I couldn’t breathe. My heart pounded in my chest as I took in the scene before me, the two of them standing there, at the hospital, like they were starting a family together. Was this why he didn’t come home? Was he here for her, for their baby?
My feet moved before my brain could catch up. I stormed over, the blood roaring in my ears.
“Chloe?” Rozen’s voice was sharp, startled when he saw me. But instead of guilt or surprise, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. “What are you doing here?”
I could barely form words. My vision blurred with tears, and all I could do was stare at them, my heart cracking in half. “What am I doing here?” I repeated, my voice shaking with disbelief. “What are you doing here? With her?”
Thalia’s smug smile infuriated me. Rozen stepped forward, lowering his voice like he was trying to keep a secret. “Chloe, don’t make a scene. You’re stalking us, aren’t you?”
The accusation hit me like a slap. Stalking? Was that what he thought of me? His wife? The mother of his supposed unborn child?
Fury exploded in my chest. Before I knew it, my hand shot up, and I slapped him hard across the face. The sound echoed through the sterile hospital corridor, and for a moment, everything stopped.
Rozen glared at me, his cheek still flushed red from the slap I’d delivered. His jaw tightened, and I could feel the tension rolling off him, but I didn’t care. Not anymore.
“What the hell, Chloe?” he snapped, his voice low and brimming with anger.
I didn’t flinch. My heart was racing, but I stood firm, refusing to let him turn this around on me. “You really don’t get it, do you?” My voice shook with raw emotion as I forced myself to say the words that had been tearing at me. “You donated sperm to Thalia. Without telling me. Do you know how humiliating it was to find out like that? You gave her what we’ve been trying to have for years.”
He stared at me, still shocked by the slap, but the cold indifference in his eyes made my blood boil. “It wasn’t a big deal, Chloe. It was a favor. That’s all.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “A favor?” My voice cracked as I repeated the word, bitterness laced in every syllable. “You gave her a child, Rozen. You let her have the one thing I’ve been aching for. Do you know how that feels? How much it tears me apart?”