In order to buy a welfare property, my husband wanted to divorce me.

I discovered his secret before we signed the document.

I never expected that he, who seemed honest, was actually keeping a mistress and a child in his hometown.

Suddenly, I didn't want to divorce anymore.

...

I discovered Ethan's secret three years after we got married.

I was a supervisor in a shopping mall. I was originally off today, but my colleague had something urgent, so I switched my shift with her.

At night, when I was patrolling the children's play area, a little boy suddenly bumped into my arms.

The model plane in his hand was accidentally broken. I quickly apologized.

"I'm sorry. I will buy you a new one."

The little boy was quite generous. He stood up and said, "It's okay. My daddy will make another one for me."

After saying that, he ran away.

I picked up the model plane from the ground and looked at it.

I found familiar grooves and blood stains on it.

Three days ago when I got up at night for the bathroom, I found that Ethan was sitting at the desk and doing something.

I approached and saw that he was doing handicrafts.

"What are you doing this for?"

I suddenly asked and Ethan was startled.

The tip of the knife cut his finger, and a little blood dripped onto the plane.

I quickly fetched the first-aid box and treated his wound.

He explained that it was almost Bob's son's birthday, so he wanted to make a gift for him.

I vividly remembered Ethan's loving expression when he mentioned that child.

For this, I felt extremely guilty. We have been married for almost three years but I still haven't been able to conceive.

At this moment, I looked at the toy in my hand.

Thinking back to the boy's face, I was sure that he definitely wasn't Bob's son. Also, his accent was same as Ethan's.

I had a bad premonition.

I hurriedly walked in the direction the boy had just run, catching up with him quickly.

Sure enough, in the corner of the playing area, I saw the familiar figure that had been by my side day and night.

"Daddy, the plane is broken."

Ethan squatted down and rubbed the boy's hair with love.

"It's okay, Daddy will make you an even better one tomorrow. Go play now."

After the boy ran away, a woman came from another direction. The boy looked very similar to her.

"Ethan, don't be angry. I will take Eddy back home tomorrow."

Ethan looked angry and helpless, "Stacy, I'm not blaming you. It took me a lot of effort to convince Evelynn to fake a divorce with me, and her parents to buy a new flat with their money. How dare you bring Eddy to her workplace? Aren't you afraid that she will find out?"

The woman named Stacy, with a pair of pitiful eyes filled with tears, grabbed Ethan's clothes.

"Eddy kept crying and wanted to see you. And I saw the shift schedule posted in the mall. She doesn't work today."

Sure enough, crying women always got what they want.

Ethan hugged her lightly and sighed.

"Okay, we've been through so many years. You are not easy. I will definitely give you and Eddy a complete family."

I covered my mouth, unable to believe what was happening before my eyes.

That child looked about five years old, and Ethan and I have only been married for three years.

This is not just a simple affair, but it's more like a huge conspiracy.

Suddenly I felt fear.

I tremblingly took out my phone and dialed Ethan's number.

He didn't answer until the last ring.

When he picked up, his voice sounded a little nervous.

"Evelyn, what's up?"

"Where are you?" I asked.

Ethan looked around nervously. He couldn't see me anywhere, then he relaxed.

"Working overtime, honey. You don't know that I have to deal with so many documents today. I want to eat spaghetti Bolognese for dinner."

"Okay."

I finished my work and handed it over to my colleagues before going home.

It was already 11 o'clock at night and Ethan hadn't come back yet.

The promotional leaflet he gave me two weeks ago was still on the table.

The local government was providing welfare properties to civil servants. Applicants must be single with no property, or both husband and wife must not have any property in their names.

The flat we lived in was under my name, so Ethan wanted to fake a divorce and buy another one in his name.

At first I didn't agree, but he persuaded me for a long time and even asked my parents to mediate. I had to agree in the end.

I prepared dinner as usual, waiting for Ethan to come back.

It's definitely not a good idea to rush into it if you want to dispel the fog.

At eleven o'clock, Ethan returned home on time.

After we got married, he never came home after twelve o'clock. He said that he dared not leave me at home alone, even if he was busy, he would come home to accompany me.

His forehead was sweaty, and there was still the smell of ink on his body.

He ate up a whole dish of spaghetti Bolognese.

He really looked like he was starving after working overtime.

"Honey, I love this taste. I feel happy just thinking that I can eat it for a lifetime."

I looked at Ethan's loving eyes and felt even more cautious in my heart.

I lowered my eyes and avoided his gaze without showing any emotion.

Then I found the notification that I had prepared in advance on my phone.

"Honey, I can't go to the court tomorrow. The manager suddenly notified us about a group activity. So, the fake divorce matter will have to be postponed for a few days."

Our company arranged group activities at least five times a year. It is also common to receive last-minute notifications, so Ethan naturally wouldn't suspect anything.

Today was Wednesday. The activity would last for two days, and then it would be the weekend.

Four days should be enough for me to investigate the truth.

When Ethan heard that I couldn't go to the court tomorrow, he was stunned for a moment, but quickly he returned to normal.

"It's okay, we can do it next Monday."

After speaking, he turned his face to the shelf and asked, "Honey, did you not take your vitamins today?"

I would have forgotten if he didn't remind me.

To ensure a good physical condition for pregnancy, I took vitamins every day.

I never forgot it, but today I did.

But how did Ethan know that I didn't take the pills?

Just as I was contemplating, he had already placed the pills and water in front of me.

"Honey, take them."

He only turned around and went to the bedroom after seeing me swallow the pills.

I carefully thought of it. Since I finished the medicine prescribed by the doctor, Ethan always prepared new ones for me.

What was the secret to these pills?

I couldn't fall asleep.

Early the next morning, Ethan went to work.

I put a capsule in my bag and found a pharmaceutical testing institution.

The test results will not be available until tomorrow at the earliest, and they will be sent to my phone during that time.

I took four days off and went to Ethan's hometown.

Before setting off, I changed into sportswear and posted a photo on Instagram.

On the coach, I calmed down and recalled the past with Ethan.

We met each other in the shopping mall. It was near closing time when he came to buy something, but the elevator malfunctioned and we both got stuck inside.

It was quite a coincidence. I had been working in the mall for five years, and this was the first time such an accident had happened. Both the walkie-talkie and the mobile phone broke at the same time.

During the three hours of being trapped, I was panicked as I was scared of staying in a confined space and also had to consider the possibility of customer complaints.

Ethan kept comforting me. Despite the cold weather, he even put his coat on me.

We exchanged contact information.

Then we became lovers.

He was from a poor family and grew up with his mother. He studied very hard to get into a good university. After graduating, he became a civil servant.

Ethan was very good to me and my parents. My parents were also satisfied with him.

Considering his family situation, my parents bought me a flat and registered it under my name. In addition, they offered us 300 thousand dollars in cash and a car worth 80 thousand dollars registered under Ethan's name.

I only met his mother on the wedding and hadn't seen her again. She always said that she couldn't get used to city life.

Ethan had never taken me back to his hometown.

Of course, I was happy about this. It was our own home. I never thought it was inappropriate.

To show my sincerity, occasionally I would send her gifts.

"Miss, this is your stop."

The driver's voice woke me up.

It was a small town.

I dared not ask anyone, as it was easy to expose myself.

Ethan once mentioned that there was a big cherry tree in front of his house when he was a child.

Wearing a mask, I walked along the streets for a long time and finally found it.

There were several middle-aged women sitting under the tree.

One of them was very familiar.

It was Ethan's mother.

It was now two o'clock in the afternoon, which was a perfect time to go out for a walk after lunch.

There were many people walking around, so it was easy for me to blend in.

"Hey, Ruby, your necklace must be expensive."

The woman called Ruby was Ethan's mother.

I saw her showing off the gold necklace on her neck, "It's not expensive. Ethan said it only cost half a month's salary."

Ethan knew nothing.

I clenched my fist and stared at her neck. I bought the necklace with my quarterly bonus.

It was only because Ethan kept praising how nice the necklace was that I bought such an expensive one.

I didn't expect that she said Ethan bought it.

The necklace was worth over 3 thousand dollars, which was more than half his monthly salary.

You can't brag like this.

"Oh, by the way, Ethan is doing so well in the city, why don't you all live together? Does he dislike us country folk?"

Ruby was a little unhappy.

"Hey, you can't talk nonsense. My son is not that kind of person.

"He said that next year, he will bring me, Stacy and Eddy to the city, and we will live in a big flat. We can see the river through the window."

The flat we were living in now was just by the river. It seemed that Ethan not only wanted the new flat, but also the one my parent prepared for us.

Moreover, from their conversation, I could tell that they didn't know that Ethan had a wife in the city.

Suddenly, a little boy rushed to Ruby. It was Eddy.

He ran into Ruby's arms, shouting, "Grandma, grandma, I want candy."

"Okay, let's go home."

I followed behind them.

They arrived at a house.

Stacy opened the door and walked out.

I bit my lip tightly and secretly took a photo of them with my phone.

Ethan called at this moment.