Chapter 2

My tears finally started to fall, one after another, hitting the photo frame I was holding in my arms.

Edward was silent for a couple of seconds, and then his voice softened a bit. "Grace, I know this is hard for you to accept. But Leo already exists, and that's a fact no one can change.

"Nathan's gone, and I'm hurting, too. But we can't keep living in the past."

I looked up at him, and suddenly, he felt like a complete stranger to me.

"Living in the past?" I whispered. "Edward, Nathan's only been gone for three days."

"So what?" Margaret blurted out. "The dead can't come back. Is the whole family supposed to—"

She stopped abruptly, cutting herself off.

The viewing room was so quiet that I could hear every breath.

I stared at her, enunciating each word. "What are you trying to say?"

Margaret's expression shifted. "N-Nothing."

"I get it," I said with a bitter laugh. "You wish Nathan had died sooner, so your precious grandson could finally be accepted into the family, right?"

"Grace," Edward barked. "Don't go too far!"

"Me? Going too far?" I hugged the photo frame tighter, my chest aching like a knife was twisting inside. "Anyone else can say I've gone too far, but the Shaw family has no right!"

With that, I turned and walked over to the coffin, gently touching the lid. "Nathan, I'm taking you away."

Everyone froze.

"What do you mean?" Edward's face darkened.

I turned back to him. "My son won't be buried in the Shaw family plot."

"This is outrageous!" Margaret shrieked. "Nathan is the eldest grandson of the Shaw family. How can you not let him be buried in the Shaw family plot?"

"Because you don't deserve Nathan." I stared her down. "Your family plot is filthy."

"Grace!"

Margaret rushed at me, trying to snatch the photo from my arms, but I clung to it desperately. In the chaos, the wreath by the coffin got knocked over, and the viewing room was a mess.

Leo was so scared that his cries got even louder.

Edward finally snapped. He grabbed my shoulder and yanked me back. "Enough!"

I hadn't eaten much in three days, so when he pulled me, everything went dark and I slammed hard into the corner of the table.

Pain shot through my forehead, and warm blood started trickling down my temple.

The whole place erupted into chaos.

"She's bleeding!"

"Call an ambulance!"

"Edward, how could you lay a hand on Grace?"

I held my forehead and slowly lifted my head.

Blood trickled down through my fingers, blurring everything in front of me.

But even then, I could see clearly that Edward didn't even look at me. His first instinct was to shield Leo in his arms, softly comforting him, "It's fine. Daddy's here."

Daddy was here. What a joke.

Where was he when Nathan was dying?

I looked at Edward, and just like that, my tears dried up.

"Edward," I said in a low voice, "let's get a divorce."

The room fell silent again.

Margaret burst out laughing, like she'd just heard the funniest thing ever. "Divorce? You? A woman who can't give us another child, who couldn't even protect her own kid?

"What makes you think you have the right to ask for a divorce?"

I turned to her, and the last trace of warmth in my eyes vanished.

I said, "See you in court, then."

With that, I clutched Nathan's photo and turned to walk out.

"Don't you dare step out that door!" Margaret screeched from behind. "Grace, you've been mooching off the Shaw family for years.

"Now that Nathan's gone, you think you can walk away with a member of our family? Keep dreaming!"

I stopped in my tracks and slowly turned back.

"Mooching off you?" I sneered. "Margaret, maybe you forgot that the down payment for this villa came from the payout my dad got when his old house was condemned.

"And the seed money Edward used to start his business? I sold the gold bracelet my mom left me, just to make ends meet.

"Even that studio you all brag about as the Shaw family's property? I rented it with my premarital savings."

Margaret's face froze.

I kept going, "All these years, Edward's been out there acting like some big shot, but when he was dead broke, I was the one buying his suits with my own salary."

A few relatives' expressions shifted, and the way they looked at Edward suddenly changed.

Edward's brows furrowed, his voice icy. "Grace, don't start rehashing the past here."

"Rehashing the past?" I nodded. "Alright, let's leave the old stuff behind. Let's settle the new score."

I looked at the kid in his arms and asked, word by word, "How old is this child?"

Edward stayed silent.

Margaret, puffing up like a mother hen, shot back, "So what if he's five? Men fool around. It's normal. As Edward's wife, can't you be more generous?"

I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Leo was five. Nathan was six.

So while I was pregnant, waiting to give birth, barely surviving those sleepless nights with a newborn in my arms, my husband was already busy building a whole new family behind my back.

"Normal?" I looked at Margaret. "So this is what the Shaw family calls tradition—cheating and having illegitimate kids."

"Shut up!" Edward finally stepped forward, his voice low. "Let's bury Nathan first. We'll talk about this later."

"There's nothing left to talk about." I wiped the blood from my forehead. "From now on, the only thing between us is a lawsuit."

With that, I pulled out my phone right in front of everyone and dialed a number.

I said, "Hello, is this Mr. Carter? This is Grace Shaw. I want a divorce. And I suspect my son's death wasn't an accident."

As soon as I said that, Edward's face drained of color.

Not just him. Margaret's face lost all color in an instant.

I caught every detail of their expressions, and a heavy weight pressed down on my chest.

So I was right. There really was something off about Nathan's death.