Chapter 2
Jessica was always trying to play peacemaker, never really picking a side.
I mumbled a couple of half-hearted replies and hung up.
Right after that, Jonathan shot me warning texts.
They read: [Don't go running your mouth in front of Jessica.]
[Get ready. I'll be back in two days, and we're getting the kids' DNA tested.]
His tone was ice-cold, keeping me at arm's length.
Clearly, he never believed in me, not for a single moment.
Our families went way back.
Jessica was my closest friend for years.
Four years ago, Jonathan was riding high after leaving the Air Force, all swagger and confidence.
And I'd just graduated from art school, still young and completely naive about the world.
But life threw me a curveball. My grandpa and parents were all killed in a plane crash.
I collapsed at the airport, sobbing my heart out, and Jonathan found me and took me home.
Jessica couldn't stand seeing me so alone.
She hoped I'd marry Jonathan, so I'd have a home again.
I found myself longing for Jonathan's calm, gentle arms, but he just ended up regretting ever taking me in.
He married me, but was almost never home. At first, he claimed he was busy prepping for his captain's exam, but after a while, he didn't even bother with excuses.
Because I loved him, I became a caged bird, trapped by my own devotion.
From that moment on, I taught myself to whip up every dish under the sun, even though I'd never so much as boiled water before.
I kept waiting for him to come home for dinner, but every single time, I was left hanging.
To him, the meals prepared by those flight attendants were always tastier than anything I could put on the table.
Everything I gave him, all my care and love—none of it ever meant a thing to him.
Still, I'd drive out to the airport on stormy nights, just to pick him up after work.
But all I ever saw was him locked in a kiss with some flight attendant, right there in the rain.
And the scarf I'd made for him? He just used it to clean her boots.
That night, I ended up sick with a burning fever.
Jessica blamed him for never caring about me.
He just turned to me with a cold smirk. "Maybe you should've studied acting instead of art."
Faintly, I could hear him on the phone, worriedly asking the flight attendant on the other end.
"Is your cold bad? Do you need to go to the hospital?" he asked.
When I woke up again, he was gone, and he'd even taken all the medicine with him.
Jessica tried to comfort me, sticking by my side and helping me choose a peaceful burial site for my family.
"I'm the last of the Moores," I whispered.
Jessica pulled me into her arms, holding me tightly.
"You can have two kids. One will carry the Carter name, the other the Moore name," she said softly.
That way, both families would have an heir.
It was like this was just my job, something I was supposed to do, but it ate away at me every single day and night.
It was because Jonathan barely ever slept with me. We'd been intimate only a handful of times.
Then, one day, I finally got him drunk.
"Pathetic. Shameless. Just a cheap slut," Jonathan sneered at me.
He ripped me to shreds with his words, not holding back for a second.
But in the end, I managed to get pregnant and ended up with twins—a boy and a girl.
Now that I'd fulfilled my duty, I was finally about to break free from this cage.