After the 100th failed fertility treatment, my husband, who had been previously diagnosed with a low sperm count, spoke coldly.

“Lucy is very fertile. She gets pregnant after our first time, unlike you. You just can’t conceive.”

Lucy was my adoptive sister. While holding her hand, he laid out three options for me.

I could either ignore their affair and retain my title as the CEO’s wife, take the ten million dollars and disappear, or walk away with nothing at all.

The whole town knew how proud I was. They also knew how deeply I loved him.

They surely expected me to be mad with jealousy and choose honor over compromise.

But I neither cried nor made a scene. I calmly slid the check back across the table.

“The child will call me Mom. I’ll stay and be Mrs. Carter.”

After all, this was my third time to live such a life.

The first time, I chose to leave with nothing but my dignity. The second time, I took the money, but had to live in shame. Both decisions ended in tragedy.

For the third time, perhaps three of us could just... make it work.

My husband, Arthur Carter, stared in disbelief. His face froze in shock.

“Cadence, do you truly have it in you to accept another woman having my child?”

I raised my hand to straighten his disheveled shirt collar. My gaze never left the stiff expression on his face. I smiled gently.

“I’ve endured the pain and injections of IVF treatments for years. It was always so you could have a child, wasn’t it?

“Now that Lucy is carrying your child for me, why would I say no?”

Lucy Lark was my adoptive sister. Her beautiful face turned pale. Her gaze filled with anger as she bit her lower lip.

She had probably imagined me becoming hysterical, but she never expected me to celebrate.

“Cadence, I thought you’d be furious. I never expected that you’d be okay with it. People might think you don’t even love Arthur anymore.”

Arthur’s sharp gaze returned to me.

I laughed and patted her shoulder.

“Oh, don’t be silly. If you love someone, you love everything that comes with them. That’s still love.”

The first time I returned to the past, I had not hesitated and chose to leave with nothing.

I had been too proud. I had made up my mind to die poor rather than take his tainted money.

But as a housewife who had been disconnected from society for years, I could not find a decent office job.

I survived on cold canned beans in a cheap rental. I lived a miserable and wretched life.

Even then, Lucy had refused to let me go. She had staged a car accident to finish me off.

The second time I returned to the past, I learned my lesson and accepted the ten million dollars.

I believed it would be the capital for a fresh start.

It was difficult to start a business without resources or connections. Even the reliable partner I finally found turned out to be a trap.

On the night debt collectors cornered me on the rooftop, I heard Lucy’s scornful laughter over the phone amidst the chaos.

“Arthur doesn’t have a low sperm count at all. He’s been slipping her birth control pills all this time. That’s why she never got pregnant.

“He only married her back then to secure that investment from Lark Group. Now that she’s served her purpose, does she think she could just walk off to start some business and live a good life? She’s got to go.”

When I returned to the past again, I gave up trying to outplay them.

They were a devoted couple. Trash belonged to each other.

How could I possibly leave them? The three of us could make it work.

Arthur clearly had not expected me to accept it with such an open mind.

He frowned at me with confusion. After a long while, he finally left me with a warning. “Fine. Then you’d better remember your place as Mrs. Carter. If you dare lay a finger on Lucy, you’ll regret it."

I smiled sweetly at him and immediately made arrangements.

“Lucy, since you’re pregnant, it’s not convenient for you to travel. You’ll stay in the guest room from now on. Rest and focus on the baby. I’ll make sure you’re well taken care of.”

Lucy instantly put on a wounded look.

“I’m carrying Arthur's child, and you’re putting me in the guest room. Do you realize how far away that is from him? You’re not trying to keep us apart, are you?

“How thoughtless of me,” I said, cutting off any reply. I turned to the butler.

“Move Mr. Carter’s things to the guest room, too. We wouldn’t want him and Lucy having a long-distance relationship while living under the same roof.”

Lucy’s eyes widened. Before she could complain to Arthur, I looked at him with a smile.

“Darling, you’re the father. It’s better for the mother’s health and stress levels if you’re close by during the pregnancy. You can’t possibly expect to stay in the master bedroom with me. Think how heartbroken she’d be.”

Lucy immediately bit her lip. Arthur glanced at her and wrapped an arm around her waist to console her softly.

“I’ll be right here with you and the baby. Come on, let’s go upstairs and get settled.”

Arm in arm, they intimately walked up the stairs while leaning against each other.

In the past, jealousy, resentment, and rage would have consumed me.

I calmly returned to the master bedroom. Then, I dialed a number I had never, in my wildest dreams, wanted to call.

“Let’s make a deal. Make me the majority shareholder of your conglomerate and help me burn the Carter family to the ground.”

...

That evening, I slid a document across the table to Arthur.

“I’ve had a marital agreement drawn up. Give it a look.”

Arthur was annoyed. “You’re discussing money with me?”

My eyes welled up with tears, but I stubbornly held them back.

“I endured so many injections, suffered through all those treatments, and swallowed my pride. Now, my health is ruined, and I even have to care for the woman carrying your child.

“I haven’t uttered a single complaint. All I’m asking for is the freedom to use your supplementary card for some shopping. Is that really too much to ask?”

Arthur looked at me with a complicated expression.

“As long as you know your place, you can use my money. Go on, spend it.”

I watched him sign the agreement with a beaming smile. Even so, my gaze remained cold.

He would never know the weight of his signature. His finances had fallen under my complete control. I would have sole and full discretion over his money.

That afternoon, I dressed in my finest and met my best friend, Claire Reed, for a shopping trip.

In the past, my foolish obsession with love made me revolve solely around Arthur. I had drifted apart from all my friends. Claire had tried to intervene and scolded me several times. She eventually gave up on me.

By the time I died, I was utterly alone and helpless.

When I stood before her, she was astonished.

“Cadence, I can’t believe you actually managed to put Arthur aside and focus on shopping with me!

“I heard Lucy is pregnant and has moved right in. I figured you’d either be home sobbing your eyes out or coming at her with a knife. You do look a little rough, but you seem... oddly calm.”

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I looked young, yet exhausted.

In the past, Arthur often used his family to pressure me. He had insisted I must have a child, or he would divorce me.

I loved him, so I desperately underwent IVF treatments. For two years, I wore myself down to a shadow.

Yet the truth had been far more sinister. The issue had not been with my womb, nor his loins. He had been slipping me birth control pills after every single time we were intimate.

He had watched me suffer in complete indifference. He even gaslit me into believing I was not trying hard enough and called me utterly worthless.

It was utterly ridiculous.

Ironically, for the sake of such a devious man, I had abandoned my friends, ruined my health, and distorted my own life.

I sighed. “I’m twenty-seven years old, not some lovestruck seventeen-year-old teenager. If he’d been head-over-heels in love with me, I might have fought for it. But a cheater like him isn’t worth my energy.”

Claire stared at me in disbelief for a long moment, then hugged me with relief.

“It’s about time you came to your senses, you idiot! You once gave up everything for him. You were constantly at the hospital for shots or chasing after some miracle cure. You didn’t even realize how much you were running yourself ragged until you looked so worn out.

“Do you remember how painful IVF is? You put yourself through it 100 times. Your body’s a mess from all the injections. Wasn’t that just borderline insanity?!”

I had returned to the past on the exact day of my 100th failed IVF attempt.

It was a little too late to stop the actions of my past, lovestruck self.

Fortunately, I could still choose to live differently.

I reached out and hugged Claire. “Never again. From now on, I’m only living for myself.”

Claire was happy for me.

To celebrate, she took me to the nightclub.

As soon as the door opened, I saw two neat rows of tall and handsome young men. Each man had been groomed with a different style.

“Caddie, take your pick! This is my treat for everything tonight!

“Here’s to you escaping that misery and getting your life back!”

I had never been interested in men from places like this.

But upon second thought, I realized I truly did need a child. I happened to be ovulating on that day.

My gaze swept over the crowd and landed on a young man in a white dress shirt.

He had a slender and upright build. The line from his neck to his shoulder was sharp and elegant. His fingers were long and elegant and gave off an indescribably aloof and captivating aura.

Claire followed my line of sight and said, “He’s a college student working part-time. He’s a top student, and he’s pretty arrogant. He never takes on clients.”

I set down my glass and walked up to him.

“Are you disease-free?”

The young man stared at me.

“I’ve never been with a woman before.”

Satisfied, I said, “Keep me company. You set the price.”

He was taken aback. His gaze lingered on me for several seconds.

A man nearby could not help but intervene.

“I’m sorry, miss, Silas is... special. He doesn’t take clients.”

However, Silas raised his hand. His dark eyes locked intently on mine.

“Alright.”

That evening, he carried me into the presidential suite.

The young man was vigorous and passionate. I cast off all the shackles and pain of my past, losing myself completely.

My phone screen lit up and went dark repeatedly. Arthur kept calling me. He only stopped after the 100th attempt.

After we were done, I left Silas some money. I glanced at my many missed calls and walked out.

I did not see Silas watching me from behind. His intense gaze never left my back as he took a phone call.

“I’m not crazy. I know exactly who she is.”

...

When I returned home, Arthur was sitting on the main couch. His face was ashen.

The ashtray in front of him was overflowing with cigarette butts.

“Cadence! Where were you last night? Why didn’t you pick up my calls?”

Lucy timidly tugged at Arthur’s sleeve.

“Arthur, don’t be so harsh. Cadence was probably just upset. That’s why she stayed out all night.”

I casually took off my high heels and handed my purse to the approaching housekeeper. Only then did I look at him.

“Claire and I went out for drinks with some guys to blow off steam. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Cadence, you are Mrs. Carter!”

Seeing my utter indifference, Arthur’s anger flared instantly.

“You went out drinking with other men? Do I mean nothing to you?”

I patted his shoulder.

“Oh, relax. Didn’t we shake on it just yesterday? I’ll be the perfect Mrs. Carter for you.

“You and Lucy are all over each other. That’s good for you. But I do get lonely. You’re busy, so I found someone who isn’t.”

Arthur nearly choked on his rage.

Lucy promptly added fuel to the fire.

“Cadence, how could you be so shameless? Arthur only treats me well because you couldn’t give him a child. On top of that, you actually turned around and betrayed him. You’re really breaking his heart.”

Even at that moment, they had the audacity to try guilt-tripping and shaming me with more fabricated accusations.

I clenched my fist and replied with a smile, “As you said, I couldn’t conceive. Even after 100 failed IVF attempts, I still couldn’t give you a child. Trust me, any ‘betrayal’ on my part isn’t going to magically produce a baby like yours did. So you can relax.”