Jack Ingleton uses a business trip as an excuse to rendezvous with his lover again. Before I can process this, the private investigator I hired gives me an update—Jack's lover is pregnant!

I want to wreak havoc and leave them to die, but it turns out Jack's scheming to kill me so he can marry his lover!

Now that I know everything, I prepare a counterattack.

Sorry, but my plan will be put into action before yours!

My heart sank when the private detective sent me photos of Jack Ingleton with his arm casually draped over Rhea Carhill's shoulder. He was smiling in the photo.

Rhea, my trusted right-hand woman, had been reassigned to work as Jack's secretary shortly after he joined my company.

Before seeing those photos, I had clung to a sliver of hope, desperately wishing my suspicions were wrong.

Then, my phone buzzed with another notification—a second blow from the private detective. My hands trembled as I read the message.

Rhea was pregnant.

How could she get knocked up?

My emotions boiled over as memories of my past with Jack surged forward. Two years into our relationship, I got pregnant with his child.

However, instead of joy, Jack was upset. He claimed that a baby would steal my attention away from him, and he coaxed me to terminate the pregnancy.

Sadly, that was just the first of many abortions to come. A year later, I got pregnant again, and he persuaded me to terminate it with the same excuse.

The doctor I consulted warned me that I had a thinner-than-average uterus wall. Two abortions in one year would bring adverse effects on my health. He advised me to have some protection if I didn't want to get pregnant.

Since then, I insisted Jack use protection every time. It worked—we avoided any more unwanted pregnancies.

However, Jack's parents started to worry after we were childless for eight years, but Jack was too much of a coward to tell them that he didn't plan to have kids. My in-laws thought that I was infertile and criticized me, treating me worse as time passed.

Every time I was driven to the brink of tears, Jack would tell me to suck it up.

Once, his mother, Jean Nadeau, quietly sneaked into our villa and tampered with all our sheaths, leading to yet another unplanned pregnancy.

I could still remember what the doctor had said to me. He warned me not to get an abortion or risk becoming infertile.

Since I wanted to be a mother, I refused to undergo an abortion and conveyed the doctor's opinion to Jack. He fell silent upon learning the truth.

I wanted to keep the baby, but Jack said he wasn't ready to be a father. He refused to let a child disrupt our lives and our marriage.

Stunned by his words, I couldn't fathom why he was so against having children. But we had enjoyed a good relationship, and I didn't want the topic of childrearing to become a source of conflict. In the end, I went to get an abortion at the hospital with Jack by my side.

The doctor's prognosis was bleak—I would struggle to get pregnant in the future. Jack hugged me afterward, saying it was his fault and promising he'd treat me better and that he'd never leave my side. But his words were hollow.

When my in-laws learned that I was infertile, they treated me even worse. Jack didn't speak up for me at all. He left me to weather the scorn of my in-laws.

One day, Jean exploded in anger after I accidentally broke a bowl. She stormed into the kitchen, shoving me in her fury. I slipped on the wet floor and fell hard, bleeding heavily between my legs.

That day, I lost the last baby I would ever carry. I had lost any hope of ever becoming a mother.

How dare Jack turn around and knock up another woman after what he had put me through?

I clutched my phone and glared at the photos, vowing to make Jack Ingleton pay the price.

One weekend, after Jack returned from a business trip, he and I visited his parents.

Jean smiled brightly when she saw his son at the door, but her smile faded when she noticed me by his side. "What are you doing here?"

The smile froze on my face. I gave Jack a sad look.

He immediately tried to mediate. "Mom, what are you talking about? We're back to visit because Shannon misses both of you!"

Turning on her heels with a scoff, Jean snarked, "You miss us? Why don't you give us a grandchild, then?"

Jack gave me an awkward glance. I shook my head, a way of telling him it was alright, before we stepped into the house.

Food was served. The entire family gathered at the table merrily, ready for dinner. Jack's dad, Bill Ingleton, chatted with Jean and Jack.

My in-laws asked about Jack, but I could tell it was just for show. They must have something important to discuss with him, but they would never bring it up in front of me.

I wondered what they would do if I weren't around. When that idea struck me, I switched on the recorder on my phone as I placed the phone screen-down on the table.

Suddenly, I exclaimed, "Oh! Dad, Mom, it occurred to me that we forgot to lock our car! Jack has left his bag in the car. I need to go check it out."

Jean was taken aback. She patted her chest. Then, she rolled her eyes at me and schooled me,

"You've never done anything right! Go now! Jack will be in trouble if he loses his bag."

I took the car keys and went downstairs for a bit. I waited around until I decided it was time to rejoin them.

When I returned to the dinner table, the conversation stopped abruptly. Jack and his parents stared at me in a way that made my hair stand.

Bill was the first to break the silence. With a smile, he gestured at me to join them. The conversation resumed after I took my seat.

Picking up my phone, I made a quick visit to the bathroom. Once I locked the door, I hit the play button and listened intently to the crisp recording.

In the recording, Jean eagerly cursed at me right after I closed the door. She spat, "How dare that infertile pig show up at our place?

"Jack, get a divorce right now and marry Rhea. Just look at Shannon! She's hopeless. If she can't give you a child, she shouldn't call herself your wife! Since Rhea is pregnant now, you should divorce Shannon and marry Rhea instead."

Apparently, my in-laws had learned about Rhea's affairs with Jack and her pregnancy.

I heard Jack say, "I can't just get a divorce. If she refuses to sign the papers, I will have to go to court for a few years. She founded the company, and I have no stock ownership at all. I need to plan carefully if I want a divorce."

Sighing, Jean chimed in, "That woman is such a nuisance. She's like a leech; you can't shake her off!"

After a brief silence, Jack piped up, "If she's dead, her stocks will belong to me."

"Is that true?" Jean asked with glee.

I trembled violently when I heard the suggestion. Was my husband thinking of killing me? I stood there, frozen.

At that moment, a chill swept through my entire body, leaving me trembling uncontrollably. I had never imagined that the man I shared a bed with, the husband I trusted, would be planning to kill me.

And all because I couldn't bear a child. Had he seriously resorted to getting rid of me just because he couldn't find a legitimate reason to make me walk away empty-handed from the divorce?

But wait, wasn't Jack the one who always insisted he didn't want children? Why now? Why was he suddenly willing to divorce me over his child with Rhea?

The recording continued to play. Jack's tone was calm and calculating. "If she left behind no will, I inherit two-thirds of her assets, and her parents get one-third.

He paused before adding, "Most of our assets are mixed with each others'. If we really had to divide them, I'm confident I could secure two-thirds of her wealth."

The realization hit me like a train. Jack had already planned for the divorce. He had been preparing for this day long before now.

My heart felt as if it had broken into pieces. I was devastated, and for a fleeting moment, the thought of storming out of the bathroom and taking a knife to these despicable people crossed my mind.

I had always treated Jack's parents with respect, even better than my own. I went above and beyond to care for them.

But now, I realized they had no regard for my life, no gratitude, no empathy—they wanted me dead.

Perhaps it was time to revise my plans. How could I leave these two scheming old monsters out of what was coming next?

I left the bathroom 10 minutes later and had dinner with the Ingletons without betraying anything.

After doing the dishes, I handed over my checkup report to my in-laws. I stammered bashfully, "Dad, Mom, I have something to discuss with you. I know it is your wish to have a grandchild, but I miscarried too many times before this. The doctor said I would struggle to get pregnant again…"

I teared up while speaking. Jack and his parents frowned at me as they waited for me to continue. I kept up with the act and innocently stated, "But the family lineage cannot stop here. I have an idea. Since modern technology is advanced, Jack and I could go abroad and get some IVF treatments. Dad, Mom, what do you think?"

It took Jean a while to wrap her head around my suggestion. She was the first to slam her fist on the table. "I object! How can you compare the babies from these treatments to babies who are conceived naturally?"

Then, she glared at me. "Jack married you to pass on our family bloodline. What's the point of your marriage if you refuse to bear children?"

I scoffed silently. What a shitty excuse! I knew they must be reluctant to spend any money on me now that Rhea was pregnant with Jack's child.

Despite being secretly disgruntled, I kept up the act. Tears streamed down my face. "Mom, what do we do, then? You shoved me and made me miscarry the last time. Are we really gonna watch as the Ingleton bloodline ends here?"

At the mention of the miscarriage, Jean immediately shut up. After all, her violence had directly caused my miscarriage and my infertility. Feeling bad, she stopped snapping at me.

They, I grabbed Jack's hand. "Darling, I can't hold your family back. I don't want to be the reason for your family's misfortune! Maybe… maybe we should just get a divorce!"

"D-Divorce?" Jack stammered, utterly blindsided by my sudden suggestion. He turned to his parents with a look of confusion.

Sensing the tension, Jack's father quickly stepped in to smooth things over. "Divorce? No, no, it would be so scandalous for you if people heard about it."

He pulled a napkin from the box and handed it to me. "How about this? Why don't you two keep trying for a couple more years? If it still doesn't work, I'll help you adopt a child from a good family. What do you think?"

Killing me must have been too risky, and Bill immediately offered a sneaky solution when I brought up the issue of their bloodline.

His words made me snicker in silence. That "good family" was undoubtedly Rhea, and the "adopted child" would no doubt be their illegitimate child.

I wiped my tears, pretending to consider his suggestion, and then replied, "Dad, I know your idea comes from a good place, but adopting a child isn't without risks.

"If the child grows up and finds out they are adopted, they might want to find their birth parents. What would we do then? Stop them? But if we let them go, doesn't that mean we would've raised someone else's child for nothing for over a decade?"

I spoke with such determination that Bill couldn't refute me. Everyone fell into an awkward silence.

At this moment, Jean's eyes glimmered with an idea. She blurted out, "How about getting a surrogate?"

Even though I had seen this coming, hearing it straight out of her mouth still made me feel disgusted at the Ingletons' shamelessness.

I feigned shock, widening my eyes. Before I could say anything, Jack had lost his temper.

"Mom! What are you saying?" he grumbled, his tone laced with reproach. He glanced at me, as if worried I would feel offended.

However, he failed to fool me with that poor acting—I caught a fleeting hint of excitement in his eyes.

Jack wrapped his arms around me, his expression full of what appeared to be tenderness. "Shannon is the only woman for me!"

Jean glared at him and barked, "Let her speak!"

Jack immediately fell silent.

All three of them turned to me, waiting for my response.

I was eager to nod in agreement, but I made a show of hesitating. Eventually, after a lot of persuasion and coaxing from Jack's parents, I "reluctantly" agreed to the surrogate plan.

Seeing me give in, they were visibly pleased. They grinned smugly as if they had succeeded in fooling me.

Jack comforted me tenderly, and the atmosphere around the table shifted to one of harmony and joy.

The three of them believed they were setting a trap for me, but little did they know, they had already walked straight into mine.