Chapter 2

She hesitated for a long moment. Just before I got into the car, she finally steeled herself and spoke up. "Miss Arnold, are Cameron and Ezekiel your family?

"They've been with Miss Simpson this whole time. Maybe you should keep an eye on things."

She had overheard part of the conversation between them and the doctor. Her face was now filled with nothing but sympathy for me.

I silently thanked her for her kindness, then said with absolute finality, "That's impossible. My husband and child died a long time ago.

"They perished in a fire. Cameron and Ezekiel are nothing but strangers to me."

With that, I climbed into the car and shut the door. But my thoughts drifted back to that fire three years ago.

I will never forget that day. I lost the baby I was carrying, and I lost my ability to ever be a mother again.

I had just found out I was pregnant that morning. I was about to share the wonderful news with Cameron when he stumbled home, dead drunk.

The moment he saw me, he started mocking me, saying I was ungrateful and that I was nothing but a parasite clinging to him for support.

To make matters worse, Ezekiel had fallen ill. I was run ragged trying to take care of a sick child and a drunk husband.

I made Cameron a hangover remedy and coaxed him into drinking it. Then I focused all my energy on nursing Ezekiel.

After I finally managed to get his condition stabilized, I was so exhausted from the pregnancy that I collapsed by his bedside and dozed off for a moment.

That was when I lost track of what Cameron was doing.

He had somehow gotten his hands on a stack of ritual spirit money and started burning it right there in the living room. Then he passed out cold.

But he never made sure the fire was completely out. The smoldering embers ignited the house. By the time I noticed, the whole place was already engulfed in flames.

I hauled Ezekiel onto my back and dragged Cameron's dead weight out of the inferno. I got them out safely, shielded them from harm. But my own face was scorched by the flames.

The shock and terror caused me to miscarry, and that miscarriage destroyed any chance I had of ever carrying a child again.

Yet afterward, Cameron blamed me for being careless. Back then, I was still hopelessly in love with him.

When he frowned and questioned me, I was consumed with guilt. I shouldered all the blame myself. If only I had stayed alert that night.

From that day forward, they looked at me with revulsion. Whenever their eyes landed on the angry, permanent scar on my face, I saw nothing but pure disgust.

I returned home to find Cameron and Ezekiel already there. And Bella was with them.

They were all seated around the dining table, which was covered with a lavish spread of food.

The moment I stepped inside, I saw Cameron peeling a shrimp for Bella. Ezekiel, not to be outdone by Cameron, was racing to peel shrimp for her too. Bella's bowl was already piled high with peeled shrimp.

I let out a cold laugh before I could stop myself.

The instant they saw me, the smiles vanished from their faces. A sudden, heavy tension filled the room, as if I were some unwelcome intruder who had just crashed their private party.

Cameron furrowed his brow and asked, his voice laced with irritation, "Why are you back here?"

I listened to the accusatory tone in his voice and all I could do was laugh inside.

I ignored him completely. I changed into my house shoes, walked up the stairs, and looked down at them from the landing. "This is my house. Why wouldn't I come back?"

Bella shifted uneasily and said to me, "Mrs. Austin, Mr. Austin and Ezekiel just feel bad for me because I'm pregnant. They wanted to look after me, that's all. There's nothing else going on."

I looked at Bella. To be honest, I didn't hate her. Strangely, I actually owed her some thanks. She had shown me exactly what kind of men I had devoted my life to.

Bella was Cameron's first love, his high school sweetheart. Back in college, everyone on campus agreed they were the perfect couple.

I had never seen Cameron so passionately in love with anyone before. It was like he wanted to hand her the entire world on a silver platter.

But Bella came from a modest background. During their senior year, the Austin family business hit a rough patch.

To weather the storm, Cameron's father, Henry, brought Cameron to my home to propose a marriage alliance with the Arnold family.

Our family had ties in both business and government. The Austins were hardly in our league. But my father owed his life to Henry, who had once saved him in his younger years.

And I had just returned from studying abroad and fallen for Cameron the moment I laid eyes on him. So the engagement was set.

Looking back on all those years I spent with Cameron, it was as if I had been under some kind of spell. I gave him everything I had, heart and soul.

It didn't matter that he often looked at me with cold indifference. It didn't matter that he stayed in constant contact with Bella and rushed to her side the second she needed anything.

None of that mattered to me then.

As long as I could stay by his side, I kept telling myself that if I just loved him a little harder, I might eventually take Bella's place in his heart.

So when I was sick, and he was off walking on the beach with Bella because she couldn't sleep, I said nothing.

When he missed every single one of my prenatal checkups because Bella always had some small crisis that required his help, I let it slide.

Even when I was in labor with Ezekiel and Bella had a bad dream, he stayed by her side instead of mine.

Thinking about it now, I feel like such a fool.

I actually believed I could replace his precious first love. Cameron was right about me all along. I really didn't know my place.

But what cut me the deepest was my child choosing Bella over me.

The moment those words left his mouth, 'I want Bella to be my new mom,' something inside me just died.