My Best Friend Took My Leg, My Baby, and My Love Chapter 09

My Best Friend Took My Leg, My Baby, and My Love Chapter 09

A few days later, Ethan Sterling contacted me.

He finally gave in.

“I agree to the divorce.”

“I’ll walk away with nothing.”

“But I have one request.”

“Don’t press charges for what happened that day.”

“Don’t pursue it.”

I held my phone.

I couldn’t stop myself from letting out a quiet laugh.

“Don’t pursue it?”

“Ethan Sterling, even now, you’re still protecting her.”

“Those so-called criminals…”

“They were hired by Sophie Carter, weren’t they?”

The other end of the line instantly went silent.

Then I heard Ethan’s rushed breathing.

His voice was filled with disbelief.

“How…”

“How did you know?”

I lowered my eyes and looked at my cold prosthetic right leg.

My gaze was empty.

“That day, her reaction was too deliberate.”

“She was acting.”

“I saw through that little trick.”

My voice was quiet.

But there was endless sadness hidden underneath.

“What did I do wrong?”

“Why did she hate me so much?”

“Why did she have to destroy my life again and again?”

There was no answer from the other end of the line.

Only Ethan’s silent breathing.

But honestly…

whether he admitted it or not no longer mattered.

I had already known the truth.

It was nothing more than Sophie Carter’s endless greed and jealousy.

Two days later, Ethan and I walked into the county courthouse together.

We filed the divorce paperwork.

The divorce was finalized.

The moment our marriage officially ended…

I felt nothing.

No sadness.

No anger.

Only relief.

When I walked out of the county courthouse, Ethan called my name.

“Nattie.”

“If you ever need anything, you can come to me.”

“I’ll…”

Before he could finish, I interrupted him.

Slowly, I raised my hand.

First, I pointed at my flat stomach.

A body that would never carry another baby.

Then I lowered my hand.

I pointed at my cold prosthetic leg.

Every word I said cut deeper than any knife.

“My child.”

“My health.”

“Every bit of suffering I’ve endured in this life…”

“You caused all of it.”

“Both of you.”

Shame and regret spread across Ethan’s face.

His head lowered slowly.

He couldn’t look at me.

I waved my hand.

My voice was calm.

“I hope we never meet again.”

After saying that, I walked straight toward Riverstone International Airport.

I left the city behind.

People changed.

Love shattered.

And relying on someone else…

only gave them the chance to betray you.

With the fortune Ethan gave me in the divorce settlement, I started my own business.

Three years later…

I became the founder of a billion-dollar publicly traded company.

I became the independent, successful woman everyone admired.

The woman who had built everything with her own hands.

The next time I saw Ethan Sterling was at a business gala.

I was surrounded by people

Everyone wanted to speak with me.

Everyone wanted my attention.

And Ethan…

was standing not far away.

The man who once stood on top of the world was now wearing an ill-fitting suit.

He followed after others.

Nodding.

Apologizing.

Trying desperately to please them.

The moment he saw me…

his eyes turned red.

After talking with others, I learned what had happened after I left.

Back then, Sophie Carter had done everything she could to give birth to the child she thought would secure

Ethan forever.

But the baby was stillborn.

The thing Sophie believed would bind Ethan to her forever…

became the very thing that destroyed her.

She suffered a complete mental breakdown.

Every day, she wandered around as if she had lost her mind.

Repeating my name over and over.

Saying she was wrong.

Saying she should never have taken what belonged to me.

Saying she should never have destroyed my life.

Ethan had no choice but to admit her to a psychiatric facility.

But regret had come too late.

And her suffering never stopped.

Not long after…

Sophie ended her own life one night.

She hanged herself with a torn bedsheet.

Her entire life had been spent competing with me.

Fighting for my love.

Fighting for my life.

Fighting for everything I had.

And in the end…

she lost everything.

She destroyed herself.

That was the price of her greed.

But Ethan Sterling didn’t escape either.

The Sterling family empire, which had lasted for generations, collapsed under the pressure of a changing business landscape.

The family-owned corporation went bankrupt.

The once-powerful family fell apart overnight.

Now, Ethan took public transportation every day.

He ran around trying to land deals.

He smiled at people who looked down on him.

He endured every insult from clients.

The man who had once been confident and untouchable…

had lost all his pride.

All that remained was exhaustion and regret.

Even my first husband, Adrian Walker, couldn’t escape his consequences.

Two years earlier, he had been convicted for illegal medical procedures and illegally selling controlled psychiatric medication.

He was sentenced to ten years.

His medical career was completely destroyed.

But I…

I had already risen far above my past.

I had seen a world I never knew existed.

I no longer begged for someone’s love.

I no longer waited for someone to protect me.

After the business gala ended, Ethan followed behind me.

His back was slightly bent.

His voice was careful and uncertain.

“Nattie…”

“I miss you.”

“Can we start over?”

I stopped.

Then I turned around.

My eyes swept over his cheap three-piece suit.

I smiled faintly.

“Do you really think you’re worthy now?”

Behind me…

a faint sound of crying drifted behind me.

I didn’t look back.

Never again would I look back on old love.

Never again would I wait for someone who had already abandoned me.

I walked forward.

Toward the bright future that was mine alone.