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I watched my husband cradle Nancy Cross’s swollen belly with devoted tenderness, while my own pregnant body throbbed in lonely agony on a cold clinic chair, utterly discarded and replaced. His soft, loving whispers for her cut deeper than any blade, every affectionate tone a brutal humiliation that carved shame and heartbreak straight into my chest. When our baby is born, he’s going to be the rightful heir to the Mackey legacy, my husband murmured to his mistress, blind to my frozen, trembling figure inches away. Nancy leaned into his chest, feigning timid worry, every calculated gesture designed to chip away at my marriage and steal my family’s inherlt nce. Aaron, your wife’s pregnant too. What if she finds out? What if she stops our child from claiming what he deserves? she whispered, playing the innocent victim flawlessly. My husband scoffed coldly, stripping bare a decade of fake love in a single breath. And who is she to say no? If she causes trouble, I’ll divorce her. I’ll throw her out with nothing. His ruthless words buried every sweet memory I’d ever cherished. I sat rigid, burning with icy humiliation. No one would believe this cruel man was the same person who’d chased me faithfully for ten years, swearing I was his one and only love. He once gifted me three sacred tokens of his devotion. The first was a pair of porcelain figurines molded with dust from his rib bone, a ritual he claimed bound our souls eternally. The second was a hand-dived pearl necklace, every bead fetched from violent ocean waves, a risk he’d taken just to make me smile. The third was the Mackey matriarch crown, a priceless heirloom holding the key to the family vault and controlling half the cOmpany’s shr3s, a symbol of his trust and exclusive love for me. I believed every vow blindly. I never knew his endless tenderness was just a perfect disguise, waiting to shatter me the moment someone new caught his eye. The crack in his mask began with a sea diving accident that left him amnesiac. Nancy, a former nightclub dancer, claimed to have rescued him and clung to his side ever since. When his memories returned, he knelt before me begging for forgiveness. I took him back, unaware he’d never truly ended his sle3ping affair with Nancy. While I faithfully carried his child, she also bore his baby, scheming day and night to seize my status, my wealth, and my husband’s heart. I refused to settle for half-hearted love. My child deserved a whole family, and I deserved a man who belonged only to me. If he planned to burn my world to ashes and leave me destitute, I would walk away first, with my dignity intact and my future in my own hands. I lifted my head high, swallowed my heartbreak, and called my father, my voice cold and unwavering. Dad, I’m divorcing Aaron. I’m keeping my baby. I’ll take over the Blake cOmpany and proceed with the arranged marriage with the Daltons. My father hesitated, cautious. Cassidy, the Dalton CEO is infertile. Are you certain you want this life-altering choice? A bitter, calm smile touched my lips. I’m sure. My child will inherit both Blake and Dalton inherlt nce, becoming the sole successor of two top families. My father agreed at once to arrange the engagement, while I submitted immigration paperwork to leave this suffocating life forever in three weeks. This was not my first taste of their betrayal. Days before the clinic incident, I’d hidden in shadow and overheard every cruel word they’d spoken. I’d seen Nancy sit naturally on my husband’s lap, fitting into his arms like she was the rightful wife, with no guilt for destroying our marriage. His friends warned him he would lose me forever if I learned the truth, but he only held Nancy tighter, his jaw hard and unyielding. It’s hard to love only one person forever, he’d said without remorse. Nancy asks for little, and Cassidy won’t leave me. I can keep two women by my side. His friend raged, reminding him of the ten years he’d spent pursuing me, questioning how he could demean himself for a nightclub dancer. When someone doubted Nancy’s child was his, my husband threw a brutal punch, shielding her ears and roaring to cut off anyone who disrespected her. He ordered everyone to keep the secret from me, determined to continue his double life while I remained his ignorant, loyal wife. I’d stood frozen in the dark that night, nails digging bloody crescent marks into my palms. Ten years of devotion burned to ash in two short months. The morning before I uncovered the truth, he’d kissed my forehead and whispered eternal love. By nightfall, he was ready to fight and hurt others for his mistress. I snapped back to reality, clutching my finalized divorce papers tightly. The love I’d clung to for a decade was already dead. What’s that in your hand? My husband’s cold voice cut through the silence, pulling me back to face the man who’d broken me completely. I faced him without a trace of my former softness, tone flat and emotionless. Perfect timing. Sign these divorce papers. Before I could finish, his phone lit up with Nancy’s name. He flashed me a fake reassuring smile, then his expression turned dark and furious mid-call. Without warning, he slapped me hard across the face. The sharp sound echoed through the room, a humiliating blow to my pregnant body. I stared at him in stunned disbelief. This was the same man who once swore to shield me from every harm and never let me shed a tear. He raised his hand to strike again but hesitated at my silent tears. His rage shifted to ruthless cruelty, and he turned to smash our rib-bone porcelain figurines to pieces. Shards scattered across the floor, destroying the symbol of our eternal bond—all for a lie Nancy had told him. You had Nancy kidnapped! She’s pregnant! You could’ve killed her and my child! He roared, blind with prejudice, believing every word of her false accusation. I stared blankly at the broken fragments, my body turning ice cold. Every sweet promise he’d ever made was shattered just like this figurine. Tears slid down my cheeks, my chest suffocating. I could not fathom how my loving husband turned into a cruel stranger overnight. He gripped my chin forcefully, forcing me to meet his icy gaze. Give me her location. Stop your childish acting. I heard the truth in his voice. He did not care about my innocence. He only feared for Nancy’s safety. I didn’t do it, I whispered hoarsely, knowing he would never believe me. He shoved me into the wall, fist slamming inches from my face, and threatened to ruin my family’s cOmpany if I stayed silent. Crushing my wrist in his grip, he dragged me down the hallway and locked me inside a pitch-black storage room. He knew I suffered severe claustrophobia from a childhood kidnapping trauma. He knew dark enclosed spaces terrified me to the point of collapse. Yet he locked me in anyway, all to punish me for a crime I never committed. I scratched weakly at the door, begging through tears for release, but my pleas fell on deaf ears. Feel the fear Nancy felt, his muffled voice came through the door. I’ll let you out once I find her. I remembered how he’d once held me through my trauma, swearing to always keep lights on and doors open to keep me safe. All those promises were empty now. I stayed trapped in darkness for three days, starving and delirious, until the butler took pity and set me free. I rejected all his arranged medical care, using my last strength to finalize divorce and immigration documents, ready to erase myself from his life. I collapsed into unconsciousness after hiding all paperwork, waking up later in a sterile hospital room with Aaron sitting beside my bed. He’d placed my favorite irises beside the bed, peeling fruit with fake tenderness, acting like the loving husband I’d once adored. I flinched away from his touch, no longer fooled by his performance. I’m sorry I locked you up, he apologized softly. But Nancy saved my life. I’m just repaying a debt. I’ll come back to you soon. He pulled me into a tight embrace, and a thick rose perfume flooded my nose—the exact scent Nancy wore. I knew he’d sle3pt with her right before coming to see me. I suppressed my nausea and nodded flatly, pretending to forgive him. His phone buzzed instantly. On his screen was a photo of Nancy in sheer red l0thes, posing seductively for him. He abandoned me at once, tossing a rose-earring jewelry box on my lap as a so-called peace offering. Nancy didn’t mean to frame you. Just accept this and forgive her, he said fondly, rushing out to his mistress without a second glance at me. The rose perfume from the box triggered my severe allergy instantly, red hives spreading across my skin in burning pain. He’d always guarded me from roses before, knowing my deadly allergy. Now he let Nancy use it to taunt and hurt me on purpose. I flung the box across the room, deleting his perfunctory resting text and powering off my phone, cutting off all contact. No one fetched me from the hospital upon discharge. Only a housekeeper arrived, with his cold message explaining he stayed with a sick Nancy. Back at the Mackey estate, I burned every photo, letter and gift from our past, erasing every trace of our decade-long love. I packed my suitcase, ready to leave, when Aaron walked in with Nancy. He frowned sharply, demanding to know where I was going. I tried to leave, but he gripped my wrist tight to stop me. Nancy instantly faked vulnerable tears, playing the pitiful victim. I should go back to the club, she whimpered. I’m