The Only One He Loves novel Chapter 4

"What did you say?" Ryan stood frozen, staring at me like he'd misheard. "Emma?"

I picked up a pen, signed each page of the divorce papers, and pushed them toward him.

"I said, I want a divorce," I repeated.

Ryan loosened his collar, frowning. "Are you losing it? Who'd want you, a woman past her prime, after me?"

So in Ryan's eyes, I was "past my prime" at thirty.

I tossed the pen at him. "Ever heard 'thirty is the new twenty'? By the way, after the divorce, I won't be your assistant anymore. Give me a few days to brief my replacement on your schedule."

My directness drew a mocking laugh from him.

He pointed at me, eyes flashing with impatience. "Emma, you're playing with fire, and you're going to get burned!"

As if on cue, Olivia's ringtone filled the room. Ryan didn't answer, just fixed me with a threatening stare.

"Weren't you the one always talking about having a baby before thirty? I know you're ovulating this week." His voice turned calculating. "I'm giving you three seconds to take it all back."

Last year, on my 29th birthday, I'd turned my fertility tracking into a shared calendar event, scheduling our attempts at starting a family. Ryan didn't know I'd stopped marking those dates last month.

The ringtone echoed through the room like a countdown. Three seconds passed, and the last thread between us snapped.

"You've got nerve, Emma. Let's see how long you can keep this up!" He stormed out of the house.

The moment the door slammed, I picked up my phone and scheduled an appointment at the clinic for the day after tomorrow.

At the clinic, the doctor looked at the ultrasound and hesitated. "Ms. Mitchell, the pregnancy is progressing normally. Are you sure you don't want to discuss this with the father?" Just then, my phone lit up with a trending notification. A clip from last night's film gala.

The camera caught Ryan and Olivia sitting together, exchanging shy glances and secret smiles.

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