I remained silent the entire time and Eric didn’t seem to care about my reaction.

After speaking, he kept staring at his phone.

I didn’t know what he was looking at, but the smile on his face suddenly vanished into a frown.

The next second, he grabbed his suit jacket in a rush and turned to leave.

Seeing this, I quickly reached out to stop him.

“Sign this.”

I handed him the divorce agreement.

Without even glancing at it, he signed his name and then turned away, saying casually, “Tessa was traumatized by that pregnant woman who got into the accident yesterday. I need to take her to the hospital right away. I won’t be coming home today. Take good care of yourself—and the baby.”

As he spoke, he leaned in to kiss my cheek.

It was a habit formed over ten years of marriage.

But now...

I saw the indifference in his eyes. I tilted my face slightly to avoid his kiss and replied calmly,

“If you’re in such a hurry, go ahead. Tessa is waiting for you.”

Eric frowned, as if he wanted to say something else.

Just then, his phone rang again.

Tessa was growing impatient.

He instinctively tilted the screen away, but I had already seen it.

Her contact name on his phone read: Tessa Little Darling, who needs careful care.

The corner of my mouth curled bitterly.

Even at the best moments of our relationship, he only ever called me Melanie—never once gave me a pet name.

Eric glanced at me nervously. I calmly looked away.

Soon, he no longer had time to worry about it and left in a hurry.

I stood there, holding the signed divorce agreement in my hands, not sure what I was feeling.

Then I turned and followed him.

At the hospital, Eric hovered attentively around Tessa.

The smile on his face—gentle, affectionate—was one I hadn’t seen in a long, long time.

From a distance, I stood quietly and listened to the whispers surrounding us.

“Mr. Trevor is so good to his wife. She only had a nightmare, but he still brought her to the hospital and even called all the doctors in,” someone said.

“Yeah, makes sense. I heard his wife is already three months pregnant.”

My heart skipped a beat.

I looked up involuntarily.

“Did she conceive naturally?” someone asked.

I stared intently at the nurse nearby.

She noticed my gaze and gave me a strange look before answering,

“Of course she did. Mr. Trevor loves his wife too much to put her through IVF. That would be so painful.”

I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

My knees gave out and I collapsed to the floor, clutching my chest as waves of pain tore through me.

The nurse backed away, startled.

Tears streamed down my face.

It turned out...

All these years of marriage had been a lie.

Eric didn’t have fertility issues at all!

I clenched my fists until blood dripped from my palms.

After ten years of marriage, we had never had a child.

Because of that, the mother-in-law who once welcomed me with warmth had turned cold and harsh.

Every year when we returned to the old house, she would mock me, calling me a hen that couldn’t lay eggs.

At those moments, Eric always stood by my side.

He would tell her it was his fault, not mine—that he had the fertility problem.

Still, his mother never let up.

But I endured it all.

For love.

I even endured three agonizing years of IVF.

I pumped myself full of medication.

I endured endless injections and the pain of egg retrieval, time and time again.

Eric had seen it all.

Each time, he’d hold me and cry with me, saying we didn’t have to go through with it. That we were enough.

That our love was enough.

But I didn’t give up.

Because I wanted a child with him.

Because I loved him.

And now?

Now I knew the truth—and it was unbearable.

I broke into a hysterical laugh through my tears.

He let me go through all that pain.

All those procedures.

All those tears.

While he refused to conceive naturally with me.

But with Tessa?

He wouldn’t let her suffer one bit.

I didn’t even care anymore whether he had fertility problems or not.

It didn’t matter.

It was just another cruel truth.

Maybe... maybe he never loved me.

Maybe everything had been a fantasy—my fantasy.

I stood up slowly, my legs trembling beneath me.

I had seen enough.

I had heard enough.

And then I heard Tessa’s voice behind me.

“What’s wrong, Melanie? Can’t handle hearing a little truth?”

I turned around.

Her eyes were full of smug contempt.

“No matter what the truth is, you’re just the mistress,” I said coldly. “For now, I’m still Eric’s wife. Can you make him divorce me?”

Even though he had signed the agreement, I hadn't filed it yet.

To the world, I was still Mrs. Trevor.

She was still the other woman.

Sure enough, her expression darkened.

She narrowed her eyes at me in fury and spat,

“Eric doesn’t love you anymore. Why are you still clinging to him like some pathetic woman?”

“He loves me now! Even your bed—your room—I’ve slept in it. You didn’t know that, did you?”

She stepped closer, venom in her voice.

“Do you know what he said about you? That he’s not infertile. He just doesn’t want to touch you. You disgust him.”

The words hit me like a punch to the chest.

I staggered back, barely holding on to my composure.

Seeing my silence, Tessa only grew bolder.

Then suddenly, her eyes gleamed with cruelty as she gave a cold, low laugh.

“You really dare show your face here again? Isn’t one dead child enough? What now—hoping for another IVF miracle?”

She leaned in, her voice a venomous whisper.

“If I could kill one of your children, I can kill two. Keep clinging to Eric and you’ll end up under the wheels again.”

Her eyes dropped to my abdomen.

In that instant, the memory of the crash—the pain, the fear—rushed back to me.

Before I even realized it, my hands were around her neck.

She didn’t even try to fight back.

She just smirked.

I was about to tighten my grip—when a violent force slammed into me from behind, hurling me to the ground.

I turned my head—and sure enough, it was Eric.

His face twisted in anger as he rushed over, then gently helped Tessa to her feet.

“Tessa, are you alright?”

He examined her carefully, his expression full of concern.

Tessa leaned weakly into his arms, her voice trembling.

“Eric, I really don’t know why Melanie did that… I just asked her why she came to the hospital and she… she choked me. If you hadn’t come when you did, I… I might have lost my child…”

She didn’t finish her sentence—because Eric abruptly covered her mouth with his hand.

He glanced back at me in alarm, clearly panicked.

Seeing my pale, stunned face, he assumed I hadn’t heard her slip of the tongue.

After giving Tessa a subtle signal to keep quiet, he turned to me and exploded.

“Melanie! What the hell are you doing?! Didn’t I already explain everything before I left the house?”

“Tessa is just a young girl. She has no one else to rely on here. I’m just taking care of an employee—why would you act like this?”

“Have you lost your mind? You're pregnant yourself. Can't you be more understanding of Tessa?”

I looked at him, my eyes filled with hurt and spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Eric… haven’t you noticed anything at all?”

He frowned, confused, clearly not following what I meant.

Even now—after everything—he still hadn’t realized the truth.

He still hadn’t noticed my belly.

I let out a bitter, humorless laugh.

“Eric… Tessa is pregnant. She’s here looking for her boyfriend or her husband—not some distant boss. Unless… are you her boyfriend?”

I looked at him with thinly veiled sarcasm.

Tears welled up in Tessa’s eyes.

“Mr. Trevor, why would Melanie say something like that? If people hear this, how am I supposed to face anyone again?”

As she clung to him, her voice shaking with false innocence, Eric’s face darkened.

And in the next instant, he slapped me.

Hard.

“Stop spreading lies! Apologize to Tessa!” he snapped.

I clutched my burning cheek in disbelief.

After ten years of marriage, Eric had never once raised a hand to me.

I thought what had happened the other day—our argument, the betrayal—that was the worst it could get.

But I was wrong.

Today, he had taken it even further.

I looked into his eyes and for a split second, I saw guilt flash across his face.

He hadn’t meant to hit me.

Maybe some part of him regretted it.

He stepped toward me, as if to explain, or maybe to comfort me.

But before he could, Tessa reached out from behind and tugged him back.

Her pitiful expression brought him back to her side.

With renewed coldness in his tone, he spoke again.

“Melanie, apologize. You were the one in the wrong.”

I looked up at them both—at his expression, his posture, his choice.

Then I sat up and laughed coldly.

“Eric, I will never apologize to Tessa. Can you stand there and swear there’s truly nothing going on between the two of you? It’s you who betrayed me.”

“I will never forgive you.”

With that, I turned and walked away without hesitation.

I was done.

I didn’t want Eric anymore.

That evening, I was at home, packing up my things.

I destroyed everything from the past—photo albums, wedding pictures, even the little crafts I had once made with Eric.

Even the memories I thought were engraved deep in my heart.

I even had the butler dig up the garden that Eric had once planted for me outside.

After everything was done, I finally collapsed, exhausted.

A decade’s worth of emotions had long seeped into my bones. Even if I wanted to erase them now, it wasn’t something that could be done overnight.

I picked up my phone, trying to distract myself with something mindless.

But the moment I opened it, the screen lit up with a picture of Tessa and Eric.

They were leaning against each other, grinning ear to ear and holding up two marriage certificates.

It felt like a bolt of lightning had struck me. I couldn’t stop myself from zooming in on the photo. No matter how hard I stared, those two marriage certificates were undeniably real.

Even the steel stamps on them looked official.

Then I saw who had posted it—it was my mother-in-law.

Eric’s own mother.

Not only had she posted their marriage certificate photos publicly on her Facebook updates, but she even added a caption.

[Finally, I have a real daughter-in-law. She brought a precious baby with her when she joined our family. She's truly a blessed woman—unlike certain people who do nothing but complain all day and can’t even lay an egg.]

I swallowed my pain and saved all the photos immediately.

Sure enough, just a moment later, the post disappeared from her updates.

I retrieved our marriage certificate and divorce agreement from the drawer.

Then, after carefully comparing them to the photo, I sent everything to a professional for verification.

Ten minutes later, the results came back.

The marriage certificate I had… was fake.

What Eric had hidden from me went far beyond his fertility issues.

Even our entire ten-year marriage had been a lie.

I couldn’t hold back any longer. I ripped everything to shreds.

He had deceived me like this—and I wasn’t going to let him get away with it.

That evening, I received a message from him.

[Melanie, what happened today was my fault. Come to this private room. I’ll apologize to you. Remember to dress appropriately.]

I stared at the message, expressionless.

I packed the marriage certificate and all the photos.

Tonight, I was going to confront Eric—once and for all.

I was going to ask him: On what grounds did he treat me like this?

Standing outside the private room door, I hadn’t even entered yet when I heard Tessa’s laughter echoing from inside.

I had thought it would be just me and Eric tonight.

But clearly, he had brought Tessa with him.

I clenched my fists, then closed my eyes tightly.

Whether she was there or not—it didn’t matter.

Tonight, everything would be settled.

Without hesitation, I pushed open the door and stepped in.

The room was full of people.

The moment he saw me, Eric’s brows furrowed deeply.

“What are you doing here? Are you following me?” he asked coldly.

His accusing tone lit the fire in my chest. He was the one who told me to come here!

I opened my mouth to reply, but before I could speak, Tessa gently tugged on his sleeve.

“Never mind,” she said sweetly. “Melanie’s already here. Don’t make things awkward. She just wanted to see you.”

She looked at me with pity in her eyes—like she was the wife.

And just like that, my heart twisted painfully.

Yes. Tessa was the legitimate wife now.

Eric and I had spent ten years together, but all we had was a fake marriage certificate.

What right did I have to call her the mistress?

Eric hesitated for a moment, frowning again, but eventually let me take a seat.