Hailey's POV
My face had been slashed beyond recognition, bruised and smeared with the imprints of Caden's leather shoes pressed into my skin.
I took a deep breath. 'Forget it.
There was nothing left to pack anyway.'
Then and there, I grabbed my passport and a few documents, my hands shaking as I shoved them into my bag. I had nothing left here. The life I once knew was shattered.
I was done.
Just as I was about to leave, the door swung open.
Caden walked in, holding Veronica in his arms, just like he had on our wedding day when he carried me across the threshold.
The same words he had once whispered to me, words I used to cherish, came tumbling from his mouth. "The bride's feet should never touch the ground; only then can she have happiness for the rest of her life."
Veronica giggled, utterly charmed by him.
But the moment their eyes met mine, everything stopped.
The warmth between them turned to ice.
Caden's face shifted, a flicker of satisfaction and mockery flashing in his eyes.
"Aren't you proud of yourself, Hailey? I told you not to come back. You ran off, and now you're here? Jealous, huh? Regretful now that you've seen me and Veronica on our honeymoon? Too late. Even if you get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness, I won't go easy on you this time."
Veronica, pale but smiling stiffly, shifted in his arms.
"Caden, please," she said, her voice shaky but polite. "Put me down. I'm not really your wife. If you keep holding me like this, Hailey will get upset."
But Caden remained indifferent.
His gaze stayed cold, unyielding, locked on mine. "I've made it clear. Even if I marry Veronica, what's it to you? I don't love you, so you're the outsider. You don't deserve to carry my kid. Hailey, you get me?"
I felt the weight of his words sink deep inside me, hollowing me out.
My chest constricted, and it hit me that there was nothing more to express, nothing more to strive for. Everything was lost—everything we had created and everything I had faith in.
Caden had destroyed it all.
I reached into my bag, shaking my hands as I pulled out the divorce papers.
"Go ahead and sign it," I said, keeping my voice steady even though I was burning inside. "Make Veronica your wife—for real, on paper and in your heart."
Caden swiftly scooped Veronica into his arms, ignoring her panic, and strode over to me. He snatched the papers from my hands and, with a cruel smile, ripped them to shreds, throwing the pieces in my face.
I closed my eyes, the sound of Caden's grinding teeth almost drowning out the bitter words that followed.
"You want a divorce? Dream on. You've wasted so many years of my life, and now you want to walk away just like that? Dream on."
And that was it. There was no chance for reconciliation.
There was no chance for anything other than the cold truth that I was nothing more than a discarded memory of him.
A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
I turned to leave, but Caden's hand shot out, grabbing my wrist with a brutal grip.
"Where do you think you're going?" he barked. "Trying to run away from home again? Ever since Killian came back, you can't even stand to stay in this house, can you?"
I snapped, losing the last shred of restraint I had left. "What does Killian have to do with this? You want me to stay here and watch the two of you play house? Pretend this is some happy little family?"
Then I glared at him, my disgust flooding through me. "My God, Caden! Do you have a fetish for cuckoldry? Do you need to see me here, watching you and her be affectionate to get off?"
Caden's chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, shock briefly crossing his face.
A sick grin spread across his features. "You're jealous?"
I turned my head away, refusing to engage.
But the weight of his presence was suffocating.
"Yeah, I really do have that fetish," he mocked.
He released my wrist and strolled toward Veronica, who had been silent all this time.
Then, he taunted, "I love watching you stay by our bed, Hailey. After all, you know my rhythm in bed better than anyone. You know when to pass the Smurfs and when to hand me the wet wipes."
His words were a slap. A gut-wrenching, heart-crushing slap.
I closed my eyes, repulsed, my hands trembling as I tried to steady myself.
I wanted to scream. To hit him. To lash out. But I couldn't.
"Besides, I'm not as shameless as you," he scoffed, a dark, bitter laugh escaping him. "I can't even imagine marrying someone else while carrying another man's child… and still sleeping with him."
The accusation landed with the force of a thousand knives, each one twisting deeper.
I shook.
From the anger, from the devastation.
My entire body trembled as I tried to push him away, but the shock was too much. Numb and broken, I stumbled toward the door, desperate to leave.
But as I walked by Veronica, her expression turned cold. Without warning, she stuck her foot out, blocking my path.
I couldn’t dodge in time.
The next thing I knew, I was falling. The world tilted, my body hurtling down the stairs. The sound of my bones cracking was deafening, the searing pain nearly unbearable.
I heard Caden's frantic cry just before everything went black.
