In the fifth year of my marriage, the impoverished student my billionaire husband had been secretly supporting suddenly confronted me, publicly announcing that she was six months pregnant—and was carrying my husband's child.

Ryan cried as he had the trending news removed, then knelt his way from the company headquarters all the way back to our villa, begging for my forgiveness.

“Therese, I was drunk. Someone deliberately set me up. I didn’t mean for it to happen. I’ll force her to get an abortion—please, don’t leave me!”

His eyes were red as he dragged her to the hospital.

Unable to let go of ten years of love, I chose to forgive him.

Three years later, Ryan went abroad on a business trip and was caught in a sudden riot. I rushed there overnight to find him—only to see him through the hail of bullets, tightly shielding Daisy and their twin boy and girl in his arms.

Their third child was due any day.

On the private jet back to California, Ryan held her hand and knelt before me, eyes full of desperation.

“Therese, I know you can’t have children, but the Parker family needs an heir!”

“I promise—the three kids will only ever recognize you as their mother. As for Daisy, think of her as a live-in nanny. Free of charge.”

“As long as you don’t make things hard for her, I swear she’ll never threaten your position.”

I gave him a small smile, then turned away and tore up the pregnancy report I’d been hiding in my bag.

Watching them walk away together, arm in arm, I dialed a number with trembling fingers.

“You owe me a life. Now it’s time to repay that debt.”

——

It was already deep into the night by the time we walked out of the airport.

Ryan glanced at me with a complicated expression, then carefully helped Daisy and the children to a far corner, as if I were some kind of monster.

As he passed by, he still couldn’t resist warning me, his tone was wary, “Therese, Daisy suffered a lot overseas these past few years. Could you not give her a hard time?”

“As long as you treat her and the kids well, you’ll always be the Madam of the Parker family.”

I lowered my gaze, holding back the tears threatening to fall.

I wanted to tell him I no longer wanted that title.

I didn’t want him, or this family, anymore.

But before I could speak, Daisy let out a soft, calculated whimper. At that instant, Ryan brushed right past me without even a glance, hurrying to the car.

He had always been calm and composed.

Even back then—when I was eight months pregnant and nearly bled to death trying to save him—he hadn’t looked as panicked as he did now.

Watching his back fade into the distance, I laughed through my tears.

Ten years of love, now twisting through my chest like a blade.

The shrapnel wound on my leg from rushing to find him throbbed with every step, sharp enough to make me gasp.

I clenched my fists and limped toward the taxi waiting at the curb.

But behind me Daisy’s timid voice sounded.

“Therese... if you can’t stand the sight of me, you can do whatever you want to me. But please don’t be mad at Mr. Parker anymore.”

“He said... aside from not being able to have children, you’re perfect. He can’t bear to lose you. But he has a responsibility for me and the kids. After all, I’m the only one who can carry on the Parker family bloodline.”

Just a few sentences—and every word pierced through my heart.

I stopped, slowly turned, and looked at her coldly.

“Three years ago, you came to me. You begged me for money so you could leave for good. You promised you’d disappear. But instead, you kept seducing Ryan over and over again.”

“And now he’s brought you back. Everything you ever wanted is yours. So why are you still putting on this pathetic act in front of me?”

I couldn’t even be bothered to look at her again. With a cold laugh, I opened the car door.

But just then, Daisy yanked the two children down, and they knelt before me.

When I remained unmoved, she suddenly shoved the children’s heads to the ground, making them bow hard.

With tears streaming down her face, she began kowtowing over and over.

I froze.

The children were crying so hard they could barely breathe.

Just as I was about to reach out to pull them into my arms...

Out of nowhere, a black Maybach came speeding toward me and slammed straight into my body.

I couldn’t stop myself from being flung into the air, landing hard on the ground.

A searing pain shot through my abdomen, and warm blood began to gush out beneath me.

But Ryan didn’t even spare me a glance. He rushed forward—only to cradle Daisy and the children in his arms with trembling care.

Daisy curled into his embrace, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Mr. Parker, please don’t blame Madam Alba... she only did this because she’s angry with us.”

Ryan gritted his teeth and turned to me, his gaze filled with nothing but disgust.

“Therese, how could you be so vicious?”

I bit down hard on my lip, forcing myself to endure the unbearable pain shooting through every inch of my body.

I had no strength left to explain. My whole body trembled as I reached a blood-soaked hand toward him.

“Ryan... p-please... save our child...”

However, he slapped my hand away without hesitation, his voice colder than ice.

“Stop pretending. The only one who deserves saving is Daisy!”

“The twins are only three years old, and she’s pregnant again—yet you made them kneel and bow to you!”

“If you can’t even tolerate their presence, then don’t bother coming back. When you finally realize how wrong you are, maybe then I’ll come for you.”

The pain made my scalp go numb, and even my breath began to weaken.

All I could do was watch as Ryan gently carried Daisy and the children into the car.

To him, they were treasures. To me, he showed nothing but cruelty—like I was trash to be discarded.

I tried to crawl after them, but he slammed on the gas and drove away without a backward glance.

By the time the ambulance brought me to the hospital, I was barely conscious.

But fate was cruel—I ran into Ryan again.

He was at the emergency entrance, holding Daisy in his arms and demanding a full-body examination for her.

When he saw me on the gurney, his face instantly darkened.

“Therese, when did you learn to play the pity card so well? Even using an ambulance now?”

“Keep acting. As long as I’m here today, you’re not stepping foot into that ER. I want to see if you’re really hurt or just putting on a show!”

The hospital corridor felt like an icy tomb. I lay helpless on the stretcher, feeling every drop of blood in my body slowly freezing over.

Three hours passed before Daisy finished all her tests.

Ryan held her protectively, casting a scornful glance my way as he opened his mouth to mock me.

But before he could speak, I couldn’t hold on any longer.

Blood surged up from my throat, and I began coughing it out uncontrollably.

Only then did something crack in Ryan’s frigid expression.

He spun around and grabbed the doctor by the collar, shouting, “Why the hell is she vomiting blood? Don’t just stand there—stop the bleeding!”

They quickly determined that my injuries were severe and I needed emergency surgery and a blood transfusion.

Ryan kicked over a nearby trash can, his face thunderous.

“Take me to sign the papers! If there’s not enough blood, take mine!”

“If anything happens to her, this hospital won’t continue operating!”

While the doctors pulled him aside to sign the consent forms, Daisy suddenly lunged toward me.

She grabbed my hand, then slammed her other hand against her own belly—hard.

Dropping to the floor in front of me, she wailed like a broken doll.

“Therese, you can beat me to death if you want—but please don’t hurt the child I’m carrying!”

Ryan turned around just in time to see this, and his face twisted with fury.

Before I could get a word out, he struck me across the face with the full force of his rage.

The slap was so powerful it knocked me right off the hospital bed and onto the cold floor.

I curled up, trembling, unable to make a single sound from the pain.

I was the one who had been betrayed.

The person who claimed to love me for ten years didn’t even ask a single question before condemning me.

The agony in my lower abdomen made everything brutally clear.

Our child was gone.

Along with the loss of my child, the last trace of affection between us vanished as well.

Ryan tore up the blood donation consent form and hurled the shredded pieces at my face.

“Therese, you’re perfectly fine, aren’t you? Since you love playing the victim so much, then stay here and keep acting!”

He turned his back on me and walked away with Daisy in his arms, never looking back.

I lay in a pool of blood, my heart shattered into pieces.

My consciousness blurred as I was wheeled into the operating room.

Even lying on the cold surgical table, I could feel the instruments stirring inside me—metallic, cold, and unforgiving.

The child I had prayed for, kneeling step by step before the Buddha, was reduced to nothing but a pool of blood.

Through the entire operation, Ryan never sent a single message.

He didn’t care whether I lived or died—let alone about the child I carried.

When the anesthesia wore off, I trembled as I reached for my phone, intending to ask someone to help prepare the divorce papers.

Instead, I stumbled upon a trending post.

Ryan had just bought out every maternity store in the city for Daisy.

The photo showed him on one knee before her, eyes filled with adoration, his face gently pressed against her swollen belly.

A flood of memories came rushing back.

Five years ago, Ryan had been trapped in a mudslide during a business trip.

I was already eight months pregnant at the time.

My mother and I rushed through the night to find him, and together, we dug him out from beneath the rubble with our bare hands.

All ten of my fingers were scraped to the bone. I lost the child in my belly from the sheer exhaustion.

When the mountain crumbled again, my mother used the last of her strength to push him out of harm’s way.

A falling boulder struck the back of her head—she’s been in a coma ever since.

I didn’t even have time to grieve. I was rushed into intensive care and fought for my life for three days straight.

When I finally woke up, I learned I had damaged my uterus. The chances of conceiving again were slim to none.

At that time, Ryan knelt before me, just like he did for her today, and vowed that even if we couldn’t have children, he would still stay by my side for life.

But now, I was left with nothing.

And he had become the blade that pierced through my heart.

The fragile strength I had clung to finally snapped.

Sobbing, I called my lawyer and asked him to prepare the divorce agreement as soon as possible.

Before I left the hospital, I visited my mother’s room.

I knelt at her bedside and broke down in tears.

“Mom... I’m sorry. I don’t think I’ve been living a happy life at all.”

“The baby is gone. I can’t do this anymore. I don’t want Ryan or this family.”

“You won’t blame me... will you?”

My mother lay silently in her hospital bed, unmoving.

But a single tear rolled down from the corner of her eye—saying more than words ever could.

When I finally returned home in a daze, Ryan was kneeling in front of Daisy, gently holding her foot and massaging it with tenderness written all over his face.

When I was pregnant, even when I was wracked with cramps, he never once did that for me.

He always claimed that, as someone of his status, giving a woman a foot massage was beneath him.

But now I understand—love and indifference could be painfully obvious.

The moment I stepped through the door, Ryan sneered coldly.

“You’ve got some nerve coming back. That performance at the hospital was Oscar-worthy—anyone who didn’t know better might think you’re the one who’s pregnant.”

I closed my eyes for a moment, swallowing the pain, and walked silently toward my room.

But Daisy stepped in front of me, dragging the two children with her.

Her face was filled with faux remorse as she pleaded pitifully.

“Therese, I didn’t listen to you and leave like I promised. You can punish me however you like.”

“If you want to hit me, I deserve it. Once I give birth, I’ll leave—I just hope you can acknowledge Ryan’s children.”

She tried to kneel, but Ryan pulled her into his arms.

He let out a scoff and looked at me with cold, mocking eyes.

“There’s no need for her to beg you. I’m the one who couldn’t keep it in my pants. What did she do wrong?”