Martin wept more than ever. It caused everyone else to turn their anger toward me.

My father’s face turned red with fury as his voice turned hoarse when he grabbed my hand, shouting, “Listen to me! Stop causing more trouble! Just end things with your lover and live a good life with Martin. That’s what matters most!”

“You already have a child together. If you still dare to get a divorce, don’t blame me for breaking your legs!”

I stayed cold and expressionless.

“This marriage has to end,” I said firmly, turning to leave.

My father’s voice exploded behind me, shouting, “If you dare to divorce Martin, I’ll cut you off as my daughter!”

Meanwhile, Martin didn’t try to stop me. Instead, he shouted, “Sophia, if you’re leaving, don’t expect a single penny! I’ll throw you out with nothing!”

“Since you’ve found someone else and want to abandon me, don’t blame me for being cruel!”

Soon enough, I filed for divorce immediately and submitted the videos I’d secretly recorded at Wendy’s house as evidence.

That night, I planned to stay at a hotel. But to my shock, all my bank accounts were frozen. I suddenly remembered that all these years, I had handed over every bit of my earnings to Martin, leaving almost nothing for myself.

For so many years, I had worked day and night for our little family. I thought that after all our years together, we would finally have a happy home. But I realized it was all a lie. Actually, I had been alone from the very beginning.

Eventually, I ended up borrowing some money from a friend to check into a hotel. When I opened my phone, I saw that someone had secretly recorded our argument the day before and uploaded it online. It was already trending.

The comments were full of insults. Some people even threatened to ruin my life.

[She’s divorcing her husband just because he helped babysit a neighbor’s child? What kind of woman does that?]

[She’s clearly cheating! Now she’s pretending to be the victim … How shameless!]

Public opinion spread quickly. Even the hotel staff looked at me with disgust. When I turned on my computer, a stabbing pain filled my chest.

There were hundreds of videos showing Martin and Wendy’s secret meetings. Every night, after putting her daughter, Nancy, to bed, he went into her bedroom. I had found the truth from Martin’s own phone.

My own husband had connected to the neighbor’s security camera and saved videos of himself with Wendy. When he wasn’t paying attention, I linked that camera feed to my own phone. From then on, I saw that they were together every night.

The way Martin looked at Wendy was so gentle, which was a look he had never given me. To others, he seemed kind and thoughtful. But I was the only one who knew his true coldness. After we both got married, he told me he didn’t want children and warned me never to bring it up.

When I became pregnant by accident, I begged Martin to let me keep the baby. But he forced me to have an abortion without hesitation. That pain stayed with me forever. After that day, my husband never allowed me to touch him again.

And now, he was caring for another woman’s child right in front of me.

“Miss Anderson, the court hearing is scheduled three days from now. I’ve prepared all the documents you requested,” my lawyer informed me.

The next morning, my secretary called to say that the company’s investors were pulling out because of the public backlash. When I arrived at the office, Martin was already there.

“Sophia, don’t go in yet. Reporters are everywhere,” he warned.

But I pushed him aside. Martin quickly stumbled to the floor, looking shocked. Everyone around turned to look at us. He surely had never expected me to do that.

“Sophia, are you really that heartless? Can’t you even show me a little mercy?” he asked bitterly.

Wendy came over and helped Martin up from the ground.

Our argument quickly drew reporters and furious onlookers, who turned their cameras toward me and shouted that I was cold and heartless.

“Please, don’t put the blame on her. It’s all my fault for not handling things properly. Don’t blame her,” Martin said pitifully.

Looking at his fake, self-pitying face, I almost felt sick.

I responded to him coldly, “Since you don’t want a divorce, don’t put the blame on me for taking you to court.”

Soon enough, Martin dropped his act and snapped in front of the reporters, “Fine, you shameless woman! Don’t blame me for throwing you out!”

“My child doesn’t need someone like you. Divorce it is. See you in court!”

I found it almost funny. Martin clearly had no idea that I already knew everything he’d been hiding from me. So, I said nothing else.

In the meantime, I settled the company’s affairs and started preparing for the court hearing. After the media frenzy that day, our story spread even further online. I became the villain, while Martin was painted as the poor, gentle husband.

People claimed that I had had several abortions for my lover and spent all my family’s money on him. Others said the car accident had damaged my mind. The insults were endless to the point where my parents even threatened to cut ties with me.

“You’ve gone too far, Sophia! I’ll declare that I never have a daughter like you from today onwards!” my father yelled.

“Look at what you’ve done! You’ve brought shame to this family. I can’t even acknowledge you anymore!”

Despite facing all of that, I kept my silence. I only appeared in court three days later. On the day of the trial, the courtroom was packed. Friends, relatives and even online strangers had come to see me humiliated.

Martin leaned close and whispered, “Are you sure you want to go this far? For the sake of our years together, I’ll give you one last chance. If you apologize now, I’ll let it go.”

“You can’t win this, Sophia. The whole country knows what you did to me. Do you even have the courage to live after this?”

Wendy gave me a mocking smile. Even my parents looked at me with disgust, wishing I had disappeared. But I remained calm and waited for the judge to begin the session.

Martin had hired one of Washington’s top lawyers, clearly determined to destroy me in court. The lawyer read out a list of my supposed ‘crimes’ during the marriage, trying to make me look like the guilty one.

“If he only helped his neighbor care for her child, that’s not considered infidelity. Given the situation, it’s clear she bears most of the fault here,” he argued.

“If she can’t present any new evidence, the court should grant the divorce and declare her at fault.”

The courtroom burst into applause. Martin and Wendy hugged each other, celebrating early as people whispered that I deserved it. But I stayed calm and raised my hand.

I told the judge, “I have new evidence. A CCTV footage from our neighbor Wendy’s home and a DNA paternity test report for Martin and Wendy’s daughter, Nancy Haines.”

The room went silent. Everyone’s faces turned serious. Martin’s face went pale and tense and I knew the real drama was about to begin.