My husband, Colton Skye, is away on a business trip for two months. When he returns, he and his true love appear at the arrival hall together. I notice the slight swell of her stomach and am about to ask about it when Colton scornfully pushes me away.

"Don't touch Darlene with your dirty hands—she's pregnant. I'll kill you if she falls sick!"

Then, he gently holds Darlene Williams' hand. "You must be tired. Let's head home."

He doesn't even spare me a glance as he leaves with Darlene in tow.

I silently rub the spot where he shoved me as I watch them leave. Then, I contact a divorce lawyer. It looks like this ten-year marriage has ultimately come to an end.

It was 2:00 am in the dead of the night. There wasn't a single car to be seen on the road.

I walked along the road, shivering and huddling to myself as my lower abdomen stung with excruciating pain. Cold sweat was dripping down my forehead.

I thought about the scene I'd just witnessed earlier and couldn't stop my tears from rolling down.

I had planned to surprise Colton Skye today by showing up at the airport unannounced to greet him. I wanted to tell him that I was already two months pregnant.

We had been married to each other for ten years. His family never liked me because I couldn't give Colton a child, and they often told everyone that I was infertile. They kept blaming me for wasting Colton's best years of his life.

I was under a lot of pressure. I had told Colton about it, wanting him to understand what I was going through, but he just seemed vexed as he replied that he hated kids and didn't want to be a father.

However, the night before he had to leave for a business trip, Colton had been unexpectedly kind and gentle toward me. He promised me a better future together. He even suddenly brought up the topic of having kids and discussed it with me.

I thought that he had changed his mind then. However, the more I thought about it, the more sure I was that he had simply been rehearsing for his reunion with Darlene Williams.

By the time I got back home, dawn was starting to break.

Colton heard the noise and came out from the bedroom.

He saw me shivering hard and frowned. Then, he grabbed a random coat from the couch and threw it over my head before nagging mercilessly at me.

"Are you daft, Gianna Larkin? What kind of idiot would let herself freeze like this? You never came home for the whole night. Don't you know how tired I am? Don't you know that I hate waiting up for you?"

Ever since Darlene returned to the country five years ago, Colton's attitude toward me had begun to change. He would mock me and belittle me on the daily.

Had this been another day, I would have fought back and verbally argued with him purely out of dissatisfaction. But today, I just glanced at him being unreasonable and said nothing.

Colton immediately lost his temper when he saw how cold my attitude was toward him.

"Don't show me that kind of face, Gianna. This is the only wish Darlene has ever had since coming back, so what if I help her fulfill it? It's not like I don't know my boundaries. I'll cut off all ties with her as soon as she gives birth!

"I never wanted to bring her back here, but I did it to put your mind at ease. I knew you'd be worried, not knowing where I was, so I forced myself to return and brought her with me, even though she'd protested. You knew all along that I'd been pining after her for years. Back then, you said it didn't bother you. So why are you changing your stance now?"

I couldn't be bothered to listen to him. I just wanted to go back to my room and rest.

However, Colton grabbed me by the arm and shoved me aside.

"Darlene isn't feeling well, so I let her sleep in the bedroom. Since you just came back, you might as well go back out and buy breakfast for the both of us."

The door then slammed shut in my face.

I stood in the corridor and chuckled aloud in exasperation.

To Colton, it was natural that I should let Darlene sleep in my bed, snatch my husband away, and order me around like I was her maid. But if I didn't do as she told me to do, then I was a petty person, putting Colton in a difficult position on purpose.

Colton only dared to openly hurt me so much because he thought that I was still deeply and crazily in love with him, so he wasn't afraid that I would leave.

He probably thought that I deserved to do everything as he wished.

I inhaled deeply and was just about to take my keys out of my pocket when the door suddenly opened from the inside.

Darlene stood at the door, dressed in my pajamas, and cocked her head at me with a shy smile on her face.

"Gianna, I've lost my appetite for a while ever since getting pregnant. Can you please go to the burrito truck two miles away and buy me a burrito bowl? Here's the money for it."

Then, she grabbed a handful of cash from behind her and threw it all over my body, pretending to look shocked afterward.

"Oh no, it slipped out of my hand! Can you pick the notes up?"

When I saw the gloating expression in her eyes, I slapped her on the cheek without a word.

The slap was loud and hard, and Darlene immediately screamed.

"Gianna Larkin! What the hell are you doing?"

Colton was mad. He rushed in front of Darlene and shoved me harshly backward.

I had been walking all night, and my pregnancy was also taking a huge toll on my body. I was feeling weak all over. With that shove, I stumbled backward and tripped over nothing.

The world spun for a bit before I landed heavily on the cold, hard floor.

Then, I felt an excruciating pain as a warm, sticky liquid began flowing from my lower body.

Someone screamed, "She's bleeding!"

My arms went numb. Just before I passed out, my gaze locked on Colton's shocked and frozen face.

Actually, about a year ago, I had once gotten pregnant by accident.

Colton had looked at me with the exact same expression back then.

He was very worked up and grabbed me by the arm as he started interrogating me.

"Gianna, you did this on purpose, didn't you? You're resorting to this to make me yield to your demands and shackle me to you for the rest of my life!

"My career is still on the rise, and I need to focus all of my attention on it. That's why you're unhappy, right? You're using this to force me to give up on myself!"

I kept shaking my head at his accusations. I was so scared looking at his bloodshot eyes that I couldn't stop myself from crying. I kept trying to defend myself, saying that I had always taken all precautions during intercourse with him.

Alas, even though the chances of me getting pregnant despite all our precautionary measures was less than a millionth, fate decided to play games with me. Maybe it was my destiny, after all.

Also, Mom knew that Colton's family was putting immense pressure on me to give him a child and felt terrible for me. She had kept telling me to think of a way to appease them.

Everything would fall into place as soon as I got pregnant.

So, I fell to my knees and begged Colton to let me keep this child. However, he still bought abortion pills and forced me to take them.

The bitterness of the pills still lingered on my tongue, and so did the feeling of Colton's hands pressed around my neck, strangling me as I struggled to breathe…

"Miss, please wake up!"

Suddenly, a foreign voice woke me up from my nightmare.

I hurriedly opened my eyes.

"Miss, you fainted just now."

It was a nurse. She was hooking me onto an IV drip. "I'm very sorry for your loss. We couldn't save the baby, but your body is fine and healthy."

While listening to her, I touched my lower abdomen and asked subconsciously, "Where's Colton?"

The nurse looked embarrassed. "You mean the man who sent you in? He took a call and said that his girlfriend was pregnant and feeling unwell, so he was going home to bring her out. He left a long time ago…"

Although I was prepared for heartbreak, I still couldn't help closing my eyes when I heard her answer.

Every breath was torture to me. I could feel my insides squirming in pain.

I hugged myself tightly.

On the day I lost my unborn child, my husband was in another room, celebrating Darlene's birthday.

How ironic.

I thought back to when Colton got down on one knee to propose to me, promising he would love and protect me for as long as he lived.

It only took him ten years to completely go back on his word.

My phone started ringing loudly. It was Colton.

"Dear, are you done at the hospital? I had a work emergency and had to leave early."

He spoke in a deep, low voice, trying his best to sound tired. However, I could still hear Darlene's faint laughter in the background.

I chuckled bitterly and gave him a vague answer while opening up Instagram on my phone.

Colton had never once posted on his Instagram feed since downloading the app years ago, but today was an exception.

"This is your 15th birthday since I met you. Darling, I will cherish you forever."

The accompanying photo showed a dark, mysterious figure standing by the window with a bouquet of roses in her hand. I immediately recognized Darlene's diamond bracelet.

Back then, I had thought that Colton had prepared it as a surprise birthday gift for me. After all, today was my birthday too. As it turned out, I had simply overthought.

I hung up on him.

I refreshed the page again and saw that Colton's friends had left plenty of comments below his post. One of his closest friends, Jett Foley, seemed to be the most delighted with the outcome.

"Finally, you got rid of that stupid pasty face! Congrats! I'm also finally free from having to even look at her. Let's have a drink when we have the time!"

Jett had grown up with Colton. He hated me with a passion and thought that I didn't deserve someone like him. Whenever we met at parties or gatherings, he would publicly criticize and humiliate me.

Jett had been the one covering up for Colton and Darlene every time they went out dating since Darlene's return a few years ago. He did this so that Colton and Darlene could enjoy themselves without me.

Once, I'd managed to expose Jett's lies, but he just shrugged and didn't think much about it.

I thought back about the many times I'd tolerated him and tried to make peace with him to no avail. Then, I quickly typed my reply.

"Must have been hard on you buzzing around Colton like an annoying fly—you've finally stank me up enough for me to leave."

After that, I sent Colton the draft for our divorce agreement.

Colton never responded for a long time.

So, the only thing I could do was tell him that I had enough evidence to prove that he was cheating on me. And, if he didn't sign the papers, then I would be bringing him to court.

Colton finally called me when I was in the midst of discharging myself from the hospital. He sounded extremely angry on the phone.

"Gianna, are you nuts? How could you kick up such a huge fuss over such a small thing? How dare you bring up divorce? Are you only going to be satisfied when the whole world revolves around you?

"I told you to wait until Darlene gave birth, didn't I? I'd then cut off the relationship with her. What more do you want from me? Why must you force others to do as you wish?

"Whatever. I'm going to pick you up in a bit to have dinner with Jett. I'm going to pretend that none of this ever happened.

"And stop forcing me to do things your way. I really don't know whom to choose between you and Darlene."

He wouldn't stop telling me that both Darlene and myself meant a lot to him. However, my past experiences told me that I was nothing but a free live-in nanny who didn't know how to dress up.

On the day we got married, Colton actually abandoned me at the venue to comfort Darlene, who was upset and crying elsewhere.

Darlene and I shared the same birthday, yet Colton would only ever remember her birthdays. He would always tell me that he forgot about mine and would make it up to me the next day.

It didn't matter where Darlene was or what time of the day it was—Colton would be right there for her at the slightest hook of her finger.

I had nearly lost my head over this many times in the past, and Colton would always then tell me that this would be the last time it ever happened. However, he would immediately break his promise just less than 24 hours later.

If I brought it up again, he would tell me that I was selfish, petty, and jealous.

That was all that I remembered. I asked him faintly, "Is Darlene coming too?"

"Of course!"

"Alright. I'll be waiting for you both."

Since Colton was determined to make it up to me this time, I couldn't possibly just enjoy it alone.

…

Colton came to pick me up a while later. As expected, Darlene was sitting in the front passenger seat.

She smiled slightly at me and said, "You don't mind, do you, Gianna? I've always sat here in the past."

I could see the provocation in her eyes. I just smiled at her and said, "I don't. It's fine."

In the past, I'd felt aggrieved because of the front passenger seat issue. But, Colton would just tell me that Darlene got carsick very easily and thus needed to sit in the front, shutting me up effectively.

But why was she even reading in the car if she got carsick that easily?

Since I had now decided to get a divorce, whatever relationship Colton had with Darlene was no longer my business.

Colton drove us straight home after that. As soon as we entered the house, we were greeted by a huge banner on the wall. It said, "Happy birthday, Gianna."

Jett and a few of Colton's other friends were already there, chatting on the couch. When they saw me, Jett was the first one to get up and greet me.

"Ah, Gianna's here. Have a seat. We prepared a party for you to make it up to you."

He said it roughly and unwillingly. He didn't seem like he was apologizing to me at all—in fact, it sounded more like he was threatening me.

I looked around at the decorations and saw that the spacing of the letters in my name seemed slightly off. Upon closer inspection, I realized they had just printed out my name and pasted it over the original name on the banner.

I could still see Darlene's name showing underneath the paper.

Jett then raised a glass from the table and said, "Gianna, someone with your status and identity would never have gotten an apology from me because you didn't deserve it. But, since Colton told me to do it, I suppose I had to do it for his sake.

"Don't mind me. I'm straightforward and don't beat around the bushes, especially when encountering things I hate. You have never measured up to Darlene, and that's the truth. It's not my fault Colton still chose to marry you. So let's toast to the night and call it quits."

With that, Jett threw his head back and finished everything in his glass with a gulp.

The rest of the party also apologized in their weird, twisted ways.

Colton saw that I didn't kick up a fuss and thought that all was well and forgiven. So, he came toward me and tried to grab my arm.

I shook him off at once.

"Since you're so good at explaining things, Jett, maybe you can explain things to Darlene's mother-in-law too."

I walked over to the door and yanked it open.

A furious middle-aged woman marched angrily into the house.