When Eve woke up again, she found herself lying in a hospital bed. The person sitting by her side was not Sean but the family’s housekeeper.

“Ma’am, you’re finally awake,” the housekeeper said, still shaken. “I was the one who brought you to the hospital. I made the oat milk myself. I swear to God, I didn’t put any soybeans in it.”

Eve slowly closed her eyes. A thin tear slid down the corner of her eye.

“I know.”

The housekeeper had made the oat milk, so she was absolutely certain there were no soybeans in it. Yet when Eve collapsed, the housekeeper still chose to believe that it was an allergic reaction and rushed her to the hospital. However, where was Sean? The man who had once promised to love her for the rest of his life had left her alone at home, waiting to die.

Mandy was in the hospital room right next door. Late that night, when Eve got up to use the restroom, she saw Sean standing beside Mandy’s bed, keeping watch over her.

He used to do the same for Eve whenever she was sick. A man of his status was always busy, with endless responsibilities and obligations. Yet every time Eve fell ill, he would cancel all his work and stay by her side. He would pour her water, cook for her, and coax her into taking her medicine…

Thinking of those memories, Eve’s eyes reddened. She could not understand how something once so beautiful had turned into this.

“Sean, I’m about to die,” Mandy said weakly from the bed, tears clinging to her lashes as she leaned into his arms. “Before I die, I want an answer. After all this time, did you ever love me?”

Sean fell silent for a long time.

“Even just a little would be enough,” Mandy sobbed. “Sean, I’m not asking for your whole heart. If you’ve ever felt even the slightest bit of affection for me, I could die with no regret.”

Looking at Mandy’s tear-streaked face, Sean’s heart ached. As if he could no longer suppress his emotions, he reached out and pulled her tightly into his arms.

“Mandy, of course I have feelings for you,” he said softly. “Forgive me. I can’t tell you that I love you because I already have Eve. I can’t betray her. But if Eve didn’t exist, I could tell you this: you would be the woman I love most in this world.”

Eve felt as if someone had punched a hole straight through her heart and squeezed it. She lifted her hand to touch her face, only then realizing that tears were already streaming down.

She had once believed that Sean was only with Mandy for the thrill of it. She had thought there was nothing between them but desire—no love. However, how could there be no love? When Mandy collapsed, coughing up blood, his eyes had been filled with panic and concern. When Mandy placed the rosary, one that Eve had once knelt step by step to beg for, into such a filthy place, he had not said a single word of blame. The scales in his heart had already tipped long ago.

Eve turned away, tears falling as she walked off. She had barely taken a few steps when her phone suddenly vibrated. Mandy had sent her a video.

Below it was a message that read: [Everything he once gave you, he has also given to me.]

Eve tapped on the video, and a lively wedding scene appeared on the screen. At a glance, she recognized the venue. It was the very place where she and Sean had held their wedding. Not only was the location the same, but the decorations, the layout, and even the smallest details were identical.

For a brief moment, Eve almost believed the video was footage from her own wedding. However, that illusion was shattered the second Mandy, wearing a white wedding gown, appeared on screen.

Eve gasped.

“Mandy, I’ve heard from Sean that you’re pregnant with his child, and twins at that,” Sean’s mother said warmly in the video, holding Mandy’s hand with obvious affection. “I’m so happy! You’re truly a great blessing to the Baker family! Even though you and Sean can’t legally get married, I promise you this: everything Eve has, you’ll have too. And everything she doesn’t have, you’ll have as well.”

As she spoke, Sean’s mother removed the emerald bracelet from her own wrist.

“This is the Baker family’s heirloom,” she said with a smile. “It’s an antique, something once worn by royalty. There’s only one of these in the Baker family. It’s passed down only to the daughter-in-law.”

With that, she slipped the bracelet onto Mandy’s wrist and said, “Mandy, you’re the only daughter-in-law I acknowledge.”

Due to their decision to remain childfree, Sean’s mother had never liked Eve. She had always believed it was Eve who insisted on not having children, refusing to give the Baker family an heir. However, in reality, Eve loved children. More than that, she had always wanted a child of her own.

She was an orphan. She had no family in this world to rely on. A child would have been the only person truly connected to her by blood—the only family she could ever call her own. How could she not want children?

The one who insisted on being childfree was Sean. Back when they had just gotten married, the two of them had once watched a childbirth documentary by chance. The footage was brutally real and graphic. After watching it, Sean was deeply shaken and refused to let Eve go through childbirth, no matter what.

“Childbirth is terrifying,” he had said at the time. “Eve, I won’t let you go through that kind of pain. They say giving birth is like walking through the gates of hell. Just thinking that I could lose you because of it? I can’t handle that.

“Eve, I can’t live without you. If anything happened to you, I’d lose my mind. I don’t want children. I want you.”

Hearing those words back then, Eve had been deeply moved. She truly believed Sean loved her so much that he refused to let her suffer, even if it meant giving up on having children altogether.

Uterine fibroids were never life-threatening. Now that she thought about it, perhaps Sean had started planning on removing her uterus from that moment on. Maybe he had even deliberately shown that documentary about fatal childbirth complications to her…

A few days later, both Eve and Mandy were discharged from the hospital. During those days, Sean had been busy taking care of Mandy. Not once did he notice that Eve had also been hospitalized, right next door to Mandy, no less.

Eve did not bother explaining anything. She had decided she would no longer continue the marriage with Sean anyway.

Yet, Sean acted magnanimously. He sought Eve out and said, “Eve, I forgive you.”

Eve found it ridiculous. What right did he have to say that?

“We’re married to each other,” Sean continued. “No matter how out of line you were, I’ll forgive you. But I hope there won’t be a next time. As punishment, I’ll sleep in the study for a while. You should also take this time to reflect on what you did.”

After saying that, Sean packed up his things and moved into the study.

That very night, Eve received a provocative video from Mandy. In the video, Mandy lay beneath Sean, her clothes in disarray.

She gasped softly, her voice filled with longing. “Ah… Sean, harder… Make me forget the pain. Make me forget everything. Let me think only of you. I love only you…”

Her intimate and emotional confession clearly excited Sean. His movements grew more intense.

When emotions peaked, he held Mandy tightly in his arms and cried out uncontrollably, “Mandy! I love you!”

“What did you say?” Mandy’s face lit up with joy. “Say it again. I want to hear it.”

Sean’s expression darkened instantly. It was obvious that the words “I love you” had slipped out in the heat of the moment. Now that his rationality had returned, he refused to say them again, no matter how much Mandy begged.

Seeing that, tears immediately streamed down Mandy’s face.

“Sean,” she sobbed, “I’m about to die. Are you still refusing to say those three words to me while I’m still alive?”

Sean looked tortured. “Mandy, don’t force me to say it.”

“Then I’d rather just die right now!” Mandy rushed to the window, pretending she was about to jump. “Anyway, no one in this world loves me!”

“Mandy, what are you doing? Get down, now!” Sean panicked.

“I won’t,” she said, biting her lip, tears filling her eyes. “Since you don’t love me, there’s no point in my living.”

As she said that, half of her body leaned out the window. Sean’s heart dropped. He lunged forward and pulled Mandy back into his arms.

“Who says I don’t love you?” he shouted, his emotions spiraling out of control. “I love you so much, I’m going crazy!

“Do you think I’m some scumbag who would betray his marriage and his wife?” His eyes were bloodshot as he roared, close to breaking down. “I love Eve! Betraying her makes me disgusted with myself! But I can’t help it. Your existence drives me insane. You make me someone I don’t even recognize anymore!”

Finally satisfied, Mandy wrapped her arms around Sean’s neck and asked sweetly, “Then, Sean… can I understand this as you loving me more than Eve?”

Sean’s face hardened. “Don’t push your luck.”

The video ended abruptly.

Eve cried and cried, and then suddenly laughed. As it turned out, Sean knew he was a disgusting man. What right did he have to act like the victim when he was the one who betrayed the marriage and betrayed her?

Eve wiped away her tears. In silence, she downloaded every video Mandy had sent her and forwarded them all to her lawyer.

“This is proof of his affair,” Eve said calmly. “And he removed my uterus without my consent. I won’t appear in person during the divorce. I don’t want to see Sean ever again. You’ll represent me and handle all the procedures.

“Name your price. I don’t just want a divorce; I want you to help me get my uterus back.”

After Eve seriously began preparing for divorce, Sean was busy indulging in a frenzy of secret affairs with Mandy. Perhaps he believed Mandy did not have long to live. That was why he felt the need to seize every chance he had, afraid that if he did not take her again and again now, there would be no future opportunity.

Whenever he found an opening, he would pin her beneath him, and every single time they slept together, Mandy secretly recorded it. Then, she would send the videos to Eve.

They did not just sneak around in the study. During morning runs, they would have reckless encounters in a nearby park. Sometimes, Sean even brought Mandy to the office while he was at work. In the videos she sent, there were even scenes of her kneeling beneath his desk, servicing him while he sat above her…

Mandy’s stamina was nothing like that of someone who was supposedly dying. No matter how hard Sean pushed her, she could endure it. More than that, she clearly enjoyed it.

Eve had investigated in secret and found out that Mandy never had lymphoma at all. The illness was nothing more than a lie she fabricated so she could openly move into the Baker’s residence, and it was a lie so crude that Eve uncovered the truth with minimal effort. If Sean had wanted to investigate, how could he possibly have missed it?

It showed he simply did not want to know, because as long as he did not look too closely, he could continue fooling around with Mandy without guilt.

“Eve, you really are spineless.”

After sending so many videos and receiving no reaction, Mandy finally lost her patience. She came over to provoke Eve.

“Sean pins me down every night. My legs are so weak from it. I can barely stand anymore. Are you just going to watch all this happen? You’re pathetic. You don’t even have the courage to confront Sean.

“Are you that afraid he’ll leave you? You pretend to be calm, but inside, you’re terrified, aren’t you? You’re scared that if you make a scene, Sean will choose me instead of you.”

Eve lifted her eyes and glanced at Mandy calmly, asking, “Are you that sure that Sean would choose you?”

“Of course.” Mandy smiled smugly. “If you don’t believe it, just wait and see.”

Just then, a car suddenly sped straight toward the direction where Eve and Mandy were standing. Sean, who was standing nearby, noticed something was wrong instantly. Without hesitation, he dropped everything in his hands and lunged toward Mandy.

“Mandy, watch out!” he yelled, wrapping his body tightly around her, shielding her behind him.

Eve did not have time to dodge. The car slammed into her, sending her flying through the air. Before losing consciousness, the last thing she saw was Sean holding Mandy tightly, using his own body to block all harm meant for her. Blood and tears blurred together.

As her awareness faded, a memory suddenly surfaced. Once, when she and Sean went tandem skydiving together, there had been an accident where the parachute malfunctioned and refused to open. As they plummeted toward certain death, Sean suddenly pulled Eve into his arms, placing himself beneath her. That way, no matter how they landed, he would take the impact first.

He had once used his body to protect her, but now, he had abandoned her to protect another woman.

After some time, in the darkness, Eve faintly heard Sean’s voice.

With great effort, she opened her eyes to see Sean holding her phone, looking irritated as he spoke into it, “A divorce lawyer? You’ve got the wrong number. My relationship with Eve is fine. There’s no way we’re getting divorced. Our marriage only ends in widowhood—never in divorce.”