Chapter 1Never Again: Our Final Goodbye

My husband was convinced I was the reason his first love couldn’t have children.

He told me, full of hate,

“You give Jenny a child, then you can get lost.”

But then, he was the one who took that child's life away.

In the end, he cried, begging for my forgiveness.

I just shook my head. “I’ll never forgive you. We’ve lost our past.”

* * *

“Ow!” Right then, Liam clamped down on my wrists, mercilessly. Tears welled up in my eyes. “Liam, I’m your legal wife, you can’t treat me like this…”

Hearing me, Liam scoffed as if he’d heard the funniest joke.

My chin tightened as Liam sneered, “Wife? You think you deserve that title?”

A sharp pain shot through my heart.

“You caused Jenny’s car accident, made it so she can never have kids. A vicious woman like you… if Jenny hadn’t begged me, I would have made you pay long ago!”

“No, it wasn’t me…”

I tried to defend myself, but it was useless. All the evidence in the accident pointed straight at me.

Liam had zero patience for me. His narrowed eyes were dark with menace.

“Not you? Then who schemed to crawl into my bed and tipped off the paparazzi?”

That night, I’d had too much to drink and woke up in Liam’s bed.

Next thing I knew, reporters were camped outside the door, waiting for us.

The Hayes family, pressured by the media storm, forced Liam to marry me.

And because of that, Liam hated my guts.

“I don’t know how that happened…” I sobbed, trying to explain. “Ah!”

A familiar, unwelcome sensation started below. I squeezed my eyes shut, a hot tear escaping down my cheek. “I already promised I’d have a baby for you, why do you have to go this far… Ouch, it hurts…”

A piercing agony twisted inside me. Heart dead, I just endured Liam’s movements.

It seemed like this was the only way – acting this way made Liam despise me more, made him finish faster.

Liam gripped my waist, his voice dark. “You stole Jenny’s place, ruined her chances of having a family. I won’t let you get away with it!”

I stayed silent, but my passive resistance only seemed to fuel his cold fury.

Liam’s low voice was clear in my ear—

“Chloe, you better get pregnant fast. You think I want to touch you? You make me sick!”

After the long ordeal, Liam slammed the door and left.

Ignoring the discomfort, I went to the bathroom to clean myself up, carefully applying some ointment.

Married for a year, every time Liam came home, he’d torture and humiliate me like this.

He wanted me to have his child, then divorce me.

Back then, I thought it was just angry talk. I’d foolishly, happily agreed to give him a baby.

I thought, if we had our own child, maybe he’d change towards me.

But now, a year into the marriage, I knew with painful clarity: no matter what I did, he would never love me.

Tears streamed down my face like broken pearls. “Why…” I whispered to myself.

“Why treat me like this? It wasn’t my fault. Why won’t you believe me!”

I sniffled, turned, and numbly opened the nightstand drawer. I took out the birth control pills I always kept hidden and swallowed one dry.

I wasn't going to make things easy for them anymore!

Bang!

Just then, the door was kicked open—

It was Liam, back for his phone. He saw the pill bottle in my hand, froze for a second, then realization dawned. He snatched the bottle, glanced at it, and threw it violently to the floor. Pills scattered everywhere. “Chloe, you dare take pills?!”

I flinched, terrified of this Liam. He looked like a raging lion. Seeing my silence, he dragged me into the bathroom, shoved his fingers down my throat, and snarled, “Spit it out!”

Gag— Retch—

The pill came up with the sour bile from my stomach.

I had no strength left to fight, just a desolate emptiness in my heart.

“Cough, cough…”

Leaning against the tub, I coughed weakly, my voice barely a whisper. “Liam, you’ll regret treating me like this…”