chapter 7

Chloe wasn't some naive little girl. The way Damien looked at her was anything but innocent.

She loved the attention and had no problem letting Damien do things for her. They just hadn't made it official yet.

Now that Owen was dead, she had no real reason to stay on the base.

Once the baby was born, she'd have to leave.

Chloe wasn't the type who could handle hardship. Things were chaotic out in the civilian world, and raising two kids on her own would be brutal.

Military men were way more reliable than civilian guys.

Marrying an officer meant she could stay protected and live the good life as an officer's wife.

In my past life, she'd taken a huge risk to frame me. She succeeded in making me give up on Damien completely. Then she swooped right into my spot.

Chloe's secret plan was suddenly dragged out into the open. Her face went pale as a sheet. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Scarlett, don't say things like that. Damien only takes care of us because of Owen. There's nothing between me and Damien. You're imagining things."

A beautiful woman with tears in her eyes was hard to resist. If Damien saw her like this, he'd probably want to pull her into his arms and comfort her right away.

"Nothing?" I sneered. "When your son had a fever in the middle of the night, Damien took him to the hospital and stayed there all night. When you were pregnant and craving strawberries, Damien drove three hours to get them for you.

"When you needed a job to support your family, Damien decided on his own to give you mine!"

Rage and helplessness crashed over me like a wave.

I was so powerless. Whether I was someone's daughter or someone's wife, my parents and my husband could just take whatever they wanted from me.

But why should they get to do that?

Anger boiled over, and I grabbed Chloe's wrist hard. "I hate it when people steal my job!

"If I hadn't brought up selling it to you, would you have just pretended you didn't know? Would you have accepted Damien's favor without caring how upset and angry I was?"

Chloe opened her mouth but couldn't argue with me.

I let go of her hand and laughed softly. "See? You knew everything. You got all the benefits. You just acted like you didn't know."

"Ah, bad lady! You're being mean to Mommy! I'm gonna hit you!"

Suddenly, Zach came charging at me from the side, screaming like a little bull.

He was about to slam right into my belly, so I quickly stepped back.

Zach missed me completely and smacked his head on the edge of the flower bed. He started crying his eyes out.

Damien rushed over, shoved me out of the way, and scooped Zach up in his arms.

"He's just a kid. What are you dodging him?" he snapped.

Blood from the cut on Zach's forehead streamed down his face. He was crying so hard from the pain that he could barely breathe.

Chloe looked worried sick and followed Damien out.

Nobody asked if I was okay. Nobody helped me up. Sharp pain started shooting through my lower belly. I felt something warm flowing between my legs.

No, not my baby!

I'd gotten this second chance specifically to save my child.

I screamed for help until finally two ladies came running over. They rushed me to the hospital in a panic.

Thank God it was just some light bleeding. The doctors gave me medication right away and said I'd be fine if I took it easy.

I thanked them and spent the night at the hospital.

When I got home the next day, the house was completely empty. Damien was probably at the hospital taking care of Zach.

Around nine that night, Damien came home looking exhausted.

He saw me sitting calmly on the couch and said casually, "Make some chicken noodle soup tomorrow and take it to Mingming. He got stitches and went through hell. He needs to build his strength back up."

I looked at him, confused. "Sometimes I wonder if Zach is actually your son, because you sure care about him a lot. You're so worried about him being hurt and needing good food, but what about caring for your own child? You shoved me yesterday, and I almost had a miscarriage!"

Damien couldn't meet my eyes. Guilt flashed across his face. "But you're fine, aren't you? Zach lost so much blood. How can you be so petty with a little kid?"

Damien had made up his mind to take Zach's side no matter what. Nothing I said was going to change that.

I suddenly felt exhausted. I didn't want to keep fighting with him anymore.

"Damien, let's get divorced," I said.