Chapter 10

"Is that a photo of Irene and her mom? Answer me! Is it?!" Hank's eyes were burning with fury, and Chloe felt a chill run down her spine—she'd never seen him this angry before. "No! I told you already, it's not!" That photo... that was her mom. It had nothing to do with Irene! Hank let out a bitter laugh, too angry to speak at first. He yanked her by the arm and dragged her toward her room. Photos were still scattered all over the floor, shredded into tiny unrecognizable pieces. A pair of scissors rested right next to them. "What do you have to say for yourself now?" Hank pushed Chloe down near the photos, forcing her head closer. Just then, Irene rushed in. "Hank! What are you doing?! Let go of Chloe!" But when her eyes dropped to the floor and saw the mess, she froze for a second, then collapsed to her knees. Tears started streaming uncontrollably. With trembling fingers, Irene reached out for a piece of the torn photo, sobbing like her heart was breaking. "Wh—why? Why would you do this to me?!" "Mom! I'm sorry!" "Chloe... why would you do this? If you hate me for being with Hank, you can yell at me, hit me, whatever. I won't fight back. But stealing my photo and ripping it up? This was the only thing I had to remember my mom..." No. That wasn't true. It wasn't like that. "This was mine!" Chloe stood up with trembling legs, eyes red. She rushed over, shouting, "It was you, wasn't it, Irene? Admit it! You destroyed those photos!" Irene collapsed on the floor again, reaching out like she was trying to piece the photos back together. "Don't touch my stuff with those filthy hands!" Chloe saw what she was doing and shoved her aside before rushing over and desperately gathering the torn pieces into her hands, biting back tears. "That's enough!" Smack. The scattered pieces slipped from her fingers and fell again. Chloe stood still, hand pressed to her cheek in disbelief. Hank had never hit her before. Not even during their worst fights. But tonight, with their child still growing inside her, he hit her—for another woman. Chloe lowered her head, voice shaking. "Hank, you're gonna regret this." His laugh was cold. "I already do. Marrying a heartless woman like you is the biggest mistake of my life." The sting on her face was nothing compared to the ache in her chest. Tears dripped onto the floor, vanishing before anyone could notice. As she watched Hank picking up the small photo fragments one by one, Chloe clung to the hem of his pants, her forehead nearly touching the floor. "Please... give them back to me. I'll do whatever you say. I won't fight you anymore." "If you want a divorce, I'll sign the papers right now! No matter what you ask, I'll agree. Just... please, just give them back. They're all I have left of my mom..." She didn't care about pride anymore. Dignity? Gone. All that mattered to her were those torn-up memories. But Hank yanked his leg free in disgust, brushed past her, and helped Irene up, guiding her toward the door. "You don't get to walk away from what you did, Chloe. Some things... you'll never be able to make right. For every pain you've brought to Irene, I'll make sure you pay back a hundredfold." Even after the sound of their footsteps faded, Chloe stayed on the floor, whispering to herself, "They were mine..." A maid walked past the room, glanced inside, and quickly turned away like she saw nothing. Chloe even caught the sound of a mocking laugh outside the door. Yeah. Chloe. What a joke she turned out to be.