Adeline always had a way to threaten me, so I sighed and said to Jordan, "Fine, I’ll step down.”
“I’ll give the Vice President seat to that illegitimate daughter and be the housewife you’ve always wanted."
“Good,” he said. “Finally, you’re acting like an obedient wife. But Casey, how many times do I have to remind you? Adeline is your sister.”
I stared straight into his eyes. “No. She’s the illegitimate daughter of the Stevens family. Nothing more.”
He sighed and rubbed his temples like I was a misbehaving child. “Casey, I know you’re angry. But this is for your own good. Once you leave, you can focus on getting pregnant. Adeline’s just worried about you.”
‘So that you can screw her without guilt,’ I sneered silently.
But outwardly, I only smiled faintly. “That’s so kind of you both.”
I pulled out a stack of papers and placed them in front of him. “Sign these. I’ll leave once I finish this last task. But Jordan…”
I leaned forward slightly, my voice low and laced with something sharper.
“…You do realize I never played a game I couldn’t win, right?”
He chuckled, completely misreading my tone, his pen moving across the page without hesitation. He didn’t even read them.
“I know. Even if you’re stepping down, the next heir of Stevens will be our son, right?” He looked up with satisfaction. “That’s why it’s best to get pregnant soon—before Adeline marries into the Walton family.”
As the last signature fell into place, I gently gathered the documents, storing them neatly into my folder.
"Yes," I said with a pleasant smile. Then I turned to leave.
Outside the door, Adeline stood waiting, arms crossed and lips curled into a venomous smirk.
As I passed her, she leaned in and whispered, “Nothing in this world is truly yours. Everything you love eventually leaves you.”
Then, I woke up.
Not without reason did I dream of that scene again.
As if my own mind whispered the cruel truth, if I had no one.
Then, as expected, I was lying on a hospital bed alone.
My head pounding fiercely from last night’s fall, but I had no intention of staying any longer.
Just as I reached for the IV to pull it out, I heard the nurses talking outside.
"Even though Ms. Casey’s the first daughter and hit her head so badly until she was unconscious for two days, she’s just in a regular room. Meanwhile, Ms. Adeline, with just a scratch, is in VIP.”
“Right? And did you see her husband? He’s been with the younger sister the whole time. Honestly, those rumors about Ms. Casey being an Ice Queen must be true. Even her husband can’t stand her.”
Two days?
So, I’d been unconscious for two days and Jordan never even came.
My lips moved with barely a breath, “This kind of humiliation… I’ll never accept it again.”
I clenched my jaw, ripped the IV from my arm, and stood up.
There was no pain stronger than betrayal.
With only two days left until everything would be finalized, I went back to the house I had once called home.
I erased every trace of myself, wiped my fingerprints from the smart lock, packed my clothes in silence, and burned every photo, note, and keepsake Jordan and I had once shared.
Just as I handed off the last package for overseas shipment, Jordan’s car rolled into the driveway.
He stepped out, surprised. “Casey? What happened? I heard you suddenly left the hospital and now you’re here, packing?”
“Just clearing out old things,” I replied, my voice dull. “They’ve gathered too much dust. And I left the hospital because I wasn’t feeling at home there.”
He nodded with barely a thought. “I see. No problem. You can always buy new ones—whatever you like.”
That was it.
Not a single question about my injuries, not even a concern about my attitude.
That night, he came out of the bathroom, hair damp, carrying that same woody musk scent that used to make my heart race.
He sat beside me on the bed and wrapped an arm around my waist, like it meant something.
“Is tonight the right time to make a baby?” he murmured against my ear.
Once upon a time, I would’ve giggled and wrapped my arms around him. “Yes! The sooner the better!”
But tonight, I didn’t even flinch.
Instead, my mind drifted to the first night we were together.
I had cried from the pain, yet I smiled through it, convincing myself that pain was part of love.
Even when it became routine, or turned into a duty, I endured it all.
But not anymore.
This marriage had died. One more night, and I would be free.
So, I let him hold me, just this once, knowing it would be the last time.
Jordan leaned in, ready to kiss me.
But the moment his scent filled my nose, I smelled Adeline. It made my mind threw back to the moment I saw them making out in the office last week.
My stomach turned violently and I jumped off the bed, rushed to the sink, retching.
“Casey? What’s wrong?” Jordan’s hands gently held my hair back, patted my shoulder, and calmed me down just like he used to.
But the nausea wasn’t from illness. It was from the sickness of being fooled.
I held the edge of the sink, breathing heavily, until a sudden thought shot through me like lightning.
Wait, I hadn’t gotten my period this month!
My eyes widened and I rushed to the bathroom drawer, fumbling through the storage box until I found the test pack. My hands trembled as I tore it open.
“Wait... are you pregnant?” he asked, voice almost breathless. “Really?”
Panic swelled in my chest, and I blurted, “I’m not sure. I just want to check.”
While waiting for the result, his eyes lit up. As if this was good news for him.
Meanwhile, I was praying for a negative result, fingers shaking as I bit down on my knuckles to stay calm.
Jordan reached out my shaky hands and said with a soft smile, “You’re always so nervous.”
“It’s okay. Whatever the outcome is… we’ll go through it together.”
Together?
How could he say those words with the same mouth that whispered to Adeline?
How could the man I believed in, the man who made me trust love again, now be the same person who ruined me this deeply?
Tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn’t stop them.
I pulled my hand away sharply and stood up. “It’s time to check.”
And when the result appeared, the tears that brimmed finally fell.
