Chapter 2
She had been about to say the same thing, just not expecting him to say it
first.
“It’s only temporary,” Matt said quickly, like he’d rehearsed it.
“Leah’s due in a month, and to register the baby under my name, it
requires the biological parents to be legally married. Once the baby’s born, I’ll divorce her. Then we can…”
“Remarry?”
Marissa gently finished his sentence, her heart clenching as if squeezed by an unseen force.
“Yes!” His eyes lit up, like a weight had been lifted.
“I’ve already talked to her. Once she gives birth, she’ll take the money and leave. That child… We’ll raise it as our own, okay?”
Marissa stared at his moving lips, feeling a deep, cold chill spread through her body.
“Marissa?” he urged. “Sign it. The lawyer’s waiting to process the paperwork.”
She took the pen, her fingers trembling.
The second the tip touched the paper, a tear fell right on the word “divorce,” soaking it into a blur.
Matt didn’t seem to notice. He tucked away the signed papers and leaned down to kiss her forehead, but she turned her head.
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He froze for a moment, then straightened up as if nothing had happened.
“Marissa, just wait for me.”
The door closed softly behind him, but to her, it landed like a hammer on her chest.
Wait? She wasn’t waiting anymore.
Marissa yanked out the IV and, despite the pain, forced herself out of bed to sign the discharge papers.
J
As she passed the OBGYN ward, she heard his voice.
“Walk slowly. Watch the steps.” His tone was so soft it sounded like someone she didn’t even know.
“The doctor said the baby’s developing well.”
“Mr. Holloway, listen!” Leah’s excited voice rang out. “The baby’s kicking!”
“Let me hear.” Matt’s voice was filled with a smile. “So active, it must be
a boy.”
“You like boys more?”
“I like both,” he said softly. “I’ve already picked the names. If it’s a boy, Julian Holloway. If it’s a girl, Willa Holloway.”
Marissa leaned against the cold wall, her nails digging deep into her palms.
She remembered that rainy night five years ago–Matt standing outside her apartment, soaked, eyes red like they were about to bleed.
“Marissa, no kids is fine with me. I just want you.
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“I don’t even like children, really.”
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And now, he was on his knees in front of another woman, listening to her baby kick with anticipation, and had even chosen names.
“Matt, oh Matt. If you loved children so much, then why did you choose me? Why say I was the only one? Why lie to me?” Marissa thought to herself.
She turned and walked away, her tears falling onto the hospital’s polished floor, shattering like glass.
In the taxi, she called her parents.
“Dad, Mom, I want to come find you abroad.”
Her parents were shocked.
“What happened? Weren’t you and Matt doing great? Did he hurt you?”
Marissa’s throat tightened. “No… We just don’t love each other anymore.”
She spoke softly, “So, let’s just end it peacefully.”
She hung up the phone just as the taxi rolled to a stop in front of an office to handle her paperwork to leave.
“I’m here to start my emigration process,” she said, handing over her
documents.
“And please wipe out every trace of me in the system.”
The staff member looked up.
“Are you sure? Once it’s done, there’ll be no trace of you here.”
Marissa nodded. “I’m sure.”
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From that moment on, there would be no Marissa Spencer in New York
anymore.
“Matt, as you wish, I’m gone from your little family of three for good,” she thought to herself.
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