Arthur Vance cheated on me. A one-night stand. The girl got pregnant, caused a huge scene right in front of me, and demanded Arthur take responsibility. Arthur smoked a cigarette and handed the power of choice to me. "It was just once." "If you can forgive me, we'll keep living our lives together." "If not, we get a divorce." My face pale, my voice trembling, I asked: "It's your fault, right?" "If we get a divorce, you'll admit that it's your fault, right?" 1 My marriage to Arthur Vance was built on the scraps my younger sister didn't want. Chloe Hayes was lively, outgoing, and wildly unruly. She refused to be trapped for life by a so-called arranged marriage. So, she grabbed a debit card loaded with three million dollars and ran away. My mother's heart ached for her youngest daughter, but she also couldn't bear to let go of a golden son-in-law like Arthur. So, she pushed me forward instead. Acting as if Arthur would marry any daughter as long as she belonged to the Hayes family. Who was Arthur Vance? In the upper echelons of New York society, if a chandelier fell, it would crush a whole row of old-money heirs. He was the biggest one of them all. Chloe fleeing the wedding had already severely damaged his pride. And now they wanted him to marry me? Were they daydreaming? But I still went to see him once, volunteering myself, and he actually agreed. This year marks our fourth year of marriage. In front of outsiders, we are the model couple. But in private, we treat each other with the utmost, distant courtesy. Even when we sleep together, we maintain the most basic etiquette. My mother kept pressuring me, saying it was time I had a child. She constantly nagged about how useless I was, warning me that if things continued this way, I wouldn't be able to tie Arthur down—what if he ran off? I wanted to say, Arthur isn't a dog. Even if I wanted to tie him down, would he let me? But I didn't say that. I just nodded submissively, over and over again. My mother hated seeing me like that the most. She rolled her eyes, twisted her waist, and strutted away. But what I never expected was that I actually got pregnant. 2 My period was late by one, two, three... looks like four weeks. Last night, I bought a pregnancy test. Two pink lines. Today, I went to the hospital and got bloodwork done. The doctor held the lab report. "You're 9 weeks pregnant. Are you planning to keep this baby or not?" "Keep it, of course!" I hesitated slightly. Arthur didn't know yet. This child was also completely outside our plans. I needed to go ask him. So, holding the report, I went straight to his company. When I arrived, Arthur was in a meeting. His assistant led me into his office, poured me some coffee, brought me dessert, and asked me to wait a bit. I picked up the cup, about to drink. Can you drink coffee when you're pregnant? I wasn't sure. Let me google it. You can. Then no problem. I took a small sip and sighed in satisfaction. I had only let out half that sigh when suddenly, noisy arguing erupted outside, accompanied by a woman's scream. I pushed the door open and locked eyes with a woman being held back by security. Her eyes were red as she roared: "Tell Arthur Vance to get out here! He knocked someone up, does he think he doesn't have to take responsibility?!" Such a loud voice. Such a huge scene. So many people. So humiliating!!! I wished I could find a crack in the floor to crawl into. I just wanted to say, this has absolutely nothing to do with me! Thankfully, Arthur appeared just in time. With a cold face, he strode through the crowd and spotted me peeking through the crack of the door. His large, well-defined hand covered my eyes. I instinctively shrank back. He moved his hand and pulled the door shut. I blinked. Wait. My husband cheated, knocked someone else up, and now the mistress was confronting him at the office—and I was completely excluded from this drama? 3 Arthur indicated that I wasn't entirely excluded. He dismissed the crowd, whispered a couple of words to the woman, pushed open the door, and brought her right in front of me. Seeing how calm, breezy, and composed he was, I really wanted to give him a standing ovation. To be able to cheat and act this self-righteous about it... he was probably the first in history, and likely the last. The woman was very cool. Wearing simple athleisure, a high ponytail, and a baseball cap. She sat there, legs crossed, her whole demeanor screaming, "Don't mess with me." But she was genuinely beautiful. Exquisite features, a cold and stunning aura. With looks alone, it was hard to hate her. It's just a shame she opened her mouth. "This is your wife?" "Get a divorce." "I'm pregnant, and you need to take responsibility for me." I twitched my mouth. Well, I'm pregnant too, so who's taking responsibility for me? Logically speaking, as the legal wife, I definitely had more leverage than a mistress. But when marriage becomes a battlefield, the more immoral one is, the more self-righteous they act. "Sigh!" I let out a sigh, grabbed a small cookie, and started eating. It was milky and buttery, not too sweet. Not bad. "Do you want one?" The woman looked at me with utter disgust, pointing her finger. "Is she crazy?" Arthur, for once, actually frowned. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into the adjoining lounge. He smoked a cigarette in suffocating silence. "It was just once." "I accidentally drank something spiked, and unexpectedly slept with her." "Stella." He raised his eyes to look at me, his gaze exceptionally serious. He said: "The fault is mine, you make the decision." "If you can forgive me, we'll keep living our lives together." "If not, we get a divorce." The sudden appearance of the word "divorce" made my heart skip a beat, and then it started racing wildly. I uncontrollably pinched the webbing between my thumb and index finger. "It's your fault, right?" "If we get a divorce, you'll admit that it's your fault, right?" 4 Arthur looked at me intently. He was handsome, much better looking than anyone else I had ever met. I really liked looking at him. Especially in bed, looking up at him, seeing his hazy eyes, hearing his sexy panting. It all always made me lose myself and experience ultimate pleasure. Divorce... it's a bit of a shame. But divorce... it's not entirely out of the question either. "So, your choice is divorce?" I nodded and pointed outside. "With things like this, we have to divorce!" "It's just my mom... you will admit to her that it was your fault, right?" I confirmed once more. Arthur's expression, however, faded. Those unfamiliar, distant eyes were quite hard to bear. But I am best at handling internal discomfort. Take a deep breath, exhale, and you're good. Arthur stood up, brushed off imaginary dust from his clothes, and said calmly: "Don't worry, I will handle it." Phew! Then I'm relieved. "If we divorce, I don't need anything else, I just want Vance Pharmaceuticals." "Fine." "But if it's convenient for you, giving me a villa would be nice too." "Okay." "Then can I also ask for thirty million dollars?" Arthur turned his head, staring at me. "You want everything, and you still want a divorce?" "If we don't divorce, it's all yours." I avoided his gaze, lowered my head, and awkwardly shifted my feet. Listen to him. Then you shouldn't have cheated! If you didn't cheat, we wouldn't have to divorce. If we don't divorce, your wife and child are both yours. ............ Wait. Even if he cheated and we divorced, he'd still have a wife and child. Damn it! As expected of a businessman, always calculating profit down to the last cent. 5 Arthur sent the woman away. What they talked about, or what he promised her, I have no idea. By the time I came out of the lounge, the woman was already gone. There wasn't a single delicious dessert left. I looked around, checked again. When I left, I still couldn't help but grab the assistant. "Those little cookies from earlier, could you pack some up for me?" Assistant Davis looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't, his expression incredibly complicated. Behind me, Arthur let out a cold scoff. "Pack them for her!" This incident blew up way too big. By evening, my mother was already calling. The first one, I didn't answer. The second one, I still didn't answer. The third one, I stared at the phone for a long time, then tossed it into the sink filled with water. Finally, I breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, I figured out the answer to a question: I was going to keep the baby in my belly. This child... I would provide half of his chromosomes. He would be nourished by my flesh and blood, emerge from my body, and grow into a new life form. He shares my bloodline. He is my most beloved family. What reason do I have not to give birth to him? Yes, I'm going to have him! This decision made me excited. I opened a bottle of $4,000 red wine from the wine cabinet. Can you drink wine when you're pregnant? No? No, in moderation. So, cheers!
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