Chapter 2

I messaged: [Today I finally get it. There's just no way to talk to someone who's basically from another species. Get the papers signed and split the assets, or my lawyer will be knocking on your door.]

After sending that, I blocked Harry everywhere.

In that moment, I finally felt some of that anger fade away.

I really let Harry walk all over me these past few years. Honestly, I regretted not being part of the executive team. I'm just as capable as he is. There was no way Harry's company would've blown up this fast without me.

When Harry realized I'd blocked him on every single platform, his heart dropped. Panic washed over him, like something precious had just slipped through his fingers.

Suddenly, he threw his phone at the wall in a burst of fury. The phone shattered into pieces on the floor, and the crash made everyone freeze in shock.

"Harry, what are you doing? You just scared Elsie. She's pregnant!" Nathaly blurted out.

"Dorothy, she blocked me!" Harry yelled.

Everyone shot each other looks, and then one woman sneered, "Dorothy? What's that washed-up has-been whining about now? She's a total nutcase, always glued to you like her life depends on you.

"Blocking you is just her way of begging for attention. God knows how much crap Elsie's had to deal with because of her!"

When Harry heard that bit about her not being able to live without him, he actually felt a little better. The others caught his slight relief and jumped right in, echoing the first woman's words.

"Exactly! Dorothy's pulled this kind of stunt before. Harry, she's just desperate to get noticed," another piped up.

"For real, anyone else might bail on you, but Dorothy? No way," someone else snorted.

"Totally! She's got no shame, always playing games to get you to look her way!" another woman scoffed.

Everyone started chiming in at once, smirking at me with those smug, dismissive looks.

"But so what? Harry still loves Elsie the most," someone snickered.

Those words actually made Harry feel safer, and he started thinking maybe that panic was just him overreacting.

'Dorothy leaving me? Not a chance,' Harry told himself.

"Harry, you should really let Dorothy stew this time. She's being totally unreasonable! Anyway, Elsie's got her checkup soon, right? You should go with her," someone chimed in.

Everyone cracked up, and the tension melted away like it was never there.

Harry nodded, his eyes soft and full of affection as he looked at Elsie.

"Elsie, I'll go with you to the prenatal checkup. Let's see our baby together," he said gently.

Elsie nodded shyly. "Just knowing you care is enough for me, Harry. I wouldn't want to bother you."

Elsie's trusting gaze made Harry's alpha male instincts kick into overdrive.

"You're the woman I adore, and you're carrying my baby. That's never a bother to me," he said.

Everyone around them started whooping and teasing, "You two are a match made in heaven!"

Harry was smiling, but then it hit him that back when he'd proposed to Dorothy, his friends had said the exact same thing.

Suddenly, he grew uneasy, and that wave of uncontrollable panic washed over him again.

I'd been in this small town for a week now, and I was finally settling in. I was even starting to get acquainted with the locals.

On one side of the house I was renting lived Nathaly Booth, who ran the barbecue shop, and on the other side was Tristan Delaney, the flower shop owner.

Nathaly had always been a firestorm in human form—intense, fearless, and incapable of holding her tongue. Once we grew close, she learned every detail of my past. The moment she heard my story, she slammed her palm against the table, eyes blazing.

"That man has no shame," she snapped. "After everything you gave him, he rewrites the story like it meant nothing. And he actually believes you can't live without him? The audacity. The ego!"

Tristan, usually silent to the point of invisibility, frowned so deeply that his brows seemed permanently locked in place. Even he spoke up. "No one dies just because someone leaves," he said quietly. "You'll be fine, Dorothy."

"Exactly!" Nathaly lifted her glass. "We're cutting that trash out of your life for good. You're going to thrive without him!"

Their words wrapped around me like warmth after a long winter. For years, I had been trapped in memories I refused to release.

But maybe the truth was simple: the world was full of decent people, and I wasn't lacking either. So why cling to someone who had already proven he wasn't worth it?

I smiled and nodded. "You're right. From now on, I live for myself."

Nathaly stood, raising her glass high. "To Dorothy's rebirth. To rising from the ashes."

"Cheers!"

I had not felt this light, this genuinely happy, since the moment my marriage with Harry had begun to crumble.