The CEO's Secret Wife Walks Away

Untitled Part 1

I miscarried after Ethan Sterling's daughter with his ex-wife shoved me down the stairs.

When I woke up, Ethan was sitting beside my hospital bed, working.

Without looking up for long, he found a spare second to say, "I'll have Daisy come apologize to you in person."

I looked at him.

"And that's enough?"

That finally made him lift his eyes from the paperwork.

"What else do you want?"

His expression turned cold.

"What, should she get on her knees? Bang her head on the floor? Or do you want my daughter to pay for it with her life over a pool of blood?"

So that was it.

He had never really cared about the baby inside me.

Of course he hadn't.

He'd once promised his ex-wife that Daisy would be his only child.

The day I found out I was pregnant, I'd been overjoyed.

He hadn't.

He'd spent the entire night in his study, smoking, his face heavy with thought.

Thinking of that, I looked at him and asked softly,

"Now that the baby's gone... do you feel relieved?"

Ethan stared at me as if he hadn't understood.

"What?"

I fixed my eyes on the hospital blanket, still carrying that sharp disinfectant smell.

"Isn't that how you feel?"

"The day I told you I was pregnant, you probably already wished I'd get rid of it."

That was the day Vanessa Sterling—his ex-wife—had come by to see Daisy.

At dinner, the moment she learned I was pregnant, her face went white and the bowl slipped from her hand, crashing to the floor.

Afterward, she and Ethan argued in the study.

"Did you forget what you promised me?"

"You said Daisy would be your only child."

"Then why is she pregnant, Ethan?"

Ethan's voice had been as cool and detached as ever.

"I thought you understood. I divorced you so I wouldn't have to keep having arguments like this."

Vanessa went quiet.

A moment later, muffled sobs drifted through the crack in the door.

I stood outside the study, leaning against the wall, and the joy I'd felt that morning when I saw the positive test drained out of me completely.

Through her tears, Vanessa said,

"Daisy is already sensitive. Ever since our divorce, she's only gotten more withdrawn."

"If she has to share your love too, have you even thought about how badly that will hurt her?"

A long silence followed.

Then Ethan said,

"Let me think about it."

He never came out of the study that night. He smoked until morning.

At breakfast, I was sitting at the table when he finally emerged.

I tightened my grip on my spoon.

"You're... going straight to the office without eating?"

"The housekeeper leaves after breakfast."

"I can make you a grilled sandwich to take with you."

I got to my feet too quickly, flustered and clumsy, and nearly tripped over the chair.

Ethan caught my arm, then lifted me easily and set me down on the couch.

"I have a meeting this morning. I'm running late."