Chapter 5

The word "honey" made me feel nauseous.

"What if I don't want to?" The man before me decided without blinking an eye to end my pregnancy, and I suddenly thought that being infertile was actually a stroke of luck. At least, my child wouldn't be born into such a terrible family.

"Honey..."

"Just kidding." Before Vaughn could speak further, I buried myself in his chest with a smile. "The doctor said I can't conceive. Remember? But thank you for being with me all these years, my love."

“And thank you for being so ruthless to me,” I thought.

The weekend arrived quickly. Vaughn got up early, kissed me on the face, and swiftly prepared three dishes and a soup before softly instructing me, "Cecelia, I'm taking your parents out. Stay safe at home, and let me know if anything happens."

I nodded, tears streaming down as I unlocked my phone.

Lizbeth was downstairs. Even before Vaughn woke up, she sent me messages and a photo.

Sitting in the car, she boasted to me.

"Cecelia, even if you married him and became his wife, so what? It's me who will bear his children. You're not so naive to think they are really going to the villa to reminisce about me, are you? I have been living there all these years. Today is my prenatal check-up day."

"I just casually mentioned it, and they all wanted to accompany me for the prenatal check-up. Just like the incident six years ago, a few fake tears from me and my parents sacrificed you to help me get away with it. Your life is truly laughable."

Along with the messages were numerous photos. Over the past six years, Vaughn had always taken time to travel with Lizbeth, sometimes including my parents. They traveled far and wide as a family. And here I was, foolishly pleased with the trinkets he brought back casually.

Endless despair numbed my heart. After putting my phone aside, I bought myself a plane ticket for tomorrow. Knowing Lizbeth's temper, she wouldn't let them come back tonight, and I could use the remaining time to leave this place.

At noon, I hastily ate some food and began gathering evidence. I should thank Lizbeth. If it weren’t for her impatience and carelessness, I wouldn’t have had so much leverage. With the evidence, not only could I make Vaughn lose everything before leaving, but I could also

completely expose their true colors.

By ten o'clock at night, I finished everything. As expected, Vaughn had no plans to return. He video-called me with a blurry lens that obscured the background, but I knew Lizbeth was right beside him.

However, I didn't expose them, but smiled and assured him that I would take good care of myself.

The next day, I got up early. Many people came to my house – the movers I hired. I had them dismantle those unmovable items. As for those trinkets, I saw identical ones in Lizbeth’s post on her social media account. Clearly, mine were just freebies.

Things that nobody else wanted were certainly unwanted by me, too.

Two hours later, the movers left with their “spoils of war,” while I pulled out the photos from over the years and burned them cleanly with a lighter.

The fire alarm in the house blared loudly as I walked out, carrying my suitcase.

This was my final gift to Vaughn. By the time he rushed back, I would already be gone from this city.