Chapter 5

I turned and walked into the exam room.

Right before the door closed, I could hear Andrew calling after me from the hallway. Each time he called my name, his voice sounded more desperate.

But it was already too late.

He wasn't desperate because he loved me. He was desperate because he finally realized that some things weren't his to keep, no matter how hard he tried.

The surgery couldn't be done right away.

The doctor looked over my test results and said one of my numbers was off, so they wanted to keep me under observation for a few days before deciding.

When Chloe helped me out, Andrew was still waiting in the hallway.

Ainsley was sitting on a bench, her ankle wrapped in bandages, and Carly was there, cradling Ainsley's foot and fussing over her.

When Carly saw me, her face immediately darkened. "Grace, you really crossed the line. Ainsley came to check on you out of kindness, and you pushed her so hard that she got hurt?"

Chloe was about to snap, but I held her back.

I said, "There are cameras in the hospital. You can go check what happened."

Carly was completely shut down.

Andrew stood up. "Let's go home."

"I'm going back to my own place," I said.

Carly let out a cold laugh. "Your own place? You've been living under our roof, eating our food for three years, and now you're carrying our blood. You think you can leave whenever you feel like it?"

"Mom," Andrew said, frowning, "stop, okay."

"Am I wrong?" Carly jabbed a finger at me. "She was a nobody who painted for a living. If she hadn't married into our family, she'd still be scraping by.

"And now? She thinks she's got it all figured out and wants to abort the baby."

I looked at her. "Sure, I live in the Humphrey house, but I never took a dime from you. Since I got married, I've paid half the bills. And those designer bags Andrew bought for Ainsley? He used my money for those, too."

Ainsley choked back a sob. "Grace, please don't put it that way. Drew felt sorry for me. That's the only reason he gave me those gifts. I never asked for them."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Seriously? You're so 'pitiful' that you took designer bags worth tens of thousands of dollars from someone else's husband. You literally treated Grace's husband as yours."

Carly's expression soured more. "Ms. Lane, this is our family business."

Chloe shot back. "Yeah, it's 'family business.' Look around. People are watching. You are making it a public scandal."

People around us started staring again.

Carly, who always cared about appearances, was so mad that her lips were quivering.

Andrew was barely holding back his anger. "Grace, tell your friend to leave. We need to talk."

"There's nothing left to talk about." I pulled out the divorce papers I'd had ready for a while. "I don't want the house or the car.

"We'll split our savings down the middle according to the bank statements. I'm not having this baby. Sign it, and we can end things cleanly."

Andrew took the divorce papers, barely glanced at them, and tore them in half.

The pieces fluttered to the floor of the hospital hallway.

"You think you can divorce whenever you want? Grace, what do you think marriage is?" Andrew snapped.

I stared at the torn pieces on the floor. "A grave. And now I want out."

Andrew's face turned stormy. "Don't regret this."

"You already said that last night."

Ainsley suddenly spoke up, "Grace, are you misunderstanding something between Andrew and me? I can leave. I promise you'll never have to see me again. Please don't let me be the reason your family falls apart."