On our fifth wedding anniversary, my husband cancels a 100-million-dollar business deal to take me on vacation.

While we're together, breathless and intimate, I'm about to tell him the news that our IVF finally succeeded when he answers his phone. His Valerian flows, smooth and effortless.

"Of course I'm coming to tomorrow's prenatal checkup. That's our baby."

"But won't your barren wife get jealous?" The woman on the other end speaks with a sultry lilt.

Ethan Shaw traces his tongue along my neck as he responds, "What she doesn't know won't hurt her."

My mind went blank, like lightning striking too close. I stuff the pregnancy report back into my pocket without thinking.

"Honey, who's that?"

Ethan pulls me close by the waist. "Just a business partner in Valeria. Time difference, that's why they're calling now..."

I can't process the rest of his words. Ethan doesn't know I understand Valerian.

Since he's clearly not excited about our child, I'll make sure this baby grows up without him as a father.

After finally getting pregnant through multiple rounds of IVF, I discovered my CEO husband had already become someone else's father.

I verified it again and again, but all I found were more lies. Yet when I walked away carrying our child, he was the one who fell apart.

…

Ethan Shaw pressed his bare, muscular torso against me by the pool. The breeze wrapped our breaths together as one.

We kissed passionately while touching each other, seeing nothing but one another in our eyes and hearts. I had no idea a single phone call was about to destroy everything.

Ethan didn't know I'd learned Valerian from my mother years ago. I understood it perfectly well. His Valerian flowed beautifully as he flirted with the woman on the phone, tender and intimate.

"Kimmy, don't worry. Tomorrow's prenatal appointment will go smoothly, and our genes will create the perfect baby. I'll groom him to be my successor. The moment he's born, he'll inherit everything I own."

Ethan's warm hand still traced patterns on my back, but I trembled involuntarily, doubting my own ears. This woman, Kimmy, was pregnant with my husband's child?

Then what did all my painful IVF attempts mean? What about all these years of marriage?

Of course, I knew the Shaw family needed an heir, and though Ethan never said it out loud, he wanted a child. We'd tried for so long with no success.

That was why I put my body through hell, secretly going through round after round of IVF without telling him. And he'd already gotten someone else pregnant!

How dare he? While I poured everything into our relationship, he was cheating on me?

"Honey, focus."

Ethan hung up and tried to continue. "What were you going to tell me earlier?"

His wet lips touched my skin again, but instead of love and tenderness, all I felt was disgust and hatred. I shoved him away and tied my robe.

"Nothing. I don't feel well. Let's do this another time."

"Did that phone call upset you? Okay, I won't handle work stuff at times like this anymore."

Ethan kept lying to me. Since he didn't know I understood Valerian, he insisted it was just work. If I pushed any harder, I'd look unreasonable.

I forced a smile. "I think my period just started. Want me to use my hand instead?"

"Don't bother." A flash of impatience crossed Ethan's face before he dove into the pool.

I hurried to the bathroom and pulled out the crumpled pregnancy report from my pocket. A new life was growing inside me, but I had no one to share this joy with.

The silence pressed in as a thousand thoughts crashed through my mind.

The name Kimmy sounded familiar. About two months ago, late one night, I'd seen the name Kimberly Jones on Ethan's phone.

She was pinned at the top of his WhatsApp messages. Ethan said she was an important client, so I didn't think much of it.

When had they gotten together? When had Ethan decided to get her pregnant? And why did he betray me like this?

I was the one who stood by him through everything all these years. How could he betray me so completely?

For a moment, rage consumed me. I almost stormed out to demand answers, but Ethan's suit jacket on the counter snapped me back to reality. On the inside of the collar was a clear lipstick stain.

It was bright red, a shade I'd never wear. All my strength drained away, and tears streamed down my face.

"Cindy, why are you taking so long in there? Are you okay?" Ethan knocked suddenly, startling me.

I quickly wiped my tears and answered as steadily as I could. "Almost done. What's up?"

"Something came up at work, so we might need to head back early. I promise I'll make more time for you next time."

Ethan sounded sincere with a hint of reluctance in his tone. If not for that phone call, I would have believed him, understood him, and even felt sorry for how busy he was.

But the truth was, he was lying to me!

He wasn't going back to work. He was going with Kimberly to her prenatal appointment. He didn't deserve to be my child's father.

Ethan, you ought to remember that I was the one who left you.

The moment we got off the plane, Ethan had the driver take me home while he hurried toward another car.

I wasn't sure if it was from the overnight flight, but I felt terrible. Getting off the plane made it worse. My head spun, nausea rolled through me, and sharp pains cramped my lower abdomen. I could barely stand it.

I wanted to tell Ethan, but before I could grab his sleeve, he was already gone. I held on as best I could and had the driver turn around and take me to the hospital instead.

I forced myself to walk into the hospital building, only to see Ethan with his arm around Kimberly as they stepped onto the elevator.

My heart sank. The pain made me break into a cold sweat. My vision blurred as I leaned against the wall and slowly slid down.

Right before I collapsed completely, someone caught me.

"You're awake? The doctor will be here soon."

The man in front of me wore a perfectly tailored suit. He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, with an air of refinement about him.

"I'm Chase Jordan. You fainted, so I brought you here."

I was starting to recover a bit, but I still felt weak all over. "Thank you. I'm Cindy Sutton..."

The doctor rushed in.

"Cindy, right? How can you be pregnant and still get this upset without taking care of yourself? And where's her husband? How could you not take better care of her?

"You're lucky we caught this in time. She nearly had a miscarriage, do you understand?"

Chase's expression remained neutral, though his ears turned slightly red.

I cut the doctor off. "You've misunderstood. He's not my husband. He just kindly brought me here."

The doctor looked surprised. "I only said that because I saw he paid your medical bills. My apologies.

"When is your husband coming? You almost miscarried. There are many precautions for protecting the pregnancy going forward, and I need to go over them with him."

I gripped the bedsheet and answered calmly. "He's very busy with work. You can just tell me."

The doctor grumbled for a moment about how no job should keep a man from his wife and child, then carefully explained everything I needed to know. After the doctor left, I realized Chase was still there.

"Thank you so much for everything. Let me transfer the money for the medical bills to you."

Chase gave me his phone number. "When is your husband coming? I'll wait until he gets here before I leave."

The image of Ethan holding Kimberly so carefully, so tenderly, kept flashing through my mind. I laughed bitterly. "I'm divorcing him, so I'm not planning to tell him."

Chase didn't say anything more. He took a phone call and stepped out.

I checked the time. I'd been unconscious for three hours, and he'd waited the entire time for me to wake up. I couldn't even be sure my husband of five years would have that kind of patience.

What surprised me even more was that Chase came back with hot soup in his hands.

"I ordered too much for a client who's staying here, so I had my assistant bring some over for you. Don't mention it. Call if you need anything."

Then Chase left. This small kindness from a stranger made my throat tighten with tears. I forced myself to eat something, but just then, my phone buzzed.

It was a message from Ethan. "Honey, I have a last-minute business trip for two days. Take care of yourself."

Perfect. Now I didn't need to make up excuses to hide my hospital stay. As for Ethan, I didn't need to think twice to know he wasn't on a business trip. He was with Kimberly.

I tried scrolling through social media to distract myself and stumbled across Kimberly's account. She'd posted her prenatal checkup report today with the caption, "Daddy and I can't wait to meet you."

I scrolled up and found that last month she'd posted photos of luxury handbags and Ethan with his sleeves rolled up, cooking. The caption read, "It feels so good to be spoiled."

Ethan hadn't bought me anything in ages. He'd never cooked for me either. In fact, he always frowned when I finished cooking and smelled like kitchen smoke.

…

I kept scrolling. The earliest trace of Ethan appeared a year ago.

The photo showed a hotel room. Kimberly held a glass of red wine, and behind her was a glimpse of Ethan's bare back. The caption said, "One day, you'll be completely mine."

Ethan had a heart-shaped birthmark on his left shoulder. I couldn't mistake it. That's when I finally remembered that I'd met Kimberly once before.

A year ago, Ethan took me to Valeria for business. We visited a vineyard, and Kimberly was the owner's daughter.

During that trip, Ethan didn't come back to our room for two nights straight. His explanation was that he'd worked too late and didn't want to disturb my rest.

How ridiculous. He'd started lying to me that early. And I was the fool who believed him, focused only on giving him a child so all those vultures circling the Shaw family assets would finally shut up.

I let out a long breath and tossed my phone aside. I wasn't going to look anymore.

During my three days in the hospital, Ethan didn't call once. But on the day I was discharged, I ran into him instead.

As luck would have it, I ran into Chase at the hospital entrance.

His car had broken down, and his tie had gotten oil on it. I gave him one of my own designs. It was originally meant for Ethan, but I didn't need it anymore.

Chase offered to drive me home, but that was when Ethan showed up. His face darkened as he pulled me behind him and glared at Chase.

"I can take care of my own wife without help from outsiders. Mind your own business."

Chase's tone turned cold. "She was in the hospital for three days before you showed up. Don't you think you sound ridiculous saying that?"

Chase turned to look at me, his expression softening. He thanked Chase and left.

"Were you with him this whole time? Cindy, instead of coming home, you're out here meeting other men? Do you even remember what day it is?"

Ethan's accusation made him sound like the victim. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "What are you talking about? You didn't even ask why I was in the hospital and just assumed the worst about me?

"Today's only the second time I've met Chase, and I have to listen to you insult me like this. Ethan, do you think you've been fair to me after all these years together? After everything we've been through, don't you trust me at all?"

My heart, which had finally settled, erupted again.

My tearful accusations left Ethan momentarily at a loss. He put his arm around my waist. "As soon as I got back from my business trip and found you weren't home, I asked the driver and came straight to the hospital.

"How are you feeling? Any better?

"Don't be upset. I was just worried, that's all. I got jealous. Today's the company anniversary. How can we celebrate without you?"

The business trip excuse again. I was sick of hearing that exact excuse. Kimberly's social media had been active these past few days. They'd clearly gone to a mountain resort together.

I pushed his hand away. "I'm fine. Just tired. I'll be okay after some rest. And I remember the company celebration, so let's head over now."

Every word I exchanged with Ethan drained me. Even my insides ached. I simply stopped looking at him.

When we arrived at the Shaw Group anniversary celebration, Ethan told me where to find my gown and left. I changed and came back downstairs, only to run into Kimberly at the staircase.

She wore a red velvet gown. With her beautiful face and stunning figure, she turned heads everywhere she went.

I had no intention of interacting with her, so I stepped aside to let her pass first. But she walked straight toward me. When she got close, an odd smile crossed her face.

Before I could react, she suddenly grabbed my hand and cried out as she fell backward. Fortunately, Ethan appeared just in time and steadied her.

"Cindy! Have you lost your mind? Why did you push Ms. Jones? Do you realize you almost killed two people?"

Ethan's furious voice startled me again. Kimberly clutched his arm with an innocent expression. "I'm fine, Ethan. I lost my balance on my own. It's not Ms. Sutton's fault."

"Kimmy, you're too kind. I saw everything!"

Ethan sighed. He walked over and lowered his voice. "Go apologize to Ms. Jones. Her father owns a famous vineyard in Valeria. Ms. Jones is our honored guest."

Looking at his domineering expression, I swallowed every explanation, every protest. Only hurt remained.

I walked over slowly and said each word carefully. "I'm sorry, Ms. Jones."

Kimberly placed a protective hand over her stomach. "Thank goodness Ethan was here this time. Next time, Ms. Sutton, you should be more careful."

That smile crossed her face again. My instincts told me that tonight's celebration was going to be trouble.