Chapter 6
Sophia looked at Emily with open disdain.
Her tone dripped with contempt as she said, "A barren woman clinging to the Mrs. Rivers title for way too long. It's about time you stepped down.
"Emily, if you can't have kids, someone else will."
Emily's face went ghostly pale.
Ethan looked thunderous, his expression so dark that it threatened rain. He cut his eyes over to Claire on the hospital bed.
He snapped, "Claire, I warned you—don't try to play smart."
Claire's eyes brimmed with tears, pretending to be all fragile and pitiful.
She said, "Ethan, I just can't bear the thought of ending our baby's life."
But Ethan just snatched up the divorce papers from the table, tore them to shreds, and tossed the pieces straight into the trash.
He said, "Mom, I told you, it was my decision not to have kids—this has nothing to do with Emily."
Without sparing Sophia a glance despite her furious shouting, Ethan gripped Emily's hand—her face ghostly pale—and pulled her straight out of the hospital room.
Ethan led Emily to a quiet spot away from the crowd.
Seeing her red-rimmed eyes full of sadness, Ethan, who was always so composed, actually looked shaken for once.
He said, "Emily, that child was just an accident."
Emily looked at his nervous face and suddenly gave a weak, bitter smile. She asked, "If it hadn't been for that phone call dragging you here, I would've gone my whole life never knowing you had a child with another woman, wouldn't I?"
Ethan's face went stiff, and he fell silent.
Emily's eyes rimmed red. Now that everything had blown up in front of Sophia, she couldn't keep up the act or keep fooling herself anymore.
Her voice rasped as she spoke, "Ethan, your mom's right. I shouldn't keep clinging to the spot as Mrs. Rivers. Let's end this—let's get a divorce."
Ethan's expression tightened instantly.
He gave her a deep, serious look.
He said firmly, "Emily, trust me—you're the only woman I'll ever care about. I'll take care of this."
With that, he pushed her into the car and told the driver to take her home.
"Don't let Mrs. Rivers step outside," he ordered.
Ethan didn't come home until late that night.
Though he looked drained, seeing Emily made his face light up with a sudden smile.
He wrapped her in his arms, buried his face in her neck, and whispered, "It's over now, Emily. We can go back to the way things were."
Emily let him hold her, but didn't utter a word.
Only she knew—there was no going back for them.
The ominous countdown of death hung over her like a shadow.
It read: [1 day, 16 hours, 32 seconds.]
This was the final window she and Ethan had left to be together.
Seeing Emily stay quiet, Ethan swore again, even more earnestly.
He said, "Emily, it's all handled. My mom won't make you get a divorce, and I won't meet with Claire again.
"Trust me—nobody can ever pull us apart."
Emily just froze, saying nothing.
Deep down, she knew the opposite was true: Ethan's lack of real love for her was already pulling them apart.
But after a while, she couldn't help but bury her face in his chest, letting her tears soak through his shirt.
She whispered, "If you ever lie to me, you'll never find me again."
Ethan answered firmly, "I won't."
But Emily felt like someone was squeezing her heart, making it hard to breathe.
Ethan had no clue that—even though Emily couldn't step outside that afternoon—the System was showing her everything he did.
She knew exactly what he meant by "it's all handled"—he refused to divorce her, but he agreed to let Claire keep the baby.
She even saw him spending the past two days at the hospital with Claire for her prenatal checkups.
But she didn't ask a thing—she just leaned against his chest and softly asked, "Can you stay with me all day tomorrow?"
Ethan breathed a sigh of relief and hugged her tight. He replied, "Yeah, I will."
That night, Ethan was so exhausted that he fell asleep almost instantly.
Emily lay beside him, the night-light washing his face in a soft glow. For a long time, her gaze drifted over every line and curve, trying to drink in all she could before daylight took him away.
She couldn't even remember the last time she'd really looked at him like this.
Back in their first year of marriage, Ethan couldn't get enough of her—he was glued to her side.
But as time went on, he started staying out all night, and it felt like she had to make an appointment just to see him.
Emily reached out to gently touch Ethan's face, but as she lifted her gaze, that haunting death countdown appeared above them, forcing reality back in with a cruel slap.
It showed: [Death Countdown: 23 hours, 54 minutes, 47 seconds.]