Nancy opened her mouth to beg for mercy, but Aaron didn't give her the chance. "Lock her in the storage room," he ordered coldly. "And before that—make her chug ten glasses of milk."

Before she could even gasp, someone grabbed her jaw and forced the milk down her throat. It spilled everywhere, coating her face and clothes. Almost instantly, red blotches broke out on her skin, forming a grotesque, angry rash.

It was only then that Nancy finally understood—there was no way out. No room for redemption. No path to forgiveness.

A bitter, twisted laugh escaped her lips, her eyes flashing with venom as she glared at Aaron. "You think you're so damn righteous, huh?" she snapped.

She staggered to her feet, still wheezing from the milk, and spat, "You think Cassidy left only because of me?"

Aaron's face darkened. He already knew where this was going. He lunged forward, ready to strike her—but Nancy beat him to it.

"Was it really just me who drove her away? Or was it you? The man who pushed her until she had nothing left to give," she challenged. "You know the answer better than anyone. She's not coming back. No woman would," she hissed with a cruel smirk. "Not after being betrayed by the man she loved the most."

Her voice turned cold, almost gleeful. "She'll marry someone else. Have his babies. Build a life without you. And you? You'll be stuck watching from the sidelines, a ghost in the life that could've been."

Aaron's palm was already mid-air when Nancy threw out one last blow. "Oh, and by the way… there's something you don't know." She paused, just long enough to let it sink in, then added with a twisted smile, "Cassidy's pregnant."

Aaron froze. Nancy grinned like a cat who'd caught a canary. "Yeah. Pregnant. But guess what? It's too late now."

"Whether she keeps the baby or not, you're not the father anymore. And if you can't handle the idea of another man raising her child…" She leaned closer, her voice dripping with malice. "Then you better get used to dying alone."

She burst out laughing, wild and unhinged. And when she saw the devastation on Aaron's face, she laughed even harder. Aaron saw red.

With the force of a raging beast, he slapped her across the room. Her body hit the ground with a sickening thud. "Cassidy is my wife!" he shouted, his voice like thunder. "She's just mad at me—she'll come back. She will come back. You filthy bitch, I'll kill you!"

He turned to his guards, fury boiling over. "What the hell are you waiting for? You want me to drag her out myself?!"

The guards flinched as one, cold sweat running down their backs. Without a word, they rushed forward and yanked the still-laughing Nancy off the floor, hauling her into the storage room like a sack of garbage.

Her words had hit Aaron like a dagger straight to the heart. Since then, he'd been on edge, volatile—like a ticking time bomb no one dared touch. Every meeting, every decision over the past few days was steeped in icy hostility. The air around him was so cold it could snap bones. No one dared breathe wrong around him. The entire office was walking on eggshells.

Even his closest friends, the ones who used to joke with him, had gone silent. They'd never seen him like this—so dark, so cold, so… empty. Now, they were silently praying he'd find me before he completely lost himself.

Because the man standing in Aaron's shoes wasn't really there. He was a shell. Just flesh and bone, running on fumes. Losing me had gutted him. He couldn't explain it. Couldn't make sense of why everything suddenly felt so meaningless.

The world had gone grayscale. People, places, memories—none of it had color anymore. He'd thought maybe his love for me had faded with time. That maybe the fire had dulled. But the second I walked away, the second my presence was gone from his life, the truth slammed into him like a freight train.

It was never me who couldn't live without him. It had always been him. I had been the light he didn't even know he needed—until I was gone. And from the moment he'd let Nancy into their lives, the end had already been written. He'd spent ten years chasing after something precious, only to destroy it with his own hands.

But now… there was a flicker of hope. A baby. If I was still carrying their child, maybe—just maybe—there was still a chance. For them, to be together like the old days.