Chapter 2

"My daughter got hurt in kindergarten, Cece. I need to go to the hospital, so I can't make it." By the time Cecelia received Eliza's voice message, she had already calmed down a little. Her first step was to call her lawyer and have a divorce agreement drafted. Next, she booked a plane ticket to leave the country in ten days. After returning home, she tossed every love letter Shaun had written her, their matching mugs, and the faded movie ticket into a cardboard box. Then, she hauled it into the yard and set it all on fire. … When Cecelia was done packing, the sky was dark. She glanced at her phone and saw dozens of calls from Shaun. Just then, hurried footsteps sounded behind her. Shaun rushed in, and the instant his eyes landed on her, relief washed over his face. He quickly closed the distance and wrapped her in his arms, his voice thick with barely restrained anger. "I've been calling you repeatedly. Why didn't you pick up? I was this close to calling the police." Seeing the sweat beading on his forehead in his panic, Cecelia felt nothing but bitter irony. She couldn't wrap her head around how a man who had spent the afternoon celebrating his illegitimate son's birthday could turn around and act like he cared so much about her. Without betraying any emotion, Cecelia pushed Shaun away, her voice flat. "I was organizing my stuff and didn't check my phone." He furrowed his brows. "Are you just tidying up?" She nodded. "There is too much clutter at home. It's time I got rid of it." His shoulders loosened a bit at what she said. He took a bracelet from his pocket and secured it on her wrist without so much as asking her. "There is a tracker in here. Even if you don't have your phone, I can always find you." Cecelia stared at the bracelet on her wrist with a hint of mockery in her eyes. He was still the same as ever with that pathological need to control her. How much of that control came from his genuine feeling, though? Shaun gently ran his hand along Cecelia's face, his gaze darkening as a slow-burning heat stirred in his eyes. "Hang tight. I'm going to take a shower first." After he went into the bathroom, the phone on the bed suddenly buzzed. She glanced at it and picked it up without thinking. His phone password had always been her birthday, but she had never once snooped. She didn't want to see proof of him cheating, but she made an exception on that day. "Larry asked me again today when he can live with you, Shaun." "I know you can't let go of Cece, but are you okay with Larry being mistreated? Everyone is saying he's an illegitimate child you're trying to hide." Cecelia's fingertip quivered as she scrolled up through the chat, realizing it was Alice's alternate account. Didn't Shaun always say he hated noisy kids? Besides replying to every text, he even reminded Alice to tuck Larry in at night and take Larry for a medical check-up. Alice once sent a photo of Larry's scraped knee, and he went nuts over it. He blew her phone up with back-to-back video calls. When Cecelia saw that long list of calls, she laughed through red eyes. It turned out that Shaun's intense, possessive love had never been hers alone. With her chest throbbing faintly, she set her phone down and pulled the blanket over herself. She curled into it, but she didn't know why she kept feeling colder and colder. She didn't know how much time had passed before Shaun came back to her room. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, his warm breath brushing against the nape of her neck. She instinctively tried to pull away, but his arms only tightened, squeezing her ribs until they hurt. Her voice was weak, tinged with breathlessness. "I'm not feeling well, Shaun." Shaun tensed up right away, pressing his palm to her forehead. The heat made him recoil. "You're burning up, Cece. I'm taking you to the hospital." Cecelia was just about to nod when his phone started ringing urgently. Seeing the name on the screen, he hesitated for a second before answering. His brows were knitted together. "Alright. Got it. I'll be there." He ended the call and leaned inward to kiss her forehead, his voice laced with apology. "Something came up at the office. I need to head over. There are some fever medicines in the drawer. Go ahead and take one. Call me if you feel worse, okay?" With her back turned to him, Cecelia said nothing. She had heard the sound of a kid crying on the other end of the call. Meanwhile, Shaun had made his choice through his actions.