Skip to content
Novel Catalog
Chapter_177
Whitney’s entire body trembled, as though the weight of Ludwik’s words had knocked the breath right out of her. The room spun around her, but she stood frozen in place, her heart shattering with every cruel word he spoke. This was not the man she had once loved, the man who had held her close and whispered promises of a future together. This was a stranger, cold and detached, standing before her.
“A cursed child…?” Her voice barely rose above a whisper, broken and fragile, a mere echo of the strong woman she had once been. “How can you say that? It’s our child, Ludwik. Your flesh and blood… Our future… everything we dreamed of.”
But Ludwik didn’t flinch, didn’t even blink. He was no longer the man she had known. He was a hollow shell, his eyes as cold and unfeeling as ice. “I want nothing to do with it,” he repeated, his voice flat and final, as if his words had been carved into stone.
The pain in Whitney’s chest was suffocating. It felt as though the weight of betrayal was crushing her, and the world around her was slowly crumbling to dust. Her legs gave way beneath her, and she collapsed into the nearest chair, her fingers gripping the armrest for support as her entire existence seemed to unravel. Tears spilled uncontrollably, falling like a torrential storm. Each drop felt like a wound, a painful reminder of the love she had given him, the hope she had clung to despite the countless setbacks.
She looked at him again, her eyes searching desperately for any sign of the man she had once loved. But all she saw was coldness—a wall so high she couldn’t breach it, no matter how hard she tried. “Please, Ludwik,” she pleaded, her voice breaking with desperation. “What happened to you? What happened to us?”
Ludwik’s gaze shifted briefly to her, but there was no flicker of recognition, no warmth in his eyes. He simply nodded to himself, as though her presence no longer mattered, before turning to the lawyer. “Let’s wrap this up. I don’t have time for this.”
Whitney’s breath hitched in her throat, the finality of his words striking her like a blow. The lawyer, oblivious to the emotional wreckage unfolding before him, began to gather the papers, and for a moment, time seemed to freeze. The world around her blurred, and all she could hear was the sound of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.
Her trembling hands reached for the papers, though she wasn’t sure why. Was she signing away her heart? Or was she simply trying to end the painful charade that had become her life? She had never imagined her marriage would end this way—not with Ludwik standing before her, indifferent to her pain, to everything they had shared.
With every stroke of the pen, she felt like she was erasing a part of herself, like the love she had given so freely was slipping away, leaving an emptiness in its wake. She had loved him with everything she had—every breath, every heartbeat. And now, as she signed her name, it felt like she was saying goodbye to all of it.
When she finally slid the papers toward the lawyer, her hands numb, her heart heavy with sorrow, Ludwik didn’t even glance at her. He gave a curt nod, then returned his attention to his phone, as though she were nothing more than a fleeting inconvenience.
The finality of it hit Whitney like a physical blow. Seeing him so cold, so heartless, made it nearly impossible to breathe. She stood slowly, her legs shaky, her chest tight with the weight of what had just transpired. She turned to leave, but her body felt as if it might give out at any moment. The overwhelming urge to collapse into a sobbing heap threatened to consume her, but she fought to keep herself together.
“Take care of the child,” Ludwik’s voice broke the silence, sharp and indifferent.
Whitney paused at the doorway, her back to him. Her fingers gripped the doorframe for support, her body trembling with the force of her emotions. “You… you’re really done with me, aren’t you?” she asked, her voice quivering, though she refused to turn around and face him.
There was no answer. Only the sound of a chair scraping against the floor as he sat back down, the faint click of his shoes against the polished wood. It was as if she no longer existed to him, as if the woman who had once been his wife meant nothing.
Unable to hold back the sob that tore through her, Whitney’s body shook with the force of it. She didn’t know where to go or what to do next. She had always thought of herself as strong—someone who could handle anything life threw at her. But this… this was different. This was a wound that cut too deep to heal easily.
As she stepped out of the café, the divorce papers still gripped tightly in her hands, she felt as though the world itself were closing in on her. She had lost everything—her husband, her future, her love. The person she had been seemed to have been torn away from her, leaving only a hollow shell behind.
The only thing left now was the child growing inside her. And though Ludwik may wish to forget it, Whitney knew that this child was the last piece of him she had left. And no matter what he said or did, she would protect it with every ounce of strength she had left—no matter the cost.
Even if it meant facing the world alone.
