Chapter 2

Clementine POV:

I walked out of the clinic, the fluorescent lights of the hospital corridor blurring around me. My vision felt tunnelled, every step heavy. Braden' s sleek black Mercedes was indeed waiting at the curb. It was a familiar sight, one that usually brought a sense of comfort, but today, it was a sharp jab to my gut.

Habit made me reach for the passenger door, my hand already extending for the handle. But the window rolled down before I could touch it.

Isabella Coleman smiled at me from the driver's seat. Her perfect blonde hair, her perfectly sculpted cheekbones, her perfectly apologetic but subtly triumphant eyes. "Clementine, honey! So sorry you had to wait," she cooed, her voice sickly sweet. "Braden just had to run to the pharmacy for some of Leo's special bandages. You know how sensitive my little man's skin is."

Her eyes, however, held a flicker of something sharper, a glint of challenge that belied her saccharine tone. It was a look that screamed, He chose me. Again.

Then I saw him. In the backseat, Isabella' s son, Leo, was clutching my favorite cashmere blanket, the one Braden had given me for our first Christmas together. My blanket, the softest, most comforting thing I owned, now wrapped around another woman's child. My throat tightened.

I pushed down the wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm me. "Isabella," I said, my voice flat, devoid of emotion. "I need to talk to my husband."

Her perfect smile faltered, replaced by a flicker of surprise. She wasn't used to me being so direct. Usually, I'd smile politely, pretend everything was fine. Not today.

"Of course," she said, her voice dropping to a vulnerable whisper. "Leo, darling, why don't you go wait for Mommy inside? Braden will be right back."

Leo, a surprisingly well-behaved seven-year-old, started to unbuckle himself. But before he could open the door, Braden' s voice cut through the air.

"No, Izzy. It's fine. Clementine, get in the car. We can talk on the way home." He was walking towards us, a pharmacy bag in hand, his face etched with a fake calmness. He gave Isabella a reassuring look, a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"But Braden," Isabella said, her eyes welling up with tears. "Leo needs me. And it's not safe for him to wait alone."

Braden's gaze softened instantly. "Don't be silly, love. I'll take care of Leo. Clementine, please." He motioned for me to get into the back with Leo.

My stomach clenched. Braden, who had once complained about changing our dog' s litter box, was now playing devoted stepfather, all while refusing to talk to his actual wife. I saw the way his eyes lingered on Isabella, a tenderness there that had long vanished when he looked at me. It was a tender, protective gaze, the kind I had once longed for. He spoke of Leo's safety, but his eyes told a different story. He wanted to keep Isabella close.

It was sickening. He wanted a child, but only as a means to mend a broken marriage, to maintain the illusion of a perfect life. A child to paper over the cracks, to prevent me from leaving. He never truly wanted our child, just a child. A prop.

I took a step back, away from the car, away from them. "No, Braden. Isabella can take Leo home. I'll walk."

Isabella's face went pale. She looked at Braden, her lower lip trembling. "Braden, I can't. I'm so dizzy. I think... I think I'm going to faint." She swayed slightly, clutching her head.

Leo, seeing his mother's distress, started to cry. "Mommy! Don't go! Braden, don't let her go!" he wailed, his voice piercing the afternoon quiet. "B-Braden, don't let her leave! I want you to be my daddy!"

The scene was a spectacle. Heads were turning. Passersby were staring. The public display was exactly what Isabella wanted, what Braden craved.

"Clementine," Braden said, his voice low, a warning in his eyes. He motioned for me to get in the car. "Let's go home. We can discuss this there."

Isabella, still swaying, gave me a pitiful, pleading look. Her eyes were wide, brimming with tears. She was putting on a show, and I was the villain.

A wave of nausea hit me, sharper than anything I' d felt from the IVF hormones. My head spun. I realized then what he was doing. He was trying to force me into the car, into silence, into submission. He wanted to control the narrative, to contain the damage.

But I refused to play his game.

"No," I said, my voice clear and firm. I walked to the back of the car, opened the trunk, and pulled out my small overnight bag, the one I' d packed for the recovery period after the transfer. I then reached down and unlatched the child seat that had been installed in the back, the one meant for our child, if we ever had one. I tugged it out with a surprising surge of strength and tossed it into a nearby public trash can.

"I don't need a ride," I said, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. "And I won't be needing this either."

Just then, a familiar black SUV pulled up beside me. The window rolled down. "Clementine?" It was Davis Yates, a senior research scientist from my department. His brow was furrowed with concern. "Everything alright?"

He looked from the Mercedes, to me, to the child seat in the trash. His gaze was steady, respectful.

"No, Davis," I said, shaking my head. "Nothing is alright."

He nodded, understanding dawning in his eyes. "Need a lift?"

I looked at him, then back at Braden, who stood frozen by his car, Isabella still clinging to him, Leo still crying. They looked like a perfectly staged, dysfunctional family portrait.

"Yes," I said, without a second thought. "Please."

Braden watched me get into Davis' s car, his face a mask of disbelief. I knew in that moment, as Davis pulled away from the curb, that our marriage wasn' t just on the rocks. It was a ship, sinking fast, with Braden still clinging to a lifeboat meant for another woman. And I was finally swimming away.