I reached for Ruby beside me, her breath barely there, and called after him one last time. "My lord, could you at least send for Dr. Shepherd?"
Homer opened his mouth to give the order, but Chloe cut him off. "No one calls for any doctor. I've already spared her life. Whether she survives is her own fate."
Homer looked back at me, something unreadable churning behind his eyes. Then he clenched his jaw and walked away.
Everything I had held together shattered in that moment. I screamed at his retreating back, "Homer Rowe, I want a divorce!"
Chloe had just reached the doorway. She laughed out loud and nudged Homer playfully. "She says she wants a divorce. Aren't you going to go coax her?"
Homer glared at me, visibly annoyed.
No need to coax her. She's just throwing a tantrum. She'd never survive outside this estate.
Besides, she's been pregnant twice and she's a second-time bride. Who else would want her but me?
He was right. Leaving the estate might very well be a death sentence.
But staying was a fate worse than death.
I forced myself up through the pain, set the divorce papers on the table, and found a rickety old cart. I loaded Ruby onto it and walked out of the Rowe estate.