"Sister, you've finally woken."

Having fainted from shock, I opened my eyes on the hospital bed to find Sophia's pitifully innocent face staring back at me.

She seemed utterly hypocritical to me then. Fighting the urge to slap her, I snapped, "You have the nerve to call me sister?!"

"Sister, I'm sorry for what I did, but I truly love Brother Ross. I need him more than you do."

Sophia spoke the most nauseating words in the softest tone, "Sister Rory, we truly love each other."

If they truly loved each other.

What am I then?

What about the daughter I bore him with such struggle?

The thought made my eyes redden as I glared fiercely at Sophia. "You need Ross more than me? What about my daughter, barely three years old? What about me?!"

"I can be Jessica's stepmother. You're still young, Sister. You can find someone who loves you and have another child."

With that, Sophia dropped to her knees with a thud.

But as a mother, hearing such words made my blood boil. I lashed out, slapping her across the face.

Whether it was calculated or not,

the next instant,

the ward door swung open.

Ross entered, hearing the commotion. He helped Sophia up from the floor, then fixed me with a gaze as though I were his mortal enemy.

"Have you lost your mind?"

Gazing at the man I'd poured every ounce of my being into loving, tears betrayed me, streaming down my cheeks.

"Ross! Of course I've lost my mind! My husband's sleeping with my sister – how could I not be mad?"

I screamed like a shrew.

I leapt off the hospital bed, grabbed Sophia's arm, and demanded why he'd seduced my husband. "You shameless creature! How dare you call yourself Dad's daughter? How could you do this to him?!"

"Enough!"

Ross roared.

He clutched Sophia tightly to his chest and shoved me violently to the floor, my back crashing into the table.

The searing pain left me immobilised.

Lying on the cold floor, I reached out to grab Ross's trouser leg. "Save me, Ross. Save me, please."

Ross's brow furrowed slightly. He instinctively reached to help me up, but Sophia gasped sharply.

"Ouch!"

Ross instantly withdrew his hand, his tone of concern for Sophia unlike anything I'd ever heard from him.

"Still hurting? I'll take you to see a doctor."

This scene stabbed deep into my heart. A sharp cramp seized my lower abdomen, and I couldn't spare a thought for my anger towards them.

"Save me..."

"Ross, hurry up and call a doctor..."

I cried out to Ross incessantly.

Yet his eyes were fixed only on Sophia. My voice grew fainter and fainter until I saw him carry her away.

Overwhelmed by grief and fury,

a warm flow surged between my legs.

The floor stained crimson with blood.

"Ross... save me... I'm pregnant..."

As I slipped into unconsciousness, I dreamt.

I dreamt of my university days.

I was the undisputed campus beauty,

while Ross was the most sought-after heartthrob.

I fell for Ross at first sight. With the help of our mutual friends, we finally became a couple.

It was my first love.

I didn't know how to love someone.

I only knew to give him my very best.

My connections, my resources, even my savings.

To support his business venture.

I gave him everything I possessed.

"Rory, trust me. I'll give you a warm home and make you the happiest person in the world."

Those words still echo in my ears.

Yet,

he turned me into the most ridiculous woman

in the entire world.

A blinding light forced my eyes open, revealing I was back in the hospital ward.

"The baby... my baby..."

I bolted upright in the bed, seeing a room full of people, their faces heavy with sorrow and regret.

Father told me the baby was gone.

My in-laws urged me not to grieve too deeply.

My stepmother asked me not to blame Sophia.

As for Ross,

he hadn't even come to see me.

"Dad, I lost my baby because of Sophia and Ross! They ruined my child!"

I cried, clutching my father's hand,

hoping he would see justice done for me.

"Rory, neither Sophia nor Ross could have meant it. They're the people closest to you."

I wondered if I'd misheard.

"Dad... Ross cheated! How could Sophia seduce my husband? How could they be so disgusting!"

My stepmother wore immaculate makeup, showing not a trace of remorse. "Rory, have you forgotten? Ross never wanted to marry you in the first place. You forced him into it."

My mother-in-law, who had never liked me, chimed in from the side, "You've brought shame upon our entire family."

I trembled with rage,

yet found no words to counter them.

It was true Ross hadn't wanted to marry me. Only after I'd become pregnant with Jessica had he reluctantly agreed to wed me.

But could I be blamed for that?

If he didn't want to marry me, why had he touched me?

Why had he exploited my connections and resources, climbing step by step from a lowly clerk to become the billionaire CEO he was now?

"Get out! All of you, get out!"

At my furious shout, my in-laws and father assumed I was too enraged to reason with, and reluctantly left the hospital room.

I lay alone in the hospital bed.

Weeping until my tears ran dry.

Clinging to the last shred of hope.

I dialled Ross's number. Before I could ask where he was, an unbearable sound reached my ears.

"Ross big brother~"

"Do you like my new knickers?"

The day I was discharged.

Only my daughter came to collect me.

"Mummy, why are we moving house?"

I held my daughter close, suppressing the bitterness within. "We've grown tired of it. Mummy fancies a change of scenery."

"What about Daddy? Is he coming too?"

I stroked my daughter's head, busying myself with packing without knowing how to answer her.

The bedroom door swung open. Spotting the visitor, my daughter beamed and ran forward. "Daddy! Pick me up!"

My heart sank.

I looked up in the direction my daughter had pointed.

Ross held her, his eyes cold towards me. "Rory, what exactly are you playing at?"

I stubbornly lowered my head, continuing to stuff clothes from the bed into the suitcase. "Making room for you lot."

"Rory, go ask around. What man of my standing doesn't have women on the side?"

Staring at Ross's face—the one that once haunted my dreams—I realised he was no longer the boy he'd been.

With that thought,

I snatched our daughter from his arms.

Sent her back to her room to play with her toys.

"So you slept with my sister?!" "

After she left,

I slapped Ross hard across the face in fury.

His expression grew even colder.

"I've had enough of you! Think you're still the school beauty? Look at yourself now!"

"Flabby, sitting around the house doing nothing all day – what man could possibly find you attractive?"

No wonder he hadn't touched me in over half a year.

"Fine then. Since you despise me so much, let's get divorced. Split the assets evenly, and our daughter stays with me."

At the mention of divorce and dividing property,

Ross's expression grew even more wretched.

"I won't divorce you. You grew up without a proper family. Do you want my daughter to suffer the same fate?"

I stared at Ross in utter shock, unable to believe such words could come from his mouth.

“Rory, I finally understand why your father insisted on divorcing your mother back then.”

“Because your mother was cut from the same cloth as you.”

Indeed,

only the one you love most

knows precisely where to stab the knife for maximum pain.

I had laid bare my most vulnerable self to him,

and now he used that very vulnerability

to rip open my deepest scar with brutal force.

I could never have imagined that the man who once promised me a happy home

would use such venomous words to wound me.

"Why her?"

I voiced the question that had long troubled my heart.

Sometimes I even wonder.

If it had been another woman,

would I not feel this anguish?

"Because she's younger and prettier than you."

"And more of a slut."

I resolutely chose to move house.

Even if I couldn't divorce Ross, I couldn't bear to see him or his parents' harsh, unforgiving faces any longer.

I decided to start life anew.

My years as a housewife had left me almost disconnected from society, and I'd gained considerable weight since before my marriage.

But finding employment was the immediate priority.

Only with stable work could I secure custody of my daughter during the divorce proceedings.

Though I hadn't worked for years,

my qualifications were respectable. Had I pursued my career instead of marriage, I wouldn't have fared worse than Ross.

After a week of sending out CVs,

every response declared me unsuitable.

Had the world come to such a pass that even a master’s graduate with dual degrees in finance and computing, plus overseas study experience, couldn’t find employment?

Just as I stood perplexed,

a knock sounded at the living room door.

Opening it,

I found Ross standing before me, immaculately dressed in a suit.

“So this is where you’ve been living since leaving me?”

His tone dripped with contempt. I shot back, utterly unconcerned: "Living here is better than seeing you."

Ross glanced at me, then entered my flat with a look of utter disgust, surveying every corner from top to bottom.

"Worried I'm hiding someone in here?"

"You wouldn't dare."

Ross sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, showing me no respect whatsoever, his eyes brimming with utter contempt.

"Stop looking for work. Go back to being a housewife. Your daughter needs her mother's company."

I finally understood what had happened to all those rejected CVs. It turned out he'd been sabotaging them behind the scenes.

"Divorce! I'll grant you your wish with Sophia."

Only now did I see Ross's true colours. He'd always been this selfish, ever-considering only himself.

He didn't love me,

nor did he love Sophia.

He loved only himself.

"Sophia's far more sensible than you. She said for Jessica's sake, she'd forego any claim to the family name."

Ross’s lips curled into an uncontrollable smirk, his words dripping with praise for Sophia and contempt for me.

“I’ll find work.”

“Sir, please leave my house immediately.”

Ross hadn't expected me—who'd always been submissive and eager to please him—to tell him to get lost.

"Rory, I guarantee you won't find work in City A." Ross's tone dripped with menace.

As he left,

he confidently left one final remark:

"I'll be waiting for you to come crawling back."

Several months passed.

True to Ross’s prediction, I still hadn’t found employment.

Just as I was at my wits’ end,

I received a call from Sophia.

“Rory, stop sulking at Ross. Come home soon—Jessica and I miss you terribly.”

The sound of her and Jessica giggling and roughhousing on the other end felt like pure humiliation and provocation.

“Sophia, do you really think Ross will marry you just because you’ve won Jessica over? Don’t be so deluded!”

Sophia’s tone shifted abruptly, shedding her usual fragility. "Ha! You’re just the woman Ross discarded. Who’s the deluded one here?"

Her true colours were finally revealed.

All those years of pretence were surely just to exploit her pitiable appearance for sympathy.

"What sort of man would anyone compete with you for?"

"I wouldn't want him even if he were handed to me!"

I hung up without a second thought.

Truth be told,

beyond his handsome looks, a man like Ross possesses no redeeming qualities worthy of affection.

Just as I was cursing the scumbag,

my phone rang again.

"Sophia, will you ever stop?"

I assumed it was Sophia calling again.

“Miss Rory, hello. This is Human Resources from Fenghao Group. Your application has been approved. Please bring your ID card tomorrow to our HR department to complete your onboarding.”

“Eh? …Right.”

I stood there dumbfounded.

Fenghao Group was one of A City's most prestigious listed corporations. Could I really be joining such a major enterprise?

But then again,

I hadn't actually submitted a CV to Fenghao Group.

After joining Fenghao Group,

I discovered my position was President's Secretary.

"Why did you choose me?"

"Because of your academic qualifications."

That was the HR manager's explanation.

Yet I couldn't shake the feeling there was more to it.

With a heavy heart,

I cautiously pushed open the president's office door.

A familiar, gentle face came into view, making the young president before me seem strangely recognisable.

Had I met him somewhere before?

"My name is Roger. Your role will be to manage all my schedules except those pertaining to my private life."

Roger tapped his keyboard methodically. I quickly replied, "Good morning, Mr Roger. My name is Rory."

Truly befitting the head of a listed conglomerate, even his secretary had a dedicated office.

I wasn't Roger's only secretary.

He had six secretaries in total.

Each secretary handled different responsibilities.

Perhaps it had been too long since I last worked, for I discovered a typo in a document submitted to the boss for review.

I instantly felt clumsy and inept.

Fortunately, this seemingly meticulous boss and my new colleagues proved remarkably patient.

After a month on the job, I was successfully taken on permanently.

My salary was several times higher than before.

Though this money was nothing compared to the monthly allowance Ross sent me.

But for me,

earning my own money and spending it freely felt absolutely brilliant.

I thought that with a stable job, I could smoothly marry that scumbag and bring my daughter back home.

But I never imagined

a person could sink to such depths of shamelessness.