I snapped my gaze up to look at him, forcing a confrontational demand for the very first time in our marriage. "Why did you refuse to explain the truth just now?"

All it would have taken was a single sentence from him. Was it truly that difficult?

Yet, Ethan merely offered a flat, indifferent reply, "I don't waste my time or energy on trivial matters that have nothing to do with me. However, you can choose to make that your term for the divorce. Perhaps then I will consider settling the matter for you."

His words slammed into my face, striking far harder and cutting far deeper than the physical slap my mother had delivered.

My fingernails bit deep into my palms, but I couldn't stop my body from shaking. "If I accept those terms, wouldn't I be exactly like you, treating a marriage as nothing more than a transactional business deal?"

His eyes darkened dangerously, as if my words had struck a raw nerve. "Given the way you've carried yourself, what right do you possibly have to lecture me?"

What had I done?

Throughout four years of marriage, had I done anything other than love him with everything I had?

Staring into the bottomless depths of Ethan's eyes, a profound sense of desolation washed over me. "I have never asked you for a single thing. For once in your life, can you not clear my name without attaching a condition to it?"

Unsurprisingly, my desperate plea failed to move him or alter his resolve.

He stepped closer, towering over me. "In our four years of marriage, I have given you absolutely everything except for a public title. You were the one who chose to act too proud to accept any of it. Who else can you blame but yourself?"

Every single word felt like a white-hot iron brand searing straight into my heart, scattering my remaining pride into the dust.

I had never wanted his material wealth; I had only avoided it because I never wanted him to misunderstand and think I was with him for his fortune.

This fragile, carefully guarded devotion of mine was nothing more than a performance of "pretended pride" in his eyes?

Watching the light completely fade from my eyes, a sudden wave of irritation flared within Ethan's chest. "Think about it yourself."

With that final remark, he turned and walked out of the room without looking back.

As his footsteps faded into the distance, I gripped the edges of the divorce agreement tightly, unable to escape the suffocating loneliness closing in around me.

After pouring four years of desperate effort into this relationship, I was left entirely empty-handed.

The only thing left for me to do was to set the man I loved free... Was there anyone more pathetic in this entire world than me?

I signed the papers and walked downstairs.

But the living room was already completely deserted.

Unable to stay in the empty house for another second, I rushed out the door and made my way toward my mother's home. I had to explain the truth behind the rumors to her.

With my heart tightly constricted, I ran until I was completely out of breath, finally arriving at the familiar, rusted security door. Standing there, an intense wave of anxiety suddenly washed over me.

After all, over the past four years, I had come back for every holiday and major event, but not once had I ever succeeded in getting her to open this door for me.

Would she open it for me this time?

"Knock, knock—"

The exact moment my knuckles rapped against the wood, the door swung wide open from the inside.

I stared blankly at my mother standing across from me, my mind locking up entirely as I struggled to find the words to speak.

To my shock, my mother simply extended an open palm toward me. "Where is the divorce certificate?"

My entire body went rigid, and my throat tightened painfully. "Mom..."

Seeing the sheer helplessness written all over my face, a flash of agonizing heartache flickered in the depths of her eyes. But almost instantly, her features hardened back into an uncompromising mask. "The day you finally divorce Ethan is the day you can call me Mother again!"

With that bitter declaration, she slammed the door shut in my face.

"...Mom," I whispered softly to the closed wood, completely lacking the courage to knock a second time.

Outside the stairwell, the snow that had briefly stopped began to dance once more in the wind. Flakes drifted in through the open corridor window, settling onto my bare hand, remaining solid for a long moment before they even began to melt.

In that moment, I honestly couldn't tell if the winter snow was colder, or if I was.

I walked away, turning back to look at the building with every few steps. The freezing wind howled in gusts, and the intersection was entirely bare of pedestrians.

The traffic light shifted to green, and I stepped out onto the crosswalk in a complete daze.

Ethan's clinical words and my mother's harsh rejections tangled violently inside my head, throwing my thoughts into absolute chaos until my entire body began to lose sensation, going completely numb...

By the time I realized something was drastically wrong, my body had already frozen completely solid right in the middle of the active roadway.

It felt as though liquid concrete had been poured through my veins. No matter how much strength I exerted, I couldn't move an inch—I couldn't even summon the breath to cry out for help!

"Honk! Honk!"

Vehicles began to blare their horns in frustration.

In absolute terror, I stared at the pedestrian signal just a short distance away. The green light began its final five-second countdown!

5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

The light snapped to red. "Blare—"

A massive turning semi-truck blasted its deafening horn, hurtling directly toward me without slowing down—

Chapter 6

As the massive vehicle barreled toward me, cold sweat poured down my skin, but my limbs remained completely unresponsive.

Just as I braced myself, believing my life was about to meet a violent end on this asphalt—

"Clara!"

A familiar, desperate scream echoed through the air, accompanied by the agonizing screech of burning brakes. A pair of powerful arms wrapped firmly around me, lifting me off my feet as we tumbled together into the concrete planter bordering the sidewalk. The semi-truck roared past, missing us by mere inches!

The violent, erratic pounding of my heart seemed to shatter the paralysis holding me captive, restoring feeling to my limbs. I could finally move again, though my legs shook so severely I could barely support my own weight.

In all my twenty-six years of life, I had never stood so close to the brink of death.

Belatedly lifting my head, I locked eyes with Julian's intensely anxious, panicked gaze. "Are you hurt anywhere? Let me help you up."

Once he pulled me to my feet, the lingering terror slowly began to recede, and I offered a shaky, breathless thank you. "Thank you so much, Julian... Are you back in the neighborhood to visit your grandmother?"

They had all grown up in this exact residential district as children, and their families were well-acquainted.

"Yeah, I'm off-duty today."

Pausing for a beat, Julian's tone shifted into something far more serious. "Are you still refusing to start treatment? If the situation that just occurred happens again, you won't even have the chance to survive."

The light in my eyes dimmed instantly. "I..."

Beyond his words of comfort, I was acutely aware that ALS was fundamentally an incurable disease. Medical treatment could only prolong my decline, but the irreversible cost of that delay was terminating the pregnancy.

My hand instinctively drifted down to cradle my lower abdomen, my reddening eyes filled with an agonizing, silent struggle.

I desperately wanted to live, but I was even more broken by the thought of destroying this fragile, miraculous little life that had finally come to me.

Staring at the hand resting protectively over my stomach, Julian ultimately couldn't restrain himself from asking, "Where is Ethan? What is his stance on this? Is he truly going to leave you to deal with this entirely on your own?"

Hearing that name, a sharp tremor ran through my pupils.

The true reality of my marriage to Ethan was a secret that absolutely no one was privy to.

After a long, suffocating silence, I forced the corners of my mouth into a strained smile. "Go on and take care of your business, Julian. I still have things I need to attend to, so I'll be going first."

With that, I quickened my pace and hurried away, terrified of facing any further questioning.

Staring at the woman's fragile, emaciated silhouette as she retreated, Julian's fists slowly clenched tightly at his sides.

...

Over the next several days, Ethan never returned to the house, nor did he make any move to clear my name regarding the scandalous rumors.