Right before I was wheeled into the delivery room, Ethan received news that his ex-girlfriend had been in a car accident. Without a second thought, he let go of my hand. "I'm going to check on Chloe. You stay here and listen to the doctors." I grabbed his arm, begging him not to leave. He looked down at me, his eyes turning cold, though his tone remained pleading: "You know she was my first love, and she might be dying." "Just let me see her one last time. Please?" Later, Chloe survived. And I died in the delivery room. That brief exchange was the last time Ethan and I ever saw each other. 1 My baby was in a breech position, so I had to undergo a C-section. Just before I was wheeled into the operating room, Ethan received news that his ex-girlfriend had been in a car accident. Her condition was critical. A second ago, he had been patiently comforting me, but now, it was like a switch flipped. He was desperate to leave. He tried to pull his hand away, but I gripped it tightly. Ignoring the stares of the medical staff, I asked the nurses to stop the gurney. Enduring the agonizing contractions, I pleaded with Ethan: "When I come out of surgery, you're the first person I want to see. Can you please stay?" He hesitated. Sensing my grip slipping, I placed a hand on my swollen belly. "Your baby needs you too." Ethan looked down at me, his brow furrowing as his expression turned cold, though his words were phrased as a plea: "You know she was my first love, and she might be dying." "Just let me see her one last time. Please?" Before I could even respond, he forcefully pulled his hand from mine, taking the last shred of warmth with him. He told the doctors to hurry up, then turned and strode away. I desperately propped myself up on my elbows, calling his name several times as he walked away. He walked so fast his light gray trench coat billowed behind him like water. He never looked back once. His retreating figure suddenly felt incredibly unfamiliar. I never imagined that Chloe's place in his heart was so absolute. Even my life, combined with the life of our unborn child, couldn't outweigh her. 2 Before the anesthesia took hold, my mind kept flashing to images of Ethan anxiously pacing outside the operating room. The picture-perfect moment of happiness I had fantasized about so many times. All of it amounted to nothing. I stared at the blinding white surgical lights. In a haze, after a sharp sting in my lower back, everything went dark. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself floating near the ceiling. The 'me' on the operating table was covered in blood. I was dead, and my baby died with me. Two dark figures materialized, ready to escort my soul away. But I wanted to stay. I couldn't accept this. Ethan and I had been deeply in love for years. Why, in the most critical moment of my life, did he abandon me? I looked down at the tiny, motionless baby in the doctor's arms and felt an overwhelming, crushing grief. I begged the figures to let me stay. Fearing I would wander off and become a lost soul, they tethered my spirit to Ethan. 3 When I was transported to Ethan's side, he wasn't at the hospital. He was at our house. I watched him rush into his study and unlock the built-in wall safe. The safe had two shelves, both packed with corporate documents. He crouched down, reaching past the mountains of files on the bottom shelf, and pulled out a small, black velvet ring box. Inside was a silver ring. It was the ring Chloe gave him back in college. He had been hiding it from me this entire time. Ethan hastily pulled off his wedding band and tossed it carelessly onto the floor. He delicately picked up the silver ring. It was a little dusty, so he pulled a handkerchief from his suit pocket and carefully polished it. He blew on it softly. Then, he slipped it onto his ring finger with a look of deep satisfaction. He stared at his hand, a look of profound emotion crossing his normally stoic face as he smiled. It was as if he was silently declaring: Chloe and I are married. 4 On the drive to the hospital, Ethan sped recklessly. He was frantic to see Chloe. While waiting outside her operating room, he paced back and forth, consumed by anxiety. I never got to see him act like this when I was in the delivery room. Was this his way of fulfilling my final wish? As the minutes ticked by, Ethan's expression grew increasingly tense. Finally, the operating room doors swung open. A still-unconscious Chloe was wheeled out. She was perfectly fine. The tight knot between Ethan's brows instantly smoothed out. He let out a massive sigh of relief, a radiant smile breaking across his face as his eyes welled up with tears. Tears of pure joy. I couldn't help but wonder. If my baby and I had survived the surgery, would he have cried for us too? Of course he would have. Even if not for me, then for his child. 5 The "critical condition" Ethan was so terrified of turned out to be nothing more than a few stitches on Chloe's arm. It was just a convenient excuse to come see her. I couldn't wrap my head around it. Just how insignificant was I to him? Unlike with Chloe. For her, Ethan was willing to abandon his wife and child, sitting vigil by her hospital bed, waiting patiently for her to wake up. His gaze was filled with absolute devotion, never leaving her face for a second. It felt like all the tenderness and patience he used to show me had actually belonged to her all along. ... "I wonder how Mia is doing." In a rare moment of distraction, he finally remembered I existed. He noticed his phone was dead. After some effort, Ethan managed to borrow a charger and turned his phone back on. He casually scrolled through his contacts until he found the number saved as "Wife." His finger hovered over the screen. He hesitated for a long time. But he never hit the call button. Instead, he muttered to himself, "She should be out of surgery by now." "God, I hope it's not a girl. If it is, we'll have to have another one." He frowned slightly, looking genuinely annoyed. Then, he let out a soft sigh: "If I didn't need to secure my position in the Harrison family, I really wouldn't want to have a kid with her." Hearing those words, I froze completely. My mind spiraled into absolute chaos. Every memory of Ethan treating me well flashed before my eyes like a fast-forwarded movie. The warm glass of milk he would hand me right when I walked through the door after a long day of shopping. The way he tightly gripped my hand when crossing the street, terrified I wasn't paying attention because I was looking at my phone. And finally, the memory of him burying his face in my chest and crying tears of joy when he found out I was pregnant. "I love you!" He had cupped my face and said those three words with absolute, solemn sincerity. It felt like just yesterday that those tear-filled, earnest eyes had looked deeply into mine. He told me that, as a man, his absolute priority was protecting our family. That I, and our unborn child, were his entire world. But now, every single one of those memories had turned into a sick, twisted joke. 6 Once the anesthesia wore off, Chloe woke up quickly. The doctors gave a few simple instructions and left. The moment the hospital room door clicked shut, Ethan and Chloe exchanged a deeply synchronized, knowing smile. The next second, Ethan leaned over the bed, and they cupped each other's faces, crashing their lips together. Their tongues intertwined, mixing their saliva, producing soft, wet sounds. It was quiet, but to me, it was deafeningly loud. After a long time, Chloe pulled away, panting in deep satisfaction. Her tone was careful: "Ethan, you running out here to see me like this... is Mia going to be okay with it?" Ethan let out a cold, mocking scoff: "Mia is probably half-dead from the surgery right now. I just used the excuse of seeing you one last time. Like she could stop me?" "Besides, she just had my kid. Even if she finds out, she's trapped. She can't leave me now." Chloe smiled brightly, raising her arm to give him a thumbs-up, praising his brilliance. So... Just how deeply did Ethan love this woman? So deeply that he had been carrying on an illicit affair with her behind my back, completely disregarding his marriage and his family. Serving her drinks, fluffing her pillows, acting like her devoted servant. He even periodically massaged her legs to keep her comfortable. Disciplined, polite, and flawlessly gentlemanly—that was the Ethan I thought I knew. But in front of Chloe, he discarded every boundary and shred of decency, driven entirely by his own selfish desires. It seemed this was the real Ethan. His large hand, with its pale, elegant fingers, slowly trailed up her leg, creeping suggestively toward her thigh. Chloe gently swatted the back of his hand, giggling shyly: "That tickles, stop it." Ethan couldn't help but laugh along with her: "I just missed you too much." "This isn't the place for that," Chloe scolded playfully, gently pushing him away. She followed it up with a breathy, upward-inflected promise: "Don't be so impatient. We'll have plenty of opportunities later." 7 Ethan played the role of the "perfect" husband, meticulously caring for Chloe in the hospital room. Every extra ounce of care was a completely voluntary, heartfelt gesture on his part. Going all the way downstairs to buy her a specific brand of nutritional porridge was just one example. However, Chloe called him back: "Ethan, I'm not hungry." "Just stay here and keep me company, okay?" Her voice was pure, sickly-sweet whining. Ethan turned around and looked at her. Looking down at her from above, his eyes were overflowing with tenderness. "Of course." ... Ethan sat on the edge of her bed, holding her hand as they reminisced about their beautiful past. The shy, awkward confession under the shade of a tree. The ambiguous, thrilling moment their pinky fingers first linked. The flushed cheeks after their first alcohol-fueled kiss. These were all their most precious, treasured memories. When discussing how they couldn't stand next to each other in their graduation photos, Chloe's voice choked with emotion: "When will we finally be able to be together? When can we become a real family?" Ethan's hand rested on Chloe's arm, his thumb gently stroking her skin to soothe her: "A good relationship allows both people to achieve their goals and grow together." "Our relationship is doing exactly that. It's just that our path has significantly more thorns than everyone else's." "But you have to remember, waiting at the end of the darkness is our truest, most authentic love." The depth of his devotion was nauseating. In that moment, Chloe's eyes completely melted; her gaze was filled with nothing but Ethan. It was his patience, his unwavering persistence. It was his constant encouragement and companionship throughout the years. "Faking your entire personality, kissing up to the Harrison family... you've suffered so much these past few years." Chloe opened her palm, her eyes crinkling in a warm smile: "If you want, you can rest your head in my hand for a while." Ethan froze for a second, his eyes lighting up as he softly replied, "Okay." He crouched next to Chloe, gently rested his head in her open palm, and closed his eyes. The sunlight spilled across his pale profile, casting an aura of total peace. It was like a falling leaf returning to its roots, a tired bird returning to the forest. It was as if his exhausted soul had finally found its true sanctuary. Chloe gazed adoringly at the man she loved, her eyes brimming with absolute devotion. But suddenly, her pupils dilated in shock. "Ethan, you're wearing the ring I gave you back then?" Ethan lifted his head, waving the back of his hand toward Chloe, and smiled: "Yeah." The silver ring had been preserved flawlessly; it hadn't oxidized or dulled in the slightest. "It's always stayed this bright, just like my feelings for you. They've never faded!" How many people could actually withstand such devastatingly romantic, heartfelt words? Chloe froze, then quickly turned her head away. Her eyes filled with tears. Noticing her reaction, Ethan asked what was wrong. She shook her head and said it was nothing. "I just... I was thinking about when we first got together." "I got a little emotional." Years ago, I was the one who ruthlessly stole Ethan from Chloe.
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