The Fall After Forever

The college girl Ethan had just started keeping on the side cheated on him. He had a severe germaphobia and refused to touch any woman he considered "unclean." Once, a woman had undergone hymenoplasty trying to climb into Ethan's bed. The moment he saw through her, she was run out of town overnight. I assumed Chloe would face the same fate. That was until a video of Ethan spending a fortune, falling to his knees, and begging her to take him back went viral on Instagram. Only then did I realize he had truly fallen in love this time. Looking at the endless stream of bills he forwarded to me for Chloe's luxury expenses, I didn't cause a scene. I quietly signed and processed every single reimbursement. We had a deal: as long as he didn't bring his mess in front of our child, I didn't care. Until my five-year-old daughter came home from preschool and asked me for a birthday present. "Mommy, I want a talking teddy bear." I softened my voice. "Mia, teddy bears can't talk." My daughter blinked up at me. "Mommy, you're lying. Daddy's teddy bear makes noises, and she even calls Daddy 'Daddy.'" "Except Daddy's teddy bear only talks when I'm asleep. She even made a bet with Daddy—she said if she woke me up, they'd do it eight times, and if I stayed asleep, only five times." "Mommy, I counted very carefully. That's how many times the bear made noises." In an instant, lightning struck my soul. I waited in the living room until three in the morning before Ethan finally came home. As usual, there was a smear of lipstick on his collar and a sickly sweet perfume clinging to his clothes. He had smelled like this perfume for three straight months. I had to admit, Chloe had real tricks up her sleeve. For a playboy like Ethan, women who lasted even a month by his side could be counted on one hand. Let alone making him drop to his knees to beg for reconciliation. Chloe was the very first exception Ethan had ever made. At first, when I noticed the new shade of lipstick on Ethan's collar, I washed it off in silence. Yet day after day, the exact same shade appeared in the exact same spot. That was when I understood: the little girl was declaring war on me. "Is Mia asleep? I'll pick her up from school tomorrow. It's her turn to sleep at my place tomorrow night." Ethan spoke first, breaking the silence. I deliberately kept my voice down, fighting to keep my emotions from spiraling out of control: "Ethan, does she only go to your place to sleep?" Ethan crushed out his cigarette. "What else? If not sleep, what would we..." Before he could finish, I hit play on the recording of Mia's voice. The expression on Ethan's face froze instantly. I clenched my fists, gritting my teeth as I pointed at him with the last breath in my lungs. "Starting today, you are forbidden from having any contact with Mia!" "I told you, you can mess around however you want, but our child is my bottom line." Just as the words left my mouth, Ethan's phone on the table buzzed. A message popped up from a contact saved as Baby. Ethan, did you handle the kid yet? I bought that new ribbed style. If she wakes up this time, let's bet on 20 rounds. He had looked like he wanted to make an excuse, but the moment the text flashed on screen, he dropped the act entirely. "She's a little kid. What could she possibly understand?" I slapped Ethan across the face with all my might. "What the hell have you two been doing in front of Mia?" "She thinks if you shove things between your legs, they start talking! The other day at preschool, another kid was sleeping and ignored her, so she tried shoving a pencil between their legs! Do you have any idea what could have happened?" "And last time, she kept trying to take off her clothes at preschool! She told the teacher that Daddy's bear only starts talking when Daddy takes off his clothes! If she ran into a predator, the consequences would be unthinkable! Do you even care?!" "A predator would want her?" Ethan snarled, furious from the slap. I froze. I never imagined those words could come out of a biological father's mouth. "Besides, who even knows if the kid is mine? If she dies, Chloe and I can have another one and give it back to you. Wouldn't that settle it?" Who even knows if the kid is mine. That sentence had haunted me since the day Mia was born. When I was little, I was hit by a truck while learning to ride a bike, and my hymen ruptured from the trauma, bleeding internally. On our wedding night, just because there was no blood on the sheets, he swore I was "unclean." In our eight years of marriage, Ethan hadn't touched me once after our wedding night. Mia was conceived through five rounds of IVF. Even when I shoved the paternity test right in his face, he refused to spare it a second glance. He claimed he loved me, blaming his behavior on his severe germaphobia. Yet when a fire broke out at his company, I risked my life rushing into the flames to save him. I suffered severe burns all over my lower body. But when we made it out, my legs gave out, and a nearby bodyguard caught me by the arm to steady me. From that day on, he refused all physical contact with me, saying I disgusted him. It wasn't until I saw the video of him on his knees trending online today that I finally realized. It was never germaphobia. He simply never loved me at all. "Let's get a divorce."I slammed the divorce papers onto the table. I had drafted these papers the very first time he cheated. Back then, Mia was only one, just learning to say Daddy. She could only fall asleep nestled between Ethan and me. That was my first compromise. I told him back then that as long as he kept his hands off Mia, I didn't care what he did outside. "You broke the rule. Sign it," I said, handing him a pen. Ethan didn't sign. Instead, he ripped the divorce agreement to shreds with a few quick tears. "Gia, Chloe was right. Women like you only know how to play nice until the wedding and the baby." "Once the kid is born, you show your true colors, doing whatever you can to tie me down, threatening me with divorce over and over again." He furrowed his brows, his eyes dripping with disgust. Ever since our wedding day, I had grown all too accustomed to that look. A wave of bitterness washed over my heart as I pulled out another copy. "If you don't sign, we'll go through legal proceedings. I'm taking you to court." Ethan's face darkened instantly. Before he could speak, the front door of the villa was pushed open from the outside. Chloe stood in the doorway, tears welling in her eyes as she looked at him. "Ethan... is this the kind of life you live at home...?" Seeing Chloe standing there in only a nightgown, the tenderness and worry in Ethan's eyes weren't hidden in the slightest. He rushed over, draped his jacket over Chloe's shoulders, and pulled her tightly into his arms. At that moment, an invisible hand gripped my heart, squeezing until I couldn't breathe. I never expected Chloe to track him all the way to our house. One of Ethan's mistresses had shown up at our home once before. That time, Mia ended up covered in bruises and spent half a month in the hospital. I knew Chloe held a special place in his heart, but I never imagined it was this special. The sound of a door opening echoed from the second floor. Only Mia lived up there. "Get out! Mia is awake! Get Chloe out of here right now!" Snapping back to reality, I rushed forward to shove Chloe toward the door. "Ethan, it's so cold outside, and I'm only wearing this..." Chloe was wearing an ultra-short, skimpy slip dress. "If you think showing up at a married man's house in the middle of the night dressed like that is normal, then you can handle the cold." Seeing Mia walking down the stairs, I would have thrown Chloe out even if she were completely naked. Before my hand could touch Chloe, a sharp, deafening slap landed across my face. The blow was so hard it sent me staggering back until my waist slammed violently against the sharp corner of the table. I had a blood clotting disorder. Even though the cut wasn't huge, within a single minute, blood had completely soaked through my clothes. It was enough to shatter every last illusion I held about the pathetic crumbs of affection Ethan had thrown my way over the past five years. Mia sprinted down the stairs, swinging her tiny fists against Chloe. "You're a bad person! Stop hurting my mommy!" Chloe curled into Ethan's arms like an alley cat. She raised her foot, and her high heel kicked Mia without an ounce of mercy. Before Mia could even reach her, the kick sent her flying. Her small body hit the floor with a dull, heavy thud. "Mommy, you're bleeding so much... Please don't die!" She crawled toward me on her hands and knees, sobbing hysterically. "Mommy, I don't want the talking bear anymore! I just want you to stop bleeding!" "Daddy is bad! I don't love Daddy anymore! You made Mommy bleed! Take Mommy to the hospital right now!" Ethan froze for a second. Looking at Mia, a flicker of pain crossed his eyes. Chloe turned and threw herself into his chest, whining piteously: "Ethan, take me to the hospital, please... When I kicked her, my foot hit her wrong, and it hurts so bad..." In the end, Ethan still chose Chloe. No matter how desperately our daughter begged him, all that remained was Ethan's back as he carried Chloe into his car. In the end, it was Mia who picked up my phone, crying hysterically as she dialed 911.It wasn't until the wail of the ambulance sirens drew near that I finally let go of my fading consciousness and blacked out. When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in a hospital room. "You're awake?" Ethan sat by the bedside, a cigarette between his fingers. I turned my back to him. The wound on my body still throbbed with sharp pain. Ethan let out a cold sneer. "Was that really necessary? Don't you love acting tough?" "Back then, you drank yourself into gastric bleeding for me and the company, and you still dragged yourself to work. You barely lost a little blood just now. Why are you acting so fragile?" Those words felt like ten thousand silver needles piercing straight through the softest spot in my heart. Back then, I thought love was bigger than heaven and earth. I was willing to do any foolish thing for it. Now, nothing was left. The stubborn pride of my youth had vanished with it. Glancing at the wall clock ticking past five, I got out of bed. It was time for Mia's preschool to let out. Ethan blocked the doorway. "Stay in bed. I already had Chloe go look after Mia." The sentence felt like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head. "What did you say?" Ethan frowned, as if finding my reaction absurdly dramatic. "Can't Chloe handle one kid? That's not what you should be worrying about. You should worry about Mia misbehaving and hurting Chloe." Right as he finished speaking, Ethan's phone rang. "Mr. Mitchell, we have an emergency!" "The Vance family kidnapped both Miss Moore and little Mia!" The words struck like a thunderclap, leaving my ears ringing. The Vance family—a name that made everyone in the city tremble with fear. Chloe had crossed them once before. Ethan had spent three million and willingly handed over a major project I had spent six months securing just to get Chloe out safely. Ethan's hand shook as he gripped the phone. "Send everyone over right now and protect Chloe! What do they want this time? Whatever it is, I'll give it!" "Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Vance said he only wants you to come." With that, the line went dead. Without a second of hesitation, Ethan grabbed my wrist with his massive hand and dragged me out. What normally took an hour's drive from the hospital to the mountain cliffs on the outskirts took Ethan barely thirty minutes with the gas pedal pressed to the floor. Chloe and Mia were both bound in thick ropes, suspended over the sheer edge of the cliff, their mouths stuffed with cloth. "Mr. Mitchell, our boss said you have to pick one." A man in a sharp black suit stepped forward. He held a knife, poised right between the two ropes holding Chloe and Mia. "Tell Vance that if he lets Chloe go right now, we can talk!" "The last incident was settled! What the hell does he want with Chloe now?" "What's with sending an assistant? Tell him to get his ass out here!" Ethan roared. The assistant wore an earpiece, calmly repeating the words coming through the line: "Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Vance says you haven't offended him. He's just been bored lately and wanted to have some fun." "Pick one. As long as you name one, I guarantee the person you choose will walk away unharmed. As for the one you don't..." He tapped the blade against the rope. The outcome couldn't have been clearer. "I pick Chloe! Let Chloe go right now!" Ethan yelled. The moment Chloe's name left his lips, Mia froze. She hadn't shed a single tear until that moment. But hearing his choice, tears fell from her eyes like broken pearls, streaming down her cheeks. She cried as hard and desperately as the day she was born. "Save Mia, I beg you! I'll die in Chloe's place!" I fell to my knees with a sickening thud. My daughter was my absolute bottom line. I had put my life on the line to bring her into this world. "Mr. Mitchell, your time is up," the assistant reminded him. "Save Chloe." Even with me begging on my knees, Ethan didn't hesitate for a fraction of a second when he spoke her name. The ropes binding Chloe were untied in a few swift motions, but the assistant made no move to cut the rope holding Mia. In the next second, Chloe lunged forward, snatching the rope suspended over the edge toward Mia. "Mia!" Ethan bolted toward the child, but it was already too late. Without a moment's hesitation, I scrambled to my feet and launched myself toward the edge of the cliff, catching Mia in my arms just as the rope snapped. I had never felt as useless as I did in that single breath. Baby, the bottom is going to hurt so much. Mommy will cushion your fall. The jagged rocks were unforgiving. Every collision brought tearing, blinding agony. Before the final trace of consciousness faded into black, the last thing I heard was Ethan's frantic scream tearing through the wind: "Gia!"