Chapter 2She Left Me for Dead, Slipped Into My Best Friend’s Bed

Mrs. Davis frantically tried to close the door, but I held it firmly open with my hand.

"Mom, I'm home. Aren't you going to welcome me?"

Mrs. Davis knew she couldn't hide it any longer. She tried to block my view with her body while fumbling for her phone, her hands trembling.

"Chloe! Get back here, he's returned!"

She shrieked into the phone.

I pushed the door open forcefully and walked in.

I scanned the apartment, the one I had poured all my savings into, the one I had decorated with so much hope as our marital home.

Aside from the dusty wedding photo on the bedside table, there wasn't a single trace of me left.

Dustin's suit, ties, and razor were scattered everywhere. Children's toys lay strewn across the floor.

The air was thick with an unfamiliar scent, the smell of another man.

My home had long become someone else's.

Memories flooded back.

Three years ago, at the airport.

Chloe was crying, her face streaked with tears:

"Baby, you must come back safe. I'll wait for you."

"I will, don't worry. Your mom's surgery costs… I'll find a way to get the money as fast as I can."

She nestled into my arms, her voice choked with emotion:

"But that mission is too dangerous. Maybe you shouldn't go? I don't want you to risk your life for my mom. If something happens to you, how could I live?"

At that time, I had nothing. Even if I sold my apartment, I couldn't raise enough for Mrs. Davis's surgery.

There was no other way but to find a quick way to earn money.

Mrs. Davis had shown me great kindness. If not for her giving me a home and sponsoring my college education after my parents died, I might have starved to death on the day I fought wild dogs for scraps.

The Davis family wasn't wealthy. Mrs. Davis raising Chloe and me alone had been incredibly tough. So, when she fell critically ill and needed urgent surgery, I accepted my boss's overseas assignment.

Every day, I walked through hell.

Bullets whizzed past my ears, and artillery exploded beside me.

Countless times, as I brushed with death, I clutched a photo of Chloe in my pocket.

I was incredibly frugal, sending every penny I earned by risking my life back to her.

Every time she received money, she would be exceptionally touched:

"Baby, thank goodness for you! When you come back, we'll get married! I miss you so much every night I can't sleep…"

Chloe returned quickly, still in her hospital gown.

She rushed through the door, her face a mix of panic and guilt.

"Baby! Let me explain!"

Chloe stepped forward, reaching for my hand, but I sidestepped, avoiding her touch.

She spoke rapidly:

"Noah's mom passed away during childbirth. Dustin was struggling to raise him alone. While you were gone these three years, he took such good care of my mom and me…"

As she spoke, her eyes welled up.

"We felt sorry for the child, so we helped look after him, gave him a home. If you were here, you'd do the same, right?"

Just then, Noah, clutching a toy car, walked up to me and looked up with his small face:

"Daddy, will you play with my car with me?"

That single word, "Daddy," struck me like lightning, making my eardrums hum.

For the past three years, neither Chloe nor Dustin had ever mentioned this child to me.

That made it hard for me to believe that Noah had nothing to do with Chloe.

Meeting my suspicious gaze, Chloe's face flashed with anger, then she patted Noah.

"Noah, be good. Daddy just got home, let him rest for a bit, okay?"

She said, then familiarized herself by pinching the soft flesh around my waist:

"Baby, look how much Noah likes you. Hurry up and say something!"

I couldn't help but let out a cold laugh:

"I'm not interested in being a dad."

"Where's Dustin? Weren't you two at the hospital together?"

Chloe's eyes darted nervously. She quickly denied:

"Baby, are you listening to the rumors online? Dustin and I truly have nothing going on…"

She didn't know I was right there when she and Dustin were being loaded into the ambulance, intertwined.

It seemed she was afraid Dustin would show up and get beaten by me, so she told him to hide.

But I had no interest in raising someone else's wife and child. I called Dustin directly:

"Come get your wife and kid. As for her mom, she's free to stay or go."

If Mrs. Davis wanted me to support her, out of gratitude, I wouldn't default on my debt.

But I wouldn't support Chloe and her child anymore.

Chloe smashed my phone, instantly jumping up in protest:

"Baby, what do you mean? I'm your fiancée, and you're kicking me out the moment you get home?"

"Chloe, if you don't leave, do you plan to freeload in my house and let me keep being a complete fool supporting the three of you?"

My eyes were cold as knives, sweeping over her pale face.

My words sent a shiver down her spine.

"Baby, it's not what you think! Dustin and I really didn't have anything… he was helping me…"

"Get out."

I cut her off sharply, pointing to the door.

Chloe froze, looking at me as if she were seeing me for the first time.

"Leo… you're telling me to get out?"

Her eyes instantly reddened, filled with unbelievable hurt:

"We've been apart for three years. I thought about you every day, and after finally waiting for you to come back, this is how you treat me?"

"You thought about me?"

I advanced on her, step by step. The pain in my abdomen brought beads of cold sweat to my forehead, but it was nothing compared to the agony in my heart.