Chapter 2

Daniel didn't come home all night. When he finally walked in the next morning, he reeked of a perfume I'd never smelled before.

I was sitting on the couch, having stayed up all night. "Where were you?" I asked.

"Charlotte just got back, and she's having a hard time adjusting, so I kept her company," he said flatly, taking off his coat. A long strand of hair was caught on it.

It wasn't mine. My voice trembled as I pointed at the hair. "Daniel, I'm pregnant with your child."

He frowned, clearly impatient, "Emily, can you stop being unreasonable? Charlotte and I are just friends.

"She needs me. I can't ignore her."

I'd heard the same old story a thousand times over the past five years.

Whenever Charlotte called, no matter the time or place, Daniel would drop everything and rush to her side.

I thought when he proposed to me, it meant everything between him and Charlotte was finally over.

"What about the baby and me?" I asked, my eyes red. "Don't we need you too?"

Daniel scoffed, "Aren't you always the sensible one?"

His words stabbed straight through my heart.

"Emily, don't let me down," he said, then turned and walked into the bathroom.

I watched his back, my whole body going cold.

Because I was sensible, I deserved to be left behind and to tolerate my husband spending time with another woman.

Maybe in his eyes, I was a full-time nanny, or a baby-making machine.

In the days that followed, Daniel came home later and later, and sometimes he didn't come home at all.

Whenever I asked, he'd just shrug me off, saying he was busy at work or that Charlotte needed him.

I was sick all the time, throwing up everything I ate, and lost 11 pounds in just two weeks. He didn't even seem to care.

All his tenderness and patience went to Charlotte, the one he was always talking to on the phone.

One day, I'd just managed to swallow a cup of coffee, only to end up clutching the wall, vomiting so hard I felt like the world was spinning.

My phone rang. It was Charlotte. She asked to meet, said she wanted to talk face-to-face about something concerning Daniel.

I gripped my phone, and almost without thinking, I said yes.

I wanted to know what she really thought of Daniel and me.

I also wanted to finally put an end to it.

*****

We met up at a café.

Charlotte wore a white dress, her long hair draped over her shoulders. She looked innocent and unassuming.

She had the classic heroine look, pure, delicate, the kind that made men want to play hero around her.

"Miss Hart, thank you for meeting me," she said, stirring her coffee with a faint smile.

"Just say what you want," I said, not in the mood for small talk.

"Daniel still loves me," Charlotte said, her eyes filling with tears as she looked up at me.

"I know it's cruel to say, but it's the truth. He's only with you because you're like me.

"He told me you look especially like me when you smile," she added softly.

My mind buzzed. I had no idea that I was really just her stand-in all this time.

"Thanks for all your hard work these past five years," Charlotte said, her voice laced with pity. "You really took good care of him.

"But now that I'm back, you can step aside."

Every word she spoke cut me to the core.

Under the table, I clenched my palm so hard my nails dug into my skin, trying to keep myself together.

"Miss Summers, I'm pregnant with Daniel's child," I said, looking her straight in the eye. "We're about to get married."

Her innocent look disappeared, replaced by a mocking smile.

"A child?" Charlotte scoffed. "Miss Hart, you don't seriously think having his baby will make him stay, do you?

"The only reason he wanted you to have his baby is just—"

Before she could finish, a piercing screech of brakes rang out from outside the café. A runaway truck was charging straight toward us.

The glass windows shattered instantly. I instinctively tried to protect my belly, but in that split second, a strong hand suddenly shoved me forward.

I was thrown out of my seat like a rag doll, straight into the path of the speeding truck.

The pain was about to overwhelm me. But the last thing I saw was Daniel bursting in. He stepped right over my bleeding body without a glance, pulling Charlotte into a tight embrace instead.

He held Charlotte, who was shaking like a leaf, his voice filled with a frantic fear and panic I'd never heard from him before. "Charlotte, don't be scared. I'm right here."

Only then did he finally lower his gaze to me, sprawled on the floor. The look in his eyes was icy and unfamiliar, as if I were nothing but a stranger to him.

"You're strong. This kind of injury is nothing to you.

"You're hard to kill, you'll survive," Daniel said

A ripping pain tore through my abdomen, and warm blood pooled beneath me.

I stared at him, utterly stunned. This was the man I'd loved for five years. This was the father of my child.

To him, neither the baby in my belly nor I could ever compare to even a single strand of hair on his beloved Charlotte.

Right before everything faded to black, I couldn't help but laugh to myself. 'Daniel, I really was an idiot for loving you.