Deeply distressed, Chloe pushed the door open and hurried inside.

Standing beside the bed, in addition to her troublesome stepmother Isabella, was a man she had never encountered before.

The man lifted his eyes to glance at her, and the striking resemblance his features bore to Eric's made her realize instantly that this was Eric's father, whom she had never met.

His gaze was exceptionally cold, staring darkly at—Eric, who stood right behind her!

At that moment, Grandpa Arthur opened his eyes.

He requested that everyone leave the room, leaving only Chloe and Eric by his side.

Watching this elderly gentleman who had always showered her with immense affection prepare to depart this world, Chloe felt a profound sorrow wash over her.

"Chloe, you and Eric must live a good life together, do you understand?" Grandpa Arthur looked at her with eyes full of tenderness.

Chloe choked back a sob, nodding rapidly through her tears: "Do not worry, Grandpa. I will take wonderful care of Eric!"

A look of complete peace washed over Grandpa Arthur's face, and with a faint smile, he slowly closed his eyes for the final time.

A human life extinguished was just like a dying flame, leaving behind nothing but a chilling stillness.

On the third day following Grandpa Arthur's passing, Chloe, dressed entirely in black, was heading downstairs to depart for the cemetery when she noticed several servants carrying luggage into the house.

Her brows drew together in a frown: "Whose belongings are these?"

Before the words could fully leave her lips, Lyndsey’s figure stepped through the front entrance: "Starting today, I am moving in to live with Eric!"

Chapter 7: Absurdity

Chloe found the entire situation utterly absurd.

When she and Eric first tied the knot, this Lyndsey had already fled the country. Yet now, out of nowhere, she had the audacity to show up on her doorstep, demanding to move into the Vance estate!

Chloe knit her brows, her tone laced with undisguised hostility: "Miss Lyndsey, if you have lost your mind, I suggest you check yourself into a hospital instead of coming here to run wild!"

Lyndsey, however, merely let out a mocking laugh, staring at her as if she were nothing more than a pathetic creature: "I suppose you still don't know, do you? Eric only married you in the first place to secure his grandfather's shares in the company. Now that the old man is dead, you no longer hold any transactional value to him!"

Lyndsey's words struck Chloe like a sudden bolt of lightning.

Her face drained of color as she locked an icy gaze onto Lyndsey, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper: "Stop this senseless rambling."

Though she denied it aloud, her mind instinctively flashed back to the night of her brother's funeral. She remembered the absolute lack of emotion in Eric's eyes when he spoke those words, promising to build a home with her.

Lyndsey crossed her arms over her chest, a triumphant smirk gracing her lips.

"Whether you choose to believe it or not, a fact remains a fact. Furthermore, I am the one Eric truly loves. He told me long ago that once your child is born, it will be handed over to me to raise!"

Even though her intellect screamed at her not to believe a single word, Chloe’s heart slowly sank into a bottomless abyss.

The bright lights of the grand foyer enveloped her, yet she felt a piercing chill that belonged to the dead of autumn.

Did Eric truly love her?

No matter how hard she tried, she could not find it within herself to answer that question with absolute certainty.

An unprompted wave of intense agony surged through her chest.

Lyndsey smiled, gliding up the grand staircase until she came to a halt right in front of her, her demeanor brimming with provocation: "What is the matter, Mrs. Vance? Do you still wish to cast me out?"

She spat out the title Mrs. Vance with heavy emphasis, deliberately seeking to provoke her.

Chloe’s expression turned remarkably grim, her gaze dropping to the silk scarf draped around Lyndsey’s neck.

It was an exact replica of the one Eric had gifted her.

He rarely presented her with gifts, and when she received that scarf, her heart had swelled with joy for days.

But as it turned out, the token she had treasured above all else was merely a duplicate of a choice he had made for someone else—a thoughtless gesture meant to appease her.

A dense, suffocating pain filled Chloe’s heart. Pointing a trembling finger toward the front entrance, she commanded coldly, "Regardless of how grand you believe your claims to be, I am the rightful Mrs. Vance at this moment. I have stated that you are not welcome here, so get out!"

Lyndsey’s expression turned immensely ugly. Her gaze shifted downward toward Chloe’s abdomen, and remembering the precise instructions she had been given by that woman, a ruthless intent flashed in her eyes.

Positioning her body just out of the servants' direct line of sight, she suddenly grabbed Chloe’s hand and screamed hysterically: "Ah! Sister Chloe, what do you think you are doing?!"

The next instant, before Chloe could even comprehend what was happening, she felt a powerful force shove her backward, sending her tumbling uncontrollably down the flight of stairs!

Pain! An excruciating, white-hot agony consumed her entire body!

Through the ringing in her ears, she could hear a chaotic commotion erupting as someone frantically dialed for an emergency medical team.

"Blood! The mistress is bleeding!" a maid shrieked in terror.

Chloe’s world spun violently as intense cramps racked her lower abdomen. On the frantic journey to the hospital, she could feel the constant, devastating loss of fluid and warmth departing her body.

Her child... was it preparing to leave her forever?

Uncontrollable tears traced down her temples and disappeared into her hair. Her physical body had grown too numb to register the pain, leaving only her heart to feel the raw, genuine agony of the loss.

Her mind drifted to Eric—to the cold detachment of his features, and to every single moment they had shared over the past three years...

She had looked forward to it so deeply, yearning for nothing more than to cherish a home that belonged to her, to Eric, and to their unborn child.

Yet every single fragment of that envisioned future shattered like a broken mirror.

She could feel the fragile life slipping further and further away from her grasp.

An eternity seemed to pass before her blurred consciousness registered the sound of distant voices.

"Eric, you must believe me, I swear I didn't mean for this to happen! I just returned to the country, and I was far too terrified to live all by myself in that massive house. I only wanted to stay with you for a few days, but Sister Chloe rushed at me as though she wanted to strike me. I merely stepped aside to avoid her, and she lost her footing and fell."

As she spoke, the individual dissolved into a fit of weeping.

Chloe recognized the voice instantly; it belonged to Lyndsey.

Immediately following her words, a deeply familiar voice resonated through the room: "I believe you."

It was Eric.

He said he believed Lyndsey.

Then what of her?

Chapter 8: The Divorce Agreement

Did she amount to nothing more than a hysterical, violent shrew in his estimation?

Perhaps the agony in her chest was simply too immense to bear, for Chloe’s eyes snapped open, yet the scene before her pierced through her lungs like a jagged blade.

Lyndsey was nestled inside Eric’s embrace, projecting an aura of pure vulnerability.

And such intimacy was a luxury that she herself had never once received throughout their entire three years of marriage.

Upon noticing that she had awakened, Lyndsey reluctantly pulled away from Eric's chest, her tone dripping with artificial gentleness: "Sister Chloe, you have just suffered a miscarriage. You truly ought to focus on your recovery."

Her words carried a veneer of profound concern, yet the triumph and malice gleaming within her eyes threatened to spill over.

Chloe clenched her fists with what little strength she possessed, forcing herself into a sitting position, her gaze locked entirely onto Eric.

Her pale face was utterly devoid of color, her eyes rimmed with an uncontrollable crimson: "Tell me the truth. Did you marry me solely to secure Grandpa's shares in the company?"

Though phrased as a question, her tone held the weight of absolute certainty.

For a rare moment, Eric froze. He cast a furrowed glance toward Lyndsey before turning his gaze back to Chloe’s reddened eyes, the tumultuous unrest in his heart spiraling entirely out of control.

"Yes."

At that precise moment, he steeled his resolve, refusing to let himself waver any longer.

A dense mist gathered in Chloe’s eyes. She bit her lower lip with immense force, yet her voice trembled violently when she spoke.

"Did you... from the very beginning, intend to cast me aside and divorce me?"