Chapter 1

After wrapping up my tasks at work, I called my husband, Christian Clark. "Honey, don't forget to come home for Christmas today! I have some good news to share with you!"

On the other end of the line, Christian's voice sounded rushed and tense. "Shiloh, there's an urgent issue with the company project. I need to check on it right away! Juni already finished her bottle and is asleep, so don't worry!"

Those two sentences filled me with unease. Our daughter, Juniper Clark, was just over a year old. How could I possibly not worry about her being left alone at home?

When I tried to call Christian back, his phone was already unreachable.

Christmas traffic was overwhelming, and I found myself stuck in a sea of cars, anxiously praying that Juni would be safe. When I finally rushed home, the house was eerily quiet.

I hurried to the crib and saw Juni sleeping soundly. Relieved, I reached out to touch her little face.

That touch sent a wave of panic through me—her forehead was burning hot. She clearly had a high fever.

I immediately grabbed Juni and drove to the hospital, calling Christian along the way. "Christian, Juni has a fever! I'm taking her to the City Hospital. You need to come right away!"

For a brief moment, there was tension in his voice. "How is that possible? She's burning up? This is your fault! I've told you countless times that we need to hire a nanny, but you never listened! I'm in the middle of a meeting. Let's just talk later!" he snapped.

I bit down hard, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

We had hired a nanny before, but she was caught pinching Juni on the baby monitor while we were at work. We fired her immediately, and I became extremely cautious when screening potential nannies ever since.

Unfortunately, we had not found anyone suitable yet. Now, Christian was using that incident as ammunition to blame me.

Even so, I did not have time to argue with him. I ran three red lights before finally arriving at the hospital and rushed into the emergency room with Juni in my arms.

What I thought was just a routine fever turned into a nightmare when the doctor told me after an examination that Juni had ingested sleeping pills and needed her stomach pumped immediately.

The words hit me like a bolt of lightning. How could this happen? Christian and I always prepared all of Juni's meals ourselves. How could she possibly have ingested sleeping pills?

As I watched Juni being wheeled into the operating room while her flushed little face burned with fever, I wished I could take on her pain instead.

In my panic, I tried calling Christian again, but his phone remained unreachable.

Fortunately, the procedure ended successfully after an hour. Juni was then moved to a general ward for observation.

I was about to follow and take care of her when the attending doctor called out to me with a serious expression.

"Mrs. Clark, please wait a moment."

His expression was hesitant, as if he was struggling with his words. "May I ask who usually prepares the child's formula?"

I felt puzzled. "Both my husband and I prepare her formula."

The doctor pressed further, "Who prepared it tonight?"

Growing more confused, I answered, "My husband. Why? Is there something wrong, doctor?"

He sighed while gently patting my shoulder. "If your home has surveillance cameras, you should check them."

Though I did not fully understand his words, I did not have time to dwell on them. I quickly went to care for Juni.

I finally felt a sense of relief as I watched Juni's temperature gradually come down.

When I glanced at my phone, it was already 11:30 pm. Exhausted from the night's events, I decided to head to the hospital's convenience store to grab a quick snack.

However, I stumbled upon something shocking as I walked downstairs. Christian, who was supposed to be working late, was here. And in his arms was none other than his new assistant, Peyton Sullivan!

"Mr. Clark, it's all my fault. I twisted my ankle when I got out of the car, and now, I can't spend Christmas with you properly."

"Come now, Peyton. Don't say that. Twisting your ankle is serious. I'm heartbroken for you. Besides, I don't mind spending Christmas in the hospital. By the way, I already bought that diamond necklace you wanted."

"Oh, you're so naughty…" Peyton giggled as Christian comforted her gently, completely unaware that I was standing in the shadows.

Overwhelmed by sadness and anger, tears streamed down my face.

Our daughter was still lying in a hospital bed with a high fever, yet Christian was here flirting with his assistant. He did not care about Juni's well-being at all!

While he lavished Peyton with expensive gifts, he had never even thought of buying me—his wife of seven years—a simple 300-dollar necklace.

Christian and I were college sweethearts. After graduation, he wanted to start his own business, and I gave him 200 thousand dollars from my family to fund his dream.

During his startup days, I pinched pennies, cutting every corner to support him.

When his business finally began to flourish, I still refrained from indulging myself for the best of the family.

Recently, Christian's company had been struggling with cash flow problems, so I tightened the household budget even more. I haggled over groceries and stretched every dollar to its limit.

Yet now, I realized my sacrifices meant nothing to him. He had no problem spending extravagantly on another woman while treating me with indifference.

Wiping away my tears, I clenched the ten-million-dollar winning lottery ticket in my pocket.

Yes, I had won ten million dollars. I had planned to surprise Christian tonight during our Christmas celebration at home. I also wanted to tell him that I had resigned from my job to focus on taking care of Juni full-time.

Yet now…

It was clear there was no need to share this with Christian.

This seven-year relationship had reached its end. It was time to let go.