I bumped into a pregnant woman at a charity gala.

Although I apologized, she refused to let it go.

"Do you have any idea whose baby I'm carrying? It belongs to CEO Ben!"

"This is the sole heir to his family line. Can you afford the consequences if something were to happen?"

"He told me he's going to make me his wife as soon as the baby is born. Shouldn't you be sucking up to me right now?"

I asked, "Which Ben?"

She declared haughtily, "The Tech Prince of Silicon Valley, of course."

My friend and I exchanged a glance.

Because Ben, the Tech Prince of Silicon Valley, is my husband.

————————

1

"Ben's child? Does he know about it?"

Victoria scoffed, needling her on my behalf.

The pregnant woman's eyes reddened as she lunged toward her. "What's that supposed to mean! Are you saying the baby in my belly isn't Ben's?"

I stepped between them, but my own composure was shattered.

"As far as I know, isn't Ben already married?"

The pregnant woman raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you mean that barren trophy wife? So what if they're married?"

"How could a man of Ben's caliber not want an heir?"

Victoria was livid. "Do you have any idea who she is?"

She pointed at me, and the pregnant woman’s gaze swept over me.

"You're not going to tell me this ordinary, middle-aged woman is some kind of big shot, are you?"

Her mocking laughter hadn't even stopped.

When her phone rang.

Her sneer vanished instantly, her tone shifting completely.

"Hey, baby..."

She deliberately put the call on speakerphone, so Victoria and I could clearly hear the voice on the other end.

A man hummed gently in response.

"How was the banquet tonight?"

The moment I heard that voice, I knew without a doubt it was Ben.

He hadn't just cheated on me.

His mistress's child was about to be born.

I nearly stumbled, and if Victoria hadn't steadied me, I might have collapsed.

The pregnant woman let out a little whimper, her voice thick with grievance.

"I was having such a good day, but then I ran into these two women, and they bumped into me."

Ben's voice instantly filled with alarm.

"They bumped into you? Are you hurt? I'll come pick you up."

Just as the pregnant woman had claimed, he truly doted on her.

The pregnant woman shot us a smug glance. "It's nothing, I'm physically fine. I'm just emotionally upset."

On the other end of the line, Ben let out a sigh of relief, seemingly accustomed to the young woman's pouting.

"What about those two? Are they still there?"

"They're here. I'm not letting them leave."

"Put them on the phone."

With Ben to back her up, the pregnant woman's expression grew even more arrogant, and her voice turned saccharine.

"My boyfriend wants to have a word with you."

Numbly, I reached out and took the phone.

"Hello, this is Ben. My girlfriend is pregnant, and her emotions can be a little unstable. Could you please cut her some slack?"

"If she's caused you any trouble, you can contact me, and I'll compensate you."

So considerate. As if *she* were Ben's legitimate wife.

I took a deep breath.

"Ben, how exactly do you plan to explain this 'heir' to your father?"

It was only then that the pregnant woman finally sensed something was amiss from my weary tone.

She tried to snatch the phone back, but Victoria stopped her.

It took Ben a few seconds to realize it was me on the other end of the line.

His voice turned cold, as if he hadn't done a single thing to wrong me.

"Give her the phone back first. We'll talk about the rest when we get home."

He was ordering me around out of habit.

But Victoria couldn't hold back any longer.

She roared, "Ben, you bastard! When you were starting your company, Earlene handled everything for you. Her health was destroyed from all the schmoozing she had to do for your sake, and now that she's unwell, you’re just going to kick her to the curb?"

Victoria was blunt, and the pregnant woman looked mortified. She tried to slip away, but Victoria grabbed her.

"And you, you little bitch, don't even think about running. Weren't you so smug just a moment ago? Why play innocent now?"

The pregnant woman let out a shrill shriek.

"Ben, save me!"

The surrounding guests all stopped to watch the drama unfold, some even pulling out their phones to record.

Ben's voice was laced with fury, barely concealing his panic.

"Let go of her."

His second sentence, and still not a hint of an apology.

I gave a bitter smile, my cheeks suddenly aching.

"Ben, don't you think you owe me an explanation?"

Ben seemed to have no interest in playing along with this soap opera.

He repeated himself, enunciating each word clearly this time.

"Let-go-of-her."

My heart ached as if it had been struck by a sledgehammer.

I took a deep breath.

"Victoria, let her go."

But Victoria, reveling in the thrill of catching a cheater for me, wasn't listening to a word I said.

"You little bitch, are you going to apologize or not? Weren't you just trying to make Earlene apologize to you? What happened to all that attitude?"

She grabbed the pregnant woman by the collar.

The pregnant woman wailed, clutching her stomach.

"I won't do it again..."

"Don't hit me..."

Her eyes were red-rimmed as she let out intermittent sobs.

A slam on a table came through the phone, followed by a voice: "Earlene! You'd better know your place! The family needs an heir!"

The voice startled Victoria.

Victoria looked at me, perhaps noticing how deathly pale my face had become.

She let go reluctantly. "Ben, you're such an ungrateful bastard!"

Once free, the pregnant woman immediately snatched the phone from my hand.

"How are you? Are you okay?"

Ben was busy fussing over the pregnant woman.

Completely disregarding the fact that I had just caught him cheating.

When I returned to the penthouse, Ben was already home.

The air was thick with smoke; he had clearly been smoking for a long time.

A bitter wave of irony washed over me.

"So, the reason you've barely been home this past year wasn't business after all. You were keeping a woman on the side."

Ben's brow furrowed. I let out a sudden, self-mocking laugh.

"She looks so young. Is she still in college or something? To think she's actually willing to have your baby."

He was obviously waiting for me at home to discuss this very matter.

But he remained silent.

My anger flared.

On impulse, I hurled the Hermès bag in my hand at him.

"Say something!"

It hit him squarely.

He no longer bothered to suppress his emotions. He slammed the bag onto the floor and shot to his feet.

"Earlene! I want to settle this amicably! Don't be shameless!"

I was dumbfounded by his attitude.

"You cheated on me, and that's supposed to be you doing me a favor?"

Ben fumbled for the lighter on the coffee table and lit another cigarette.

The word "cheating" seemed incapable of piercing his sense of shame.

"I've been meaning to tell you about this for a while, but I could never find the right time. Now that you've found out on your own, it's an opportunity. I want to resolve this peacefully."

"You can have this penthouse if you want it. You contributed to the company in its early days, so I'll give you a reasonable share of the assets. But don't get greedy."

He was so business-like, as if our marriage was just another deal he was closing.

I opened my mouth, a hoarse sound escaping my throat.

"Money, how much are you going to give me?"

"I was twenty when I got with you. You had no family, and I was by your side as you built everything from scratch."

"Now we're thirty. Do you think you can just buy off ten years of my youth with money?"

Ben shot me an impatient glance.

"What? Trying to move me with stories from the past?"

"Yes, I'm grateful you helped me entertain clients and attended all those cocktail parties. But you know perfectly well how those deals were actually closed."

A chill shot up from the soles of my feet.

"What do you mean by that?"

Ben sneered, "You should be glad I'm willing to give you any money at all. After all, you had ulterior motives for getting close to me from the very beginning."