My Husband Killed My Eight Children For My Best Friend Chapter 04
Adrian stared at the dress the assistant had brought back.
Untouched. The packaging hadn’t even been opened.
He frowned.
“What do you mean, she’s gone? She’s not at home?”
The assistant’s expression was complicated. He held out the divorce agreement.
“I’m afraid it’s not just an outing, sir.”
Adrian froze.
Before he could say a word, Sophie waddled over, one hand supporting her belly.
She caught sight of the divorce agreement and gave a soft laugh.
“Emily really is something. Almost thirty, and still playing these breakup games. Does she think she’s a teenager?”
“Adrian, this is all because you took my side yesterday. She’s throwing a tantrum.”
“She knows you threw her a birthday party. She knows you designed a dress for her. So she’s using divorce to scare you — she wants you crawling back to soothe her.”
“She’s been like this since we were kids. She loves stringing men along. Trust me. I know her.”
“She was the one who wanted to hit me. And now she’s the one sulking? You went to all this trouble for her — a party, a dress. What an ungrateful woman.”
“Don’t worry about her. She’ll turn up in a little while.”
“She’s almost thirty. She’s miscarried God knows how many times. She can’t even have children anymore. Who else would take her if she left you? She’d cling to you for the rest of her life. Women like that need to be taught a lesson.”
Adrian said nothing.
His eyes were fixed on the divorce agreement.
In the space for the wife’s signature, Emily Hart had been pressed hard into the paper — hard enough that the pen had nearly torn through.
He knew me.
I didn’t joke about divorce.
Not long after we were married, I got pregnant with our first child.
One evening, we were on the couch scrolling through videos.
In one of them, a woman kept threatening her husband with divorce every time they fought. And every time, he caved.
Adrian had been openly disgusted by it.
He said he hated being threatened.
And I had told him, very seriously: “Adrian, I married you. I won’t throw that word around. But if I ever do say it, it means I’m leaving.”
At the time, he hadn’t taken it in.
Because at the time, his mind had been fully occupied with how to get rid of the baby inside me.
Sophie had come to him in tears not long before, saying Ethan was infertile. That if Ethan couldn’t take over Blackwood Group, her future would be miserable.
Now, looking back, Adrian felt the first stirring of dread.
After Sophie finished speaking, the guests around them had already begun exchanging the kind of looks reserved for a scandal.
Those looks weren’t aimed at Adrian.
They were aimed at me.
Because of all the miscarriages, people in their circle had started calling me, in private, “the cursed woman.”
Adrian had heard the phrase before.
Back then, he’d only laughed it off.
But now, all at once, those looks were unbearable to him.
And for the first time, something like anger flickered in him — anger at Sophie.
Today was my birthday.
Did she really need to say those things in front of all these people?
Others didn’t know why I miscarried.
But she did. Didn’t she?
Adrian’s face darkened.
“Sophie. Emily is older than you. She’s family. Is it really appropriate to keep calling her by her first name?”
Sophie blinked, momentarily caught off guard.
“I… I’ve just gotten used to it. She’s my friend, after all.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Friend?”
“I’ve known Emily longer than you have. She’s never strung a man along in her life. She isn’t the kind of woman you just described.”
“Even after you took Ethan from her, she never once made a scene. Why would you say those things about her?”
“Is that what you call a friend?”
He turned to the guests.
“Tonight’s party is canceled. I need to find my wife. Please excuse yourselves.”
Sophie grabbed hold of his hand, quickly falling back on her usual trick.
“Adrian, my stomach doesn’t feel right. Don’t go.”
In the past, one sentence like that had been enough to keep him at her side.
Not tonight.
For years, he had believed Sophie was fragile — someone who needed his protection.
But the things he had just heard her say had shown him another side of her. For the first time.
Adrian pulled his hand free. His voice was cold.
“If you don’t feel well, see a doctor. Ethan should be home by now. Your husband is who you should be calling.”
“I’m your uncle-in-law. I’ve already done more than my share.”
“Whatever comes next for you and Ethan — the two of you can figure it out.”
“We’re done.”
He paused.
“And another thing. I don’t want to hear another word of what you were just saying. Don’t take advantage of Emily and drag her name through the dirt in the same breath.”
He walked out without looking back.