Having Loved Him Before

I laughed bitterly.

"If I want a child, I'll have one with another man. And I won't get my tubes tied. Vincent, let's just get divo..."

Before I could finish the word, Vincent bit down on my lips and ground against them viciously. A trace of madness crept into his eyes.

"I told you! Unless one of us dies, I won't divorce you!

"You want to have a child with another man?" Fury flashed in his eyes as he sneered. "Keep dreaming. I'm taking you to get your tubes tied right now. I'll make sure no hospital will ever reverse it. Let's see how you have a child with another man then.

"As for wanting a child, the baby is your child. After the procedure, I'll have him change his surname right away. You can raise him."

With that, he dragged me toward the surgical department.

"I'm not going! Let go of me! Vincent, what gives you the right to decide for me? I won't do it!"

My tears seemed to sting him. He refused to look at me as he forcibly pushed me into the operating room.

The doctors pinned me down on the bed. I screamed toward Vincent at the door. "Vincent Harlow, I hate you! I'll hate you for the rest of my life!"

Vincent looked at me with pain in his eyes. Just as he was about to speak, Kiara's weak voice sounded from behind him. "Vincent, the baby's results are out. Come look, quick."

Vincent did not dare delay. He turned and ran downstairs.

When I emerged from the operating room, my face looked even paler under the fluorescent lights. At that moment, the past three years felt like nothing but a joke.

I forced myself through the physical discomfort, leaning against the wall as I walked step by step toward the exit.

As I passed a hospital room, I heard the sound of laughter as someone played with a child.

"If you don't cry when you get your shot in a bit, Daddy will grant you one wish, okay?"

I turned back and saw Vincent, the man who commanded respect in the business world, now holding a child who looked just like him. His expression was tender and focused as his fingertips tickled the child's chin.

Kiara sat beside them, smiling as she took their photo, as if they were the family of three and I was the outsider.

"Then I want Mommy to kiss Daddy."

The child's sweet, babyish voice rang out.

Kiara's face flushed bright red. "Sweetheart, that's not..."

Before she could finish, Vincent kissed her.

Vincent smiled at the child. "Daddy already kissed Mommy."

Kiara's face turned even redder. I looked away and walked toward the exit, dialing a number as I went.

"James, I should've listened to you from the start and never remarried him."

There was a second of silence on the other end before a hoarse voice spoke. "Get divorced. Come home."