Chapter 4
I gave him a long look before shaking my head. “No.”
He instantly looked relieved. “Time is of the essence. I delay any longer, Pudding may be lost forever. Its life is at stake here.
“We celebrate your birthday every year, so it’s no big deal. Since I can’t make it up to you today, I’ll do it some other day.”
I held his gaze and said expressionlessly, “Forget it, Jonas. Let’s get a divorce.”
As soon as I said that, Jonas frowned and barked at me. “Can’t you be a bit more understanding?”
Those were the words he said to me the most. How much more “understanding” did I have to be?
“Why do you keep making a fuss over nothing? Celine doesn’t mean you any harm, and she won’t try to steal me from you. Why must you bring up a divorce at a time like this? It’s just your birthday. You celebrate it every year, and we can make up for it anytime.”
His tone was matter–of–fact, his expression nonchalant
Looking at him, I suddenly felt lost… and relieved. All of a sudden, I understood the meaning of a sunk cost fallacy.
After scolding me, he drove away in a hurry. I looked at his empty seat, ate an entire steak on my own, wiped my mouth, and called a cab home.
Jonas did not come home all night. I did not call to ask him where he was, but he called me instead.
He said Celine wanted to treat me to a meal. I thought it over and readily agreed. This would be our final meal together, I thought.
As soon as Celine saw me, she said guiltily, “Don’t be mad, Jeanine. Jonas only agreed to play along with my little charade to make me happy.
“Also, I didn’t call him away on purpose last night. Pudding is the furbaby we adopted together. He had to help look for it once it went missing, right? I’m sorry.”
She was indirectly telling me that she was the most important person to Jonas. I meant less to him than-
her cat.
She wanted me to lose my mind out of jealousy and launch into a huge fight with Jonas on the spot. She was hoping to watch as I gave in, savoring my panic and desperation.
She had done this plenty of times before.
Jonas could not bear to see her cry. “Don’t cry, it’s bad for your health.”
She only wept harder. “It’s all my fault Jeanine stormed out and refuses to go home!”
Jonas looked at me impatiently. “I called you here to tell you Celine is pregnant. But before you overthink again, the baby isn’t mine.
“She’s kind, so she decided to give birth to the baby and give it to us for adoption. So stop standing there and make her some soup!”
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Chapter 4
+25 BONUS
I could not help but laugh at his shamelessness again, taking out my phone and tossing it at him.
When he saw the pictures on the screen, his face went visibly pale. I also took a medical record out of my bag. Jonas only glanced at it before jumping to his feet
The photos were of them coming out of the hotel at night. The report was of my abortion.
“How dare you abort my baby without telling me!”
Celine stood behind him, raising her brow and flashing me a smile full of schadenfreude. Her words were the complete opposite. “Jeanine probably acted rashly out of jealous. Forgive her this once, Jonas.
“Luckily, I have a baby too. It’s not yours, but you can raise it as yours.”
I watched as Jonas carefully helped Celine back to the couch, and she grinned at me triumphantly without a hint of remorse.
All I felt was amusement. A man like him was no longer worth tolerating, no matter how big the sunken
costs.
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Jonas frowned at me, his tone cold. “There was only one room in the hotel that night, so we shared it. There were two single beds, and we only discussed the script.”
“Do you actually believe that?” I looked at him coolly.
I discovered I was pregnant a while back, and I had wanted to surprise him on my birthday. However, that was also the day I received the photo of them at the hotel.
After that, I went outstation to abort the baby.
I snorted. “Of course, you were chatting innocently in the room. Nothing else.”
Jonas started yelling at me again. “I’ve really spoiled you, Jeanine Smith! You’ve gone too far! How could you kill your own baby over meaningless rumors? I order you to apologize right-”
Before he could finish that sentence, I slapped him twice across the face. “You have no right to demand an apology from me.”
I took out the divorce papers I had prepared long ago. “Sign this, and we can part on amicable terms.”
There was no more love in my eyes when I looked at him, only distance.
Jonas flew into a rage, calling his manager Ivan over. “Slap some sense into her and watch her kneel here overnight. Let’s see if that will deflate some of her ego!”
Ivan was too strong for me to resist, so I could only withstand the abuse. Fortunately, Jonas was throwing a fuss. After a while, he gave Ivan a look and left with Celine. Ivan let me go awkwardly, apologized, and took his leave as well.
as only
must have really i
I was not upset or hurt. On the contrary, I was elated. Jonas his head if he forgot. about the surveillance cameras in our house.
I was not going to turn down perfectly serviceable evidence. Since he refused to part on good terms, I had no choice but to make things ugly.
I could not wait for them to come back to me, begging
Jonas, Celine, and I were trending.
Someone leaked a huge secret: The award–winning actor Jonas Yves had been secretly married for eight years. Celine was a home–wrecker, getting in the way of his marriage with a commoner.
The post came with three photos.
The first was a photo of Jonas and me as a couple. We both looked much younger than we did now, so anyone could see it was an old photo. The leaker was even kind enough to censor my face, since I was not a public figure.
The second was a photo of me standing desolately by the side as Jonas and Celine hugged and kissed.
The third was a recent photo of the three of us having dinner together.
