Shannon's POV

As soon as I stepped through the door and realized the house was empty, I rushed upstairs to the study. Standing in front of the safe, I didn’t hesitate. I wiped the sweat off my palms and entered Gale’s birthday as the code.

With a soft ding, the safe clicked open.

Inside, stacks of documents were piled high. After a brief pause, I locked the study door behind me, took out all the papers, and began flipping through them, snapping photos along the way.

Then I found it.

A medical document. My gut twisted the moment my eyes scanned the title. Something felt off. And as I continued reading line by line, the air around me grew heavier, then my heart sank.

Turned out, my baby was just a tool to save Gale.

And the worst part? Rusty knew.

He hadn’t intended for the baby to die, not at first. But even after learning how dangerous a premature C-section would be, he still signed the consent form without a second thought. He chose to deliver the baby early.

The man who helped give our child life also took it away.

Alone in that room, staring at the truth, I couldn’t stop the broken sob that slipped from my throat. My right hand trembled uncontrollably as I clutched the edge of the desk, trying to stay upright.

Thinking of that tiny baby I once held in my arms, my eyes blurred with tears, and my chest felt hollow, like something had been carved right out of me.

Suddenly, a piece of paper slipped from the pile and fell to the floor.

When I picked it up, my heart stopped again. Bold characters stared back at me, saying [Divorce Agreement]

I opened it and found Rusty’s signature was already there.

The space next to it was the only one left blank, waiting for mine.

So this was what he had prepared for me all along.

Before I could process it further, I suddenly heard his voice downstairs.

“Shannon? Is that you?”

I froze.

According to Gale’s social media, Rusty was supposed to be out with her, celebrating their ‘lucky escape’ after the fire. So why was he home?

His footsteps grew louder.

Panicking, I shoved all the documents back into the safe, shut it, and darted into the adjacent bedroom. By the time he reached the second floor, I was curled up under the covers, pretending to sleep.

The moment he saw me safe and sound, Rusty didn’t look relieved. Rather, he looked angry.

“Shannon, do you even realize what I went through? I turned the entire amusement park upside down looking for you! I was this close to calling the police! And the whole time, you were just here? Sleeping? You didn’t even think to let me know you were home?”

He sounded genuinely hurt, like I’d wronged him, like he was the victim.

But he had been the one who let go of my hand, who ran off to save someone else.

Even so, I gave him a small, empty smile and didn’t bother arguing.

“I did try to call you,” I said quietly. “But the crowd pushed us apart, and you know I can’t see. I couldn’t find you. I dialed your number, but you didn’t pick up. So I took a cab home and just waited for you here.”

He glanced at his phone then, and sure enough, dozens of missed calls lit up the screen.

Only then did he seem to remember that he’d been too busy comforting Gale to answer. When the phone kept ringing, he’d silenced it and tossed it aside.

Recalling that, his face softened with guilt, and he scrambled to justify himself.

“I... I was looking for you, too, you know. I didn’t stop. But anyway, we’re both safe now, and that’s what matters.”

Before he could say more, the Love Bell rang, which only meant Gale was calling him downstairs.

He hesitated for a beat, weighing his options, and just as I expected, he chose her.

But not without tossing a few parting words over his shoulder.

“Get some rest. I’ll bring you something to eat and come back to keep you company later.”

Once he left, the room fell silent again.

I pulled out my phone and opened a hidden surveillance app. After entering Gale’s birthday as the password, I accessed the live feed from the first-floor camera.

Yes, I always knew there was a hidden camera downstairs.

Rusty had installed it himself, said it was for my safety, that he wanted to be able to check on me at all times, so I never questioned it.

Didn't expect I could use this to my own advantage.

Shannon's POV

On the screen, I watched as Gale seduced Rusty, and he completely gave in. He didn’t care about the pot still on the stove. The two of them lost control right there on the couch, limbs tangled, the world outside forgotten.

Their movements grew more desperate and passionate, and my face turned ashen. The sight of their bare bodies flashing across the screen made something bitter and metallic rise in my throat. I stumbled into the bathroom, clinging to the toilet as my body convulsed, but all I could throw up was water.

After rinsing off, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I forced a smile, but it was shaky and thin.

I looked awful. But not nearly as broken as I felt inside.

Rusty, why did it have to be her?

Gale wasn’t just any woman. She was my adopted sister, my father’s illegitimate child.

I still remember the year I turned fourteen. My mom passed away from illness, and almost immediately, that woman moved in with Gale in tow. My so-called little sister, who was just one year younger than I.

Even as a teenager, I knew my father had cheated on my mom, and I hated him for it. And Gale and her mother only fueled that resentment, poisoning what little connection I had left with him.

I used to confide all of this in Rusty. He held me close, told me he understood, and even cried with me.

But in the end, he fell in love with Gale. And together, they became the ones who hurt me the most.

I was drowning in memories, lost in the pain of it all, when Rusty’s voice snapped me back to reality.

"You're more important than Gale. Of course, I’d prioritize you. That’s why I’m bringing you dinner first. I'll just go feed her after you’ve eaten."

He did exactly what he said. After making sure Gale had eaten her fill, he picked through her leftovers, arranged a few bits of food onto a plate, and brought it upstairs to me.

Just as he opened the door, I accidentally tapped on my photo album, which somehow opened our wedding video.

His voice, reciting our vows, filled the room, with my soft sobs overlapping with it.

Rusty froze in place for a moment, clearly caught off guard. His expression shifted, less cold, more thoughtful, like the memory of our past had softened him. He gently set the plate on the nightstand and spoke to me in a surprisingly tender voice.

"Shannon, I put together something special for you. Eat a little and get some rest, alright? I’ve still got unfinished work from the office, so I’ll be up late. Don’t wait up for me."

I don’t know why, but something inside me pushed back. Maybe I just needed to hear the truth from him, his guilt, his regret, something real. I opened my mouth, ready to speak.

“Rusty—”

But the familiar sound of the Love Bell app interrupted me.

Gale really hated it when we had moments alone, and Rusty, as always, obeyed like a dog. He mumbled a few meaningless words to brush me off and rushed downstairs to his precious Gale.

The words I wanted to say were swallowed back down in the end.

Once I confirmed through the surveillance feed that they’d both left, I stood and quietly returned to the study.

I took photos of our child’s medical records. Then I picked up the divorce agreement and signed it without hesitation.

As for the assets listed in the divorce, I called up a lawyer I trusted, and we signed everything online. I then asked him to handle the legal process and donate everything I was entitled to, down to the last cent, to charity.

After that, I walked downstairs and took one last look around the house.

Only then did I notice that there were only a few things that belonged to me. Almost everything here belonged to Gale now.

Except for our child’s ashes, I took nothing with me. With that, I closed the door behind me and never looked back.

Third Person's POV

Meanwhile, at the hospital, Rusty was accompanying Gale for a prenatal checkup when he unexpectedly ran into Shannon's doctor.

The doctor spotted Rusty sitting alone in the OB-GYN waiting area and assumed he and his wife were planning to have another baby.

He chuckled and said, “I knew you two had a strong relationship. Now that Shannon’s vision is back, you’re already planning for a child? Looks like happiness is just around the corner.”

Rusty stood frozen.

For a moment, the words didn’t register. But then they did, and panic set in.

He bolted upright, bumping hard into the chair. Ignoring the pain, he grabbed the doctor by the collar and screamed, “What did you say?! What do you mean her vision came back?!”