Just as I stepped into the house, holding the pregnancy report I had worked on for five years, I saw my husband leading his young female secretary into the baby room.

Holly Winter clenched her hands, lowered her head, and began to sob, deliberately revealing the red marks on her neck.

"Alex, I’m homeless. Please agree to let Mr. Thornton take me in," she pleaded.

Darrell Thornton held her hand, his tone sharp and defensive toward me.

"She’s the good student you sponsored. She just graduated and doesn’t have the money to rent a place. You’re a grown adult—don’t make a fuss over a young girl."

He glanced at me coldly.

"Besides, you can’t have children. There are plenty of empty rooms in the house. What’s wrong with letting her stay for a while?"

I watched silently as he turned the baby room we had prepared into her bedroom.

Letting out a long sigh, I made a call.

"Mom, is it too late for me to agree to the conditions you gave me before and come home?"

——

"Alex, have you finally come to your senses?" My mother asked her voice for a mix of surprise and suspicion.

"I’m warning you," she continued. "Before you return, you must cut all ties with that man. If you don’t, you won’t get a single penny from the Wood family estate."

I looked down at the pregnancy report in my hands and smiled bitterly.

"Mom, I’ve made up my mind. Just give me a few more days to sort everything out here."

After hanging up, my legs suddenly gave out, and I barely managed to steady myself by leaning against the wall.

In the five years since my marriage, the Thornton family had repeatedly hinted at their desire for a son.

But the tests confirmed that getting pregnant wouldn’t be easy for me.

Consumed by guilt, I visited every gynecological clinic and sought advice from countless traditional medicine practitioners.

For years, I endured endless medications and examinations, my body burdened with the bitterness of herbal concoctions.

Yet during all of this, Darrell brought the college student I had sponsored into his company as his "personal secretary," a role he conveniently described as a "life assistant."

And now, he had taken it a step further—bringing her into our home.

All my efforts over the past five years felt like nothing more than a cruel joke.

"Alex, are you okay? Why are you sitting on the floor?"

Holly appeared in a white shirt and miniskirt, leaning down to check on me.

As she bent forward, her actions deliberately revealed a provocative glimpse.

I stared at her coldly, watching her shameless display right in front of me.

I couldn’t forget how, back when she first learned I was married to Darrell—a rising name among the business elite—she had publicly knelt before me in her alma mater’s auditorium, begging for my help.

She looked so pitiful. Since she was my junior, I had covered all her tuition and miscellaneous fees, even giving her an extra 2,000 dollars every month for living expenses.

Who would have thought her true target was never my kindness, but my husband, Darrell?

Holly held a large box filled with baby toys and clothes.

“Alex, I looked through these things carefully, and they’re all useless junk,” she said casually.

“Since you can’t get pregnant anyway, let me help you by clearing out this clutter that’s just taking up space.”

I touched my slightly rounded belly, a sharp ache stabbing through my chest.

These toys and clothes were the ones Darrell and I had picked out together, piece by piece.

I remembered how he used to rest his head on my stomach, listening for sounds that weren’t there yet.

When he looked up at me, his eyes sparkled with excitement.

“I heard that if we make the baby room beautiful, the baby will come sooner,” he’d say.

“We’ll definitely have a child of our own someday. I’ll keep this room ready for you, and I won’t let anyone touch it.”

But now, I am pregnant.

And that very baby room—the one we had lovingly designed together—had been handed over to someone else by the man who once promised to protect it.

I stood up coldly and snatched the box from her hands.

“It’s not for you to decide whether these things are useful or not.”

Holly’s wide eyes instantly brimmed with tears, her voice trembling as she stammered,

“Alex, I know you don’t like me, but no matter how much you blame me, someone has to take care of Mr. Thornton. You’re so focused on the baby that you don’t understand Mr. Thornton’s feelings at all.”

"Darrell always says he doesn’t even have a close friend around him. I agreed to Mr. Thornton’s invitation to join the company to repay the kindness your family showed me back then."

I let out a cold laugh.

"Kindness? Is this how you repay my family? Are you planning to take over this family in a few years?"

Holly’s eyes reddened slightly. She bit her lip, then raised her hand and slapped herself twice.

Clear red marks slowly appeared on her cheeks as tears streamed down her face.

"Alex, do you feel better now?" she said, her voice full of grievance.

Darrell walked in after hearing the commotion. The moment he saw the scene, his face darkened.

When he turned to look at me, his gaze was icy.

"Alex! It’s my fault for not telling you about this earlier, but that doesn’t give you the right to take out your anger on Holly! She’s your former student—the one you sponsored. You were willing to let her die before, and now you’re trying every possible way to stop her from joining the company. How hypocritical can you be?"

He paused, his tone growing even colder.

"If you won’t help Holly, then I will! I’m the one who decided to turn the baby room into a bedroom. It’s been sitting idle for so long, and since you can’t have kids, it’s better to let Holly use it."

My hand instinctively moved to my abdomen. I hesitated, torn about whether to tell him I was pregnant.

"In fact, I already have two..." I began.

But Darrell impatiently waved his hand, cutting me off before I could finish.

"You’re just a housewife who has no idea how hard I work outside. Only Holly understands me—she’s the one who stays with me, working overtime in the middle of the night."

He turned to Holly with a gentle gaze, his tenderness so overwhelming it could drown anyone.

"From now on, if there’s a share of mine in this house, there will be a share of hers too!"

Then he added arrogantly, as if addressing a nanny,

"Alex, go put two layers of sheets on her bed. Her body’s delicate, and she won’t sleep well on anything too hard. Also, I’ll take her out for dinner—you can do whatever you want."

With his arm around Holly’s shoulders, he strode out of the room, leaving me behind.

As I watched his resolute back disappear, a sharp pain stabbed at my chest.

My mind flashed to the chat records I’d stumbled upon on his phone a few days ago.

The man who once wanted the whole world to know how deeply he loved me had long since changed.

When he claimed to be working late, he was actually experimenting with "new positions" with Holly in the office.

Afterward, she shamelessly messaged him, "Brother, I thought of something even more exciting. Let’s try it on the office chair next time~"

And when he told me he had a last-minute meeting and couldn’t accompany me to the hospital for my check-up, he was in a five-star hotel, going eight rounds with her.

Holly had even teased him with a smirk,

"Brother, who feels better—me or your wife?"

Darrell sneered with disdain, "Her tongue tastes bitter from all the medicine she takes, and I have to hold my breath every time I kiss her. How could she ever compare to someone as fragrant and soft as you?"

As I scrolled through the pictures one by one, my heart felt like it was caught in the freezing chill of December.

My limbs trembled uncontrollably, as if gripped by the cold.

I had followed him to remote Brooklyn, starting from nothing. Together, we built our success, and everyone admired our love, calling it stronger than gold.

"Mrs. Thornton, I remember hearing about your love story back in college," someone once said to me.

"Darrell won every scholarship that semester just to buy you a necklace, and he worked three part-time jobs after class. I heard you still wear that necklace—it’s such a beautiful two-way street of love."

"Yes, Mr. Thornton adores you so much," another had added.

"After you got married, he couldn’t bear to see you overworked, so he didn’t let you work a single day. I even remember once asking him to grab dinner, but he turned me down because he said his wife had cooked, and he was in a hurry to get home."

"It would be perfect if you two had a child someday!"

I don’t know when it started.

The proud boy with fiery eyes who once knelt in front of his classmates and vowed to always be worthy of me.

That boy has now been consumed by the desires of society.

Yet, I still clung to a foolish fantasy.

If he knew we had a child, would things have turned out differently?

But reality hit me hard, shattering my delusions.

He wouldn’t even let me finish a sentence.

How could I expect him to devote a lifetime to caring for a child?

The one unchanging truth about people is that their hearts will always change.

I stood there, stunned, grappling with my emotions for what felt like an eternity.

Finally, I exhaled a shaky breath, releasing the weight pressing on my chest.

I picked up my phone and made an appointment for an abortion the next day.

At around eleven that evening, Darrell returned with Holly.

I was already in bed, trying to sleep, but their muffled voices disturbed me.

"Brother, I ate too much earlier, and now I have a little belly," Holly giggled.

"Holly looks perfect no matter what," Darrell replied, his voice dripping with affection.

"Then touch here again..."

"And... lower."

Darrell never came back to our room that night.

I lay awake, tormented, as a relentless downpour seemed to echo in my heart.

The next morning, I rose early.

Just in time to catch Darrell stepping out of Holly’s room.

I looked at him calmly, holding the hot soy milk I had just prepared.

Darrell’s eyes flickered with panic as he hastily buttoned his collar.

He walked toward me, his movements stiff, and rubbed my ear in a gesture meant to be affectionate.

"Baby, why are you up so early today? Were you boiling medicine? Let me help you," he said, his warm breath brushing against my ear.

I shook my head, stepping subtly out of his reach.

"I went to bed early yesterday. Go have breakfast," I replied evenly.

"Is that so? I saw you were already asleep last night, so I didn’t want to disturb you and slept in the study," he said quickly, his tone forced.

"I just went to check on Holly this morning. I was worried she might not be used to staying here. She’s your sponsored student, after all. I feel a certain responsibility for her—it’s only reasonable."

Darrell touched his nose, a telltale sign he was lying. His eyes betrayed his discomfort, but I didn’t press further.

I was tired of this charade. All I wanted now was to end it.

After breakfast, I planned to go to the hospital.

Darrell helped me put on my coat with practiced ease.

I paused, momentarily caught off guard.

"It’s a bit cold. Wear another layer—your hands are always freezing," he said, his voice soft.

"Are you going to the hospital for a check-up today? Let me take you," he offered.

The coat’s warmth wrapped around me, but my heart ached with bitterness.

Before heading out, Darrell always checked the weather in advance and carefully chose clothes for me.

From coordinating colors to matching styles, he even tailored outfits according to the tone of different brands.

Whenever I asked why he went to such lengths, Darrell would answer with unwavering seriousness, "My wife must always be beautiful."

Holly’s voice from the bedroom snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Mr. Thornton! How does this outfit look on me?"

Darrell’s expression darkened briefly, but he quickly masked his irritation.

Adopting a softer tone, he stretched out his hand and gently pushed me toward the door.

"You go ahead. I just remembered I have a morning meeting at the company, so I need to leave early," he said briskly.

"Call me if you need anything."

I watched his back as he hurried away, the bitterness in my chest threatening to spill over.

It had all started two months after Holly joined his company.

Darrell became busier and less available.

He no longer made time to accompany me to the hospital for those endless examinations.

Instead, he spent his free moments visiting trendy dessert shops with his secretary and watching fireworks.

Yet, he never forgot to take a sip of the bitter herbal medicine I had painstakingly prepared for him—until now.