After seven years of our secret marriage, I found out that my husband had a child with another woman.

"I've made up my mind. I want a divorce and I want to cash out and take half of the company."

"Then you should find a way to get your husband to sign it and we'll have the result in about a week after he signs it."

I took the divorce agreement from my lawyer friend and gave my signature without hesitation.

At this moment, I held the agreement tightly in my hand and watched Conrad Helderman who was playing with his mistress' child in the Moonlight Hall.

"Good boy, call Daddy ... come and look at Daddy."

"Oh my, the baby is only one month old, how can he speak?"

Lilian smiled coquettishly and looked up at Conrad with a hint of attachment in her eyes.

The two of them sat side by side on the sofa, looking like a family of three.

If it weren't for me coming here to investigate the project, I wouldn't have found out the truth in this absurd form.

I had been in secret marriage for seven years and I had loved Conrad for seven years.

Instead of waiting for an official announcement, I only got betrayal.

Now, I had decided not to have him anymore, nor the life that had just arrived in my belly.

The assistant said to Conrad in a low voice, "If Ms. Craivanger knows ...."

Conrad held the baby and said nonchalantly, "She won't know and there's no need for her to know."

"But, Ms. Craivanger is your wife."

"It's just a secret marriage." He chuckled. "She has been too hostile to Lilian recently. Don't let her know what happened tonight. She will only make a fuss if she knows."

"You keep your mouth shut, I won't be polite if you talk too much."

I stood at the door, my fingertips tightening inch by inch.

I walked straight into the hall and walked straight in front of Conrad.

His expression changed noticeably and a hint of panic flashed in his eyes. "Why are you here?"

"I'm sending you an important document. It's very important and I need you to sign it."

I walked to him and handed the divorce agreement to him steadily, with a calm expression.

He, as usual, didn't even look at it, but took out a pen and quickly wrote his name in the signature area.

"Honey, you go home first, I'll explain to you at home."

When he returned the documents to me, he leaned close to my ear and whispered in my ear, with pleading eyes, as if he had something to hide.

But what else did he need to explain in a situation like this?

I took back the file bag and turned to leave.

"Hey hey hey, don't go."

Someone next to me stopped me with a smile and said, "Ms. Secretary, you don't need to work today. Stay and have a drink! Mr. Helderman feels happy today and won't blame you."

"Yes, everyone says, you are the most capable person around Mr. Helderman and this child is also half your credit!"

Ms. Secretary ... Ms. Secretary ....

How ridiculous! Conrad and I had been married for seven years, but except for my closest family assistant, everyone only thought of me as his subordinate!

Instead, they thought of Lilian as Conrad's lover.

"She is too serious about her work and she is cold. She doesn't like this kind of occasion."

Conrad's smile was a little forced, but he still tried to pretend to be relaxed.

At the same time, Lilian came over holding the child and smiled as if she didn't know that I was Conrad's wife.

"Ms. Craivanger, come and hold the baby. Maybe he will be as smart as you in the future."

I instinctively took a step back and replied, "No, I'm not good at holding a baby."

But she suddenly put the child into my arms.

I wanted to push him away, but unexpectedly the child burst into tears and his cry was shrill and piercing.

"Good Boy! What's wrong with you, Ms. Craivanger? It's fine if you don't like the baby, but why did you pinch him!"

Lilian screamed, her voice sharp and piercing.

"Ms. Craivanger, what are you doing?"

Conrad reacted so quickly, pushing me away with a fierce force.

I staggered and fell onto a chair beside me and my waist hit the corner of the table hard, causing me to almost suffocate in pain.

"Are you crazy?"

He held the child in his arms, protecting him and said in a cold tone, "You can't even hold a baby? You're too much!"

My fingers were tightly clasped around the file bag. My body was in pain, but my heart was in even more pain.

It hurt so much that I couldn't breathe.

I didn't say anything, just lowered my head and tried hard to control the tears in my eyes.

The people around were talking about me. "How can a secretary be so ignorant?"

"Mr. Helderman has always been nice to her, why did she pinch the baby today?"

"Could it be ... jealousy?"

Jealousy?

I felt hopeless and dug my fingertips into my palms, wrinkling the edges of the divorce agreement.

How could it be ... I was his wife!

But I couldn't say it.

No one would believe it.

He hid our secret marriage so well for seven years.

No one knew about our relationship except our family and assistants.

I used to think that he really wanted to protect me from the media, that he was a low-key, introverted and unpretentious husband.

Until five months ago, Lilian came. She was Conrad's cousin. She stood at my door with tears in her eyes and a bulging belly. She said that her boyfriend got her pregnant and ran away.

Conrad just frowned and took her in.

He personally arranged prenatal check ups, even with just a phone call, he would drop everything and run over at any time of day or night.

For Lilian, he abandoned me countless times.

When we watched a movie, he answered the phone and left, but when he came back, he said "work is important".

When we had a dinner, he said he had something urgent to do and asked me to have a dinner on my own.

Even when we were on a business trip abroad, as soon as Lilian cried out, he immediately changed the flight ticket and left me alone to return home.

He was even afraid that Lilian would have a bad reputation if she got pregnant before getting married, so he never denied it every time others misunderstood them as husband and wife when they went out.

I thought he was just kind enough to take care of his relatives and wait for the child to be born and everything would be fine.

Now, it seemed, everything was just a facade.

If it was just simple taking care of someone, how could he let the child call him "Dad"?

I stood up with my body propped up, my forehead already oozing cold sweat and my stomach throbbing violently.

Even passersby could see my discomfort, but Conrad never laid his eyes on me for even a moment.

After sending the divorce agreement to my lawyer friend, I didn't hesitate and made an appointment for an abortion the next day.

When I saw the words "Appointment successful", my heart sank.

Just one more week and I would be leaving.

This week, I had to deal the past with Conrad, including this child.

I went back home, opened the drawers in my room one by one and began packing up the traces of my life over the years.

Couple clothes, wedding photos, anniversary accessories ....

I packed and sealed all the things that belonged to "us" one by one and stuffed the things I didn't want to take away into the garbage bag.

When I was carrying the garbage downstairs, I happened to see Conrad's car parked at the door.

He was getting out of the car, holding the child in his arms and beside him was Lilian, who was holding his arm with a gentle smile.

Neighbors from the community gathered around, some taking photos and others giving gifts.

"Oh, Mr. Helderman, you're finally back. The little boy looks so much like you, you guys are simply carved from the same mold."

"Congratulations, you are so blessed!"

He did not deny their relationship, just smiled and exchanged pleasantries, with pride and indulgence in his eyes.

I walked past them expressionlessly, threw the garbage bag into the trash can and turned back to the corridor.

But before I could close the door, he suddenly caught up with me, gave me a complicated expression and lowered his head to pick something out of the trash can.

It was our wedding photo. The edges of the photo had turned yellow due to coffee stains, but we could still see what we looked like back then.

We smiled brightly and only had eyes for each other.

"Why did you throw out your wedding photos?"

His voice was not loud, but it was full of anger. "What do you mean?"

I looked at his panicked face and suppressed the emotions surging in my chest.

It was not the right time yet, I couldn't talk about divorce.

My mother-in-law, Elena Helderman, had a bad temper. If she knew we wanted a divorce, she would definitely not agree and might even threaten to commit suicide.

I wanted to cut it off cleanly and thoroughly before she noticed it.

I asked in a low voice, "Then why did you hide the newborn baby party from me today?"

"When did you decide to let that child call you "Dad"? When did you decide to be the father of someone else's child?"

I pressed on step by step, my tone unconsciously taking on a sharp edge.

Conrad frowned. He was about to speak when Lilian, with red eyes, ran up from downstairs quickly and spoke aggrievedly.

"Serena, don't blame my cousin. It's my fault. I didn't handle it well. Some people said I was immoral and shameless because I because I was pregnant with a child without a father ... and that no one recognized my child ...."

She sobbed and wiped away her tears, her voice soft and delicate.

"He said he was the father of the child at the party for me ... I didn't expect to make you unhappy. I'm sorry, Serena, please don't be angry ...."

Before I could say anything, she burst into tears, tears streaming down her face.

Conrad immediately took her into his arms and comforted her softly.

"Alright, Lilian, stop crying. Your sister-in-law is not the kind of person who cares about trivial matters."

He turned to look at me, with a slightly warning look in his eyes, hoping that I would stop pestering them.

"I didn't tell you about today's newborn baby party because I was afraid you would be too busy and delaying your work. You know, in the company, only one of us can leave."

His attitude had already explained everything.

My heart skipped a beat and I replied softly, "Hmm, I got it."

Seeing my indifferent attitude, he felt inexplicably uneasy, but he didn't feel at ease.

Since he was already used to my patience, he didn't think I would be angry with him.

He continued to blame me.

"You did something wrong when you pinched the baby today. Even if you don't like children, you can't do it. He's still a baby."

"Anyway, we won't have any children in the future and you've said before that you don't like children. Lilian's child, we can be his foster parents, so it won't hurt to be nice to him."

I felt like someone had poured a bucket of ice water over my head and the coldness spread to every part of my body.

Yeah.

I used to dislike children.

But he didn't know that I started trying to like children for him.

I just found out about my pregnancy and my first reaction was not fear but joy.

But before I could tell him the good news, he was already holding someone else's child and asking someone else's child to call him "Dad".

I chuckled quietly, feeling chilled to the bone.

I pushed his hand away and went back to the room.

I looked at the wedding ring on my hand that had been with me for seven years and slowly took it off. There was already an obvious mark on my finger.

I threw the ring out of the balcony without hesitation.

The next morning, I came to the company as usual and arranged for a new secretary to be transferred to Conrad's side, hoping to hand over the affairs.

When he first entered the office and saw the new secretary, he teased me with a contemptuous smile. "What? Are you finally desperate and seeking help?"

"I'm too tired alone," I replied.

My voice was not loud, but it carried an indescribable weariness.

He didn't take it to heart and nodded. "Okay."

I waited for a while, but he didn't show any concern.

If it were an ordinary superior or subordinate, he would still say "thank you for your hard work", but because I had a wife status, everything I did seemed to be taken for granted.

Since the year I graduated from college, I had been accompanying him in starting a business.

In order to train him to do business, his family didn't give him a penny.

He was kicked out of the conference room by the investors and I stood with him in the rain for a whole night, just to block the door of a project manager the next day.

He offended someone when he was at his low point and was surrounded. I rushed in with my high heels and pulled him to escape. I got my knee scratched by glass and I got eleven stitches.

The first funding for the company was obtained by me boldly asking my uncle, who didn't like him, to accompany me for three days and three nights.

For every contract and every battle for equity, I was always behind him, providing advice and strategies and leading the way.

I thought one day he would see my efforts.

But the fact was, he was willing to stand up for Lilian, whom he had just known for less than a year and say that he was her husband, but he never acknowledged my identity as Ms. Helderman in front of others.

Even, he never introduced me as his wife.

Even a moth flying into a flame would get tired.

During my lunch break, I had just asked for leave from the HR department to go to the hospital when I heard a small commotion at the front desk.

"Wow, what a handsome and cute little baby."

"Is he Mr. Helderman's son?"

"Ms. Helderman is so gentle!"

I froze and when I looked up, I saw Lilian walking in wearing high heels and holding her child.

She walked with two nannies and one bodyguard behind, like a hostess.

She smiled and asked, "Is Conrad in his office? I bring him food."

"Is she the CEO's wife?"

"Of course, besides her, who else could walk in so blatantly?"

The onlookers nodded one after another and no one denied it.

I stood at the door, watching the scene with my fingers clenched tightly.

But what I couldn't accept the most was that Conrad appeared at the door of the office and he didn't say a word when he heard them recognize her as his wife.

Neither admitted nor denied it.

Lilian smiled and responded, "Everyone please stop calling me that, it's too strange, just call me Lilian."

She handed the thermos box to the front desk and smiled as she distributed several bento boxes to everyone. "This is the carrot and beef soup I made myself and the egg yolk and beef floss rice balls, everyone try them."

Everyone took them while praising her for her virtuousness.

I had no expression on my face and wanted to leave.

Anyway, Conrad and I were getting divorced, so Lilian could be Ms. Helderman.

At this moment, Lilian seemed to have just seen me and walked over with a smile.

"Ms. Craivanger, I also brought you soup. I know you need to nourish your body the most, so I made it myself."

She walked towards me with the child in her arms and my alarm went off.

I declined. "Thanks for your kindness, but I don't eat carrots."

"Then you can try the soup base, Ms. Craivanger. Are you still mad at me?"

I raised my hand to push away the soup bowl in her hand, but between pushing and pulling, her hand trembled——

A whole spoonful of hot soup spilled all over the child.

"Oh my!"

The child immediately burst into tears, shrill and piercing.

I was stunned and before I could react, Lilian was already pale with fear, holding the child and stepped back a few steps, crying and screaming.

"Ms. Craivanger, it's okay if you don't like me, but why do you always target my son! Last time, at the newborn baby party, you pinched him and now you're throwing hot soup on him. Are you a human being!"