you'll have to teach him a lesson."
He lifted food to her lips. Clara opened her mouth numbly, swallowing mechanically without sparing him a single glance.
Suddenly, nausea surged up her throat, and she turned aside to vomit.
Without a second thought, Ethan reached out and caught what she threw up.
He didn't care about his cleanliness at all, his eyes filled only with concern for her.
He had always been this considerate, his world seemingly revolving entirely around Clara.
In the past, Clara would have been deeply moved.
But now she knew the truth. The carefully prepared pregnancy diet wasn't made for her at all. It had been designed by a nutritionist specifically for Ivy Zane.
She was nothing more than an afterthought.
Just moments earlier on the voice call, Clara had clearly heard Ivy retching, spitting out the soup she had just swallowed.
"Honey, it smells too strong. I can't drink it."
Ethan coaxed her tenderly.
"If you can't drink it, then don't."
"Pour it out. I couldn't help it earlier and threw up in it."
Ethan chuckled softly. "Alright. I'll dump it into the trash later."
And at that very moment, the soup that was meant for the trash was being spooned into Clara's mouth by Ethan.
At that moment, countless thoughts flooded Clara's mind…
She even wondered whether the meals he had brought her before might have also…
A wave of indescribable disgust surged up. Clara could no longer hold it back and leaned over the bed, retching into the trash can.
But the moment she saw the trash can, a deep sorrow washed over her.
So in Ethan's eyes, was she nothing more than a trash can?
Pressure tightened in her abdomen, accompanied by a sharp, hidden pain, as if the child inside her were protesting.
Clara cried out in pain, tears spilling freely at last.
After all their years as husband and wife, how could Ethan humiliate her like this?
