Chapter 3

My finger hovered over my divorce attorney's number when Blake's voice suddenly came from behind me. "Natalie, what are you doing?" I locked my phone and turned around. He walked over to Vivian and casually draped an arm over her shoulders. "Blake, I need to talk to you." "Can't it wait until tomorrow?" He frowned. "Everyone's waiting for me to celebrate." "No." My eyes dropped to the hand resting on Vivian's shoulder. "You just told the entire country that she and Noah were your family. Now I want an explanation." Blake sighed. "Didn't we already talk about this?" "You didn't explain anything. You just made excuses for her." Vivian's eyes suddenly turned red. "Natalie, I'm sorry. This is all my fault." She lightly clutched Blake's jersey. "I was so overwhelmed that I couldn't stop myself from kissing him. I never meant to come between you or ruin your marriage." I looked at her. "If you knew he had a wife, why did you kiss him?" Tears immediately spilled from Vivian's eyes. "I was just so proud of him." "And that gave you the right to kiss someone else's husband?" "That's enough, Natalie." Blake's voice rose sharply. Several staff members nearby turned to look at us. He immediately lowered his voice, but his eyes remained full of reproach. "Vivian already apologized. What more do you want?" I stared at him in disbelief. "What more do I want?" "I stood by the rink waiting for you while carrying your child. But you held her son, let her kiss you, and told the whole world that the three of you were a family." My voice began to tremble. "Blake, did it ever cross your mind that I'm your wife?" He rubbed his brow in frustration. "Of course I know that." "Then why didn't you push her away?" "Because Noah was standing right there." He pointed at the boy. "Do you have any idea how badly he wants a father? Did you expect me to humiliate his mother in front of him?" I froze. "So you humiliated me instead because you didn't want to embarrass them?" Blake said nothing. Vivian suddenly crouched down, covered her face, and began to cry. "I'm sorry, Noah. This is all Mommy's fault." Noah immediately threw himself into her arms. "Mommy, don't cry." Then he turned and glared at me. "Why are you being mean to my mommy?" My heart plummeted. "Noah, I wasn't—" "Natalie!" Blake cut me off and bent down to pick up the boy. "You scared him." I stood there, unable to believe what I had just heard. Blake comforted Noah in a gentle voice. Only after the boy stopped crying did he look at me again. "Apologize to Vivian." I thought I had misheard him. "What did you say?" "She's already crying over this. You shouldn't have confronted her like that in front of Noah." I stared at him. "You want me to apologize to the woman who kissed my husband?" "It was just a kiss!" Blake finally lost his patience. "Natalie, you already have my last name, my house, and my child. What more could you possibly want?" I looked down at the curve of my belly. So that was how he saw it. Our marriage, our home, even our child—they were all things he had bestowed upon me. And I was supposed to be grateful. I was supposed to be forgiving. Blake seemed to realize that he had gone too far. He reached for my shoulder. "Sweetheart, that's not what I meant." I stepped back. His hand stopped in midair. Just then, his phone rang. It was his agent, Grant. As Blake listened, his expression gradually darkened. "What? The video is already everywhere?" After listening for another moment, he immediately looked at me. "Natalie, Grant says people online are starting to question my relationship with Vivian." He ended the call, his tone suddenly urgent. "Put together a PR strategy tonight. We may need to issue a statement tomorrow. We can't let this affect my endorsement deals." I looked at him in silence. A moment ago, he had demanded that I apologize to Vivian. Now he wanted me to clean up the mess their kiss had created. "Blake." "What?" "Effective immediately, I'm no longer your PR consultant." He stared at me. "Natalie, don't let your personal feelings interfere with your work." I removed the family access pass from around my neck and placed it in his hand. "And I don't want to be your wife anymore." Blake's expression changed. "What is that supposed to mean?" "It means exactly what you heard." He studied me for several seconds, then gave a helpless laugh. "Fine. You're upset right now. We'll talk tomorrow after you've calmed down." Vivian gently reminded him, "Blake, everyone is still waiting for you." He glanced at me. "Go home and get some rest. Stop overthinking everything. And don't forget to prepare that PR strategy." With that, he carried Noah toward the celebration hall with Vivian beside him. I watched them walk away and didn't follow. Only after their footsteps had completely faded did I take out my phone again. This time, I didn't hesitate. I called my divorce attorney. "Hello. This is Natalie Reed." My own voice sounded strangely calm. "I want to end my marriage."