Chapter 3

So let me get this straight. The baby Edward was talking about, the one he thought I secretly had to win him back and stashed at Janet's house, was actually just some abandoned kid with an unknown background who possibly had XYY syndrome?

I stared at Edward's face, at that smug, self-satisfied expression that screamed, "I know what you did, I understand everything, you're obviously still so desperately in love with me that you secretly had my baby." A wave of pure absurdity and disgust crashed over me.

What made him think that after everything he'd done, after the cheating and the emotional abuse and treating me like furniture, I'd be pathetic enough to trap him with a baby?

Who the hell did he think he was? God's gift to women?

And then there were the people crowding this hospital room. Kevin, Oliver, that woman I didn't recognize, and Charlotte on the bed, still dabbing fake tears from her eyes.

They all had the same look plastered on their faces, that sneering "See? The wife's got a scheming side after all, using a baby to manipulate him" expression. It made my blood boil.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to sound calm, even threw in a hint of that panicked, wounded tone you'd expect from someone who just got caught. "Edward," I said carefully, "who told you that? I don't have any kid."

Edward sighed, and his voice took on this patronizing, almost indulgent tone, like he was dealing with a stubborn child who wouldn't admit she'd broken the cookie jar.

"Olivia, come on. You really gonna keep lying to me?" He shook his head slowly. "Karen already told me everything.

"You've been running to your mom's place multiple times every month, staying for days at a time. You say it's to keep her company, but you're actually taking care of a baby, aren't you? And your whole style changed recently.

"You're always wearing those baggy clothes now, trying to hide the postpartum belly, right? Plus, all those baby supplies that suddenly appeared at your mom's house. Formula, diapers, the whole nine yards. You think I don't notice these things?"

I glanced down at the oversized cashmere sweater I was wearing. I'd bought this exact piece at the boutique last month because it was the season's latest cut, and honestly, it just felt good to wear. The fabric was excellent, and the fit was perfect.

I'd been going to Janet's place so often because I was quietly moving my assets around, and I needed to stay off Edward's radar. I'd been using Janet's computer and address to handle everything.

And those baby supplies? My parents bought them after they found an abandoned infant on their doorstep!

I ground my teeth together. "Karen." That nosy woman who lived across the hall from my mom. She spent half her day starting drama and the other half trying to set me up with her deadbeat son.

She must've seen Janet holding the baby, jumped to her own ridiculous conclusion about me having a secret love child, and then "helpfully" informed who she thought was the father. Edward.

And this egomaniac actually believed her. Not only that, he'd filled in the blanks himself and decided I was doing all this to win him back!

Edward saw me staying quiet and must've taken it as confirmation. He stepped closer and lowered his voice into this conspiratorial tone, like we were sharing some intimate secret.

"And look, Olivia, I get it now. These past few months, you've been giving me the cold shoulder, acting like you don't care. You were playing hard to get, weren't you? Using the baby as leverage to make me come back."

He continued, "I'll admit, I screwed up before. I wasn't paying enough attention to you. But I'm here now, aren't I? I came back to you. Just give the baby to Charlotte, and we can start fresh.

"I promise I'll treat you better this time. We can have more kids together. Our own kids."

I stared at him, and I almost laughed out loud.

How delusional did this man have to be to think the entire world revolved around him?

I'd been cold to him because whatever tiny scrap of love I'd once felt for him had been ground into dust months ago, and I was too tired to even fake it anymore.

I'd been ignoring him because I was busy planning my exit and transferring every dollar I could get my hands on.

But in his mind, all of that somehow translated into me playing some elaborate game of hard to get? Using a baby to compete for his attention?

Charlotte's sobbing kicked in right on cue, cutting off Edward's heartfelt speech.

She lifted her tear-stained face to look at me, her voice soft and trembling with just a hint of barely concealed triumph underneath.

She said, "Mrs. Grant, so it's true. You really are carrying Edward's baby. I know I shouldn't ask for anything, but my baby's gone, and now I can never have children again. What's even the point of me being alive anymore?"

While she spoke, her eyes kept darting toward Edward from the corner of her vision, and her fingers clutched at the bedsheets like she was barely holding herself together. The whole performance screamed fragile and helpless, as if she might shatter at any second.

Edward immediately grabbed her hand, his face full of concern. "Charlotte, don't talk like that!" Then he turned to me with that look, the one that said, "Look how much she's suffering, how can you be so selfish?"

His voice took on a pleading edge. "Olivia, look at the state she's in! Can't you just be the bigger person here? What's the difference if you raise the kid or Charlotte does?

"Either way, it's a Grant family child, right? You can have more babies later. She can't. Just think of it as doing a good deed, okay? You'd be making up for what she lost."