I have been married twice in my life. The first time was a shotgun wedding to my childhood sweetheart, Arthur Vance, the heir to a massive New York real estate empire. Back then, I was young, proud, and completely uncompromising. When I discovered he had started looking twice at his new, young assistant, I had an abortion and filed for divorce. The second time was a marriage that grew into love with Ethan Sterling, a self-made tech billionaire in Silicon Valley who claimed it was love at first sight. After I remarried, my ex-husband Arthur sent me a birthday gift every single year. I never signed for them, and I never replied. I was determined to prove that I could live a wonderful life without him. Until the third year of my marriage, when I accompanied Ethan to his college reunion. A drunk former classmate gave him a thumbs-up. "When it comes to devotion, out of all of us, you take the crown." "Back then, Chloe dumped you because you were broke. She took all your savings and ran off to Europe." "You said you were going to tear her limb from limb. And then what happened?" "The woman you ended up marrying... isn't that still her?" I turned to look at Ethan beside me. He feigned composure and explained, "He's drunk and talking nonsense. You actually believe him?" The classmate grumbled in protest. "How am I talking nonsense?" "I still remember the night you guys broke up. You cried the entire night..." Ethan abruptly stood up, his voice cracking like a whip. "Shut your mouth!" The classmate sobered up halfway, his gaze lingering on my face for a long time. From his bizarre expression, I pieced everything together. No wonder this rising Silicon Valley star fell in love at first sight with a divorced woman like me. No wonder he never let me curl my hair and always preferred me in long white dresses. No wonder he was infinitely tolerant of my occasional mood swings. It turned out that before me, he had an unforgettable college sweetheart. I grabbed my phone and stood up to leave. My wrist was suddenly grabbed. It didn't hurt, but it felt sickening. I yanked my hand free and slapped Ethan hard across the face. The entire room gasped. Ethan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, but a faint smile touched his lips. Knowing him for three years, I was intimately familiar with this—it was the precursor to his fury. When I first moved to California to marry him, my ex-husband had followed. Arthur would show up at our mansion’s gates every day with a new stunt, begging for a reconciliation. When Ethan saw it, he smiled and asked if I wanted to go back to my ex. Before I could answer, he rolled up his sleeves and got into a physical brawl with Arthur. That very night, he launched a ruthless, scorched-earth corporate war against Vance Enterprises. That was what finally forced Arthur to retreat back to New York. But now, what right did he have to be furious? I was the one being used as a stand-in. Just as I was about to leave, a woman in a white dress walked into the private room with a radiant smile. One look was all it took for me to guess she was Ethan's first love. The exact same white dress. The exact same long, straight black hair. Chloe noticed me as well. A glimmer of understanding slowly surfaced in her eyes. I bit my lip in humiliation, my nails digging hard into my palms. Chloe brushed past me and greeted Ethan with familiar ease. "New girlfriend?" "She looks so much like me. Don't tell me you're still hung up on me?" Ethan's face turned even colder. "This is my wife. Show some respect!" She lowered her head, her voice beginning to tremble. "I didn't know you were married. Why are you being so mean to me?" Ethan instinctively crouched down slightly, his tone becoming panicked. "Don't cry. I'm sorry..." Before he could finish, Chloe covered her mouth and giggled. "Three or four years have passed, and you're still so easy to fool." Ethan ground his teeth. "Chloe!" He was annoyed, she was laughing. The others in the room went back to their drinks, accustomed to the display. I couldn't take it anymore and stormed out the door. From behind, I heard Chloe's malicious teasing. "Aren't you going to chase her?" My footsteps paused. But I heard the man's breezy reply. "Her temper isn't as bad as yours. She's easier to coax." I don't remember how I got home. As soon as I walked in, the wedding photo hanging in the living room looked blindingly painful. When Ethan told me it was love at first sight, I hadn't believed him at all. After all, my childhood sweetheart of over twenty years had betrayed me. Let alone a stranger I had only met once. But after the messy divorce with Arthur, my parents blamed me and cut off my credit cards. And because I lacked hard evidence of Arthur's infidelity, the tabloids tore me apart, labeling me a high-maintenance drama queen. The socialites in my circle were just waiting to watch me become a joke. Everyone said I would never find a better husband than Arthur. I refused to believe it. I was determined to prove them wrong. And luckily, I bet right on Ethan, a man with limitless potential. His devotion to me allowed me to make a stunning comeback. Those who mocked me for throwing away a diamond for a pebble were forced to shut their mouths. But it wasn't until tonight that I realized his so-called "love at first sight" was built entirely on the lingering feelings for his first love. My stomach began to churn. I ran to the bathroom and threw up violently. When I came out, I walked into his home office—a room I had never set foot in. Among the rows of economics textbooks, a battered old journal stood out. With trembling hands, I opened it. A photograph fell out. Ethan, wearing his graduation gown, was looking with deep devotion at the girl beside him. The man I remembered as being incredibly calm—even in a fistfight—was, in this journal, just an ordinary guy who got jealous and heartbroken. [She said staying with me was a dead end. She wants to break up and move to Europe.] [I said no, but she left anyway. She took all my money with her.] [That heartless woman. When she comes back, I'm going to make her wish she was dead.] The ink on this page was smeared by water stains, the paper slightly crinkled. I turned the page. [I met a woman who looks exactly like her.] [The day we got our marriage license, I texted her.] [If she comes back, I'll marry her.] [She didn't show up. I'm not waiting for her anymore.] My vision blurred. So, while I was excitedly planning our wedding, Ethan was waiting for another woman to crash it. The sound of keys turning in the lock echoed from the front door. I didn't move. Until Ethan rushed into the room. Seeing the journal in my hands, his voice dropped to freezing temperatures. "Who told you to touch my things? Give it back." The day he proposed, Ethan did it to give me peace of mind. He voluntarily transferred half of his company shares to me as a gift. After we married, he was completely transparent with me. No passcodes on his phone, real-time updates on his whereabouts. But now, just because I touched something related to Chloe, he was furious. I offered a slight smile. "If your heart is already occupied, why are you afraid of me looking?" He didn't answer, just reached out to snatch it. I gripped it tightly, refusing to let go. He started prying my fingers open, one by one. The sound of joints popping was clearly audible. I went pale from the pain and violently threw the journal at his chest. "If you love your first love so much, why did you marry me?" He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "That's all in the past. Stop being unreasonable." "Then look me in the eye and tell me you married me because you love me." I didn't look away, staring straight at him. Ethan's Adam's apple bobbed. His eyes flickered away for a second. The next second, he let out a cold laugh born of humiliation and anger. "You want the truth?" "Fine. I'll tell you." "I married you because you look like her." "But haven't I treated you well enough these past three years?" It was precisely because he treated me too well. So well that I thought he indulged me because he loved me. But what was the reality? Arthur loved the new and threw away the old. Ethan was nostalgic. But the person he was nostalgic for, the person he loved, was always his first love. Watching him carefully put the journal away, I only felt a sickening sense of irony. "Ethan. Let's get a divorce." Ethan's movements paused, his tone impatient. "Evelyn, can you stop throwing a tantrum?" "As the lady of the Sterling household, who in Silicon Valley doesn't treat you with respect?" "Throwing a fit about divorce now will only make us a laughingstock." Those words sounded incredibly familiar. When I was divorcing Arthur, he said the exact same things. He said he just had "a little crush" on that assistant. He said there was no physical cheating, told me to stop making a scene. But I refused to be with a man who had someone else in his heart. If I could leave Arthur back then, I could definitely leave Ethan now. "Tomorrow morning, 9 AM. At the courthouse." After saying that, I turned to walk past him. Ethan grabbed my shoulder. "Evelyn, don't be so childish." "Nobody wants to marry a woman on her third marriage who's had an abortion." I suddenly couldn't see the man in front of me clearly. When I cried and told him about my past with Arthur, he had held me tightly, saying he wished he had met me sooner. Perhaps the heartbreak in my eyes was too obvious. Ethan's tone softened slightly. "I'm sorry, I was just..." Before he could finish, his phone rang. I glanced down. No caller ID saved. Ethan hesitated, but ultimately chose to answer. "Arrested for a DUI? I'm not coming to bail you out." "When you took all my money and ran off to Europe, you didn't care about my situation either!" Every word was laced with disdain, yet every syllable betrayed how much he cared. Even though I had just demanded a divorce a second ago, it wasn't as important as a phone call from Chloe. Seeing how desperate he was to go bail her out, the corner of my mouth twitched. "In such a rush to see your old flame? At least let's finalize the divorce details." Ethan frowned deeply. "Stop overthinking things." "She just got back to the States. She doesn't know anyone here." "I'm her ex-boyfriend, after all. I'm just doing her a small favor." He grabbed his car keys and hurried out the door. After the door slammed shut, I was left alone in the study. I went back to the bedroom and started packing my things. Not long after, a friend request popped up on my phone. The profile picture was a simple doodle of a kitten. Ethan's profile picture was a puppy. After all this time, he still couldn't bear to change his matching couple profile picture. After accepting the request, Chloe didn't send a single message. I clicked on her social media feed and saw a completely different Ethan. He would let a woman draw all over his face with lipstick; He would go to the amusement park with her and take those cheesy photo booth pictures; He would even cook for her, making hot cocoa when she had cramps. These posts were from three years ago. Before Ethan even met me. Just then, Chloe posted a new update. [The bad girl gets everything.] The location tag was the most famous boutique hotel in the city. The photo attached was of two hands with interlocked fingers, clearly taken post-coitus. The man wasn't wearing a wedding ring. But there was a pale indent on his ring finger. Ethan couldn't even wait out the mandatory cooling-off period for the divorce. I bit my lip until it bled. In a moment of pure impulse, I called an Uber and headed straight to the hotel. The front desk refused to give me the room number. So I searched room by room. Apologizing over and over again. When I reached the very last door, I couldn't bring myself to knock. What was the point of catching them in the act? Have a screaming match like a hysterical banshee? And become the laughingstock of the tabloids all over again? After a moment of hesitation, I didn't knock on that door. I went home, dead inside. I consulted a divorce lawyer about the process, then fell into a heavy sleep. But early the next morning, I woke up to find myself trending: Evelyn Sterling Caught Sneaking into Hotel for Midnight Rendezvous with Ex-Husband. Before I was fully awake, an enraged Ethan yanked me out of bed. He shoved his phone in my face. The picture showed me standing outside the hotel, looking anxious. "Evelyn, running back to let your ex screw you—do you have no shame?!" My head was spinning, but I instinctively fired back. "I haven't even seen Arthur." "But what about you? Weren't you also at the hotel last night?" A flash of panic crossed Ethan's eyes, quickly covered up by furious indignation. "Nothing happened between me and her!" "But what the hell is this midnight rendezvous with Arthur?" I let out a bitter laugh, deciding to just lean into his accusation. "Then just assume I went to see him." Seeing his pupils shrink in shock brought a twisted sense of vindictive pleasure. "I didn't just see him. I told him I regretted divorcing him." "Because no matter how garbage he was, he never treated me as a stand-in." Ethan's breathing instantly grew heavy, his fingers digging into my shoulders turning white. "You think I don't regret it?" "No matter what Chloe did to me, she was never touched by another man." "I married used goods for my first marriage. Do you have any idea how many people mock me?" A sharp smack echoed in the room. My palm stung. Ethan's head jerked to the side, violent red veins instantly flooding his eyes. He raised his hand to hit me back, but froze mid-air. I tilted my chin up. "Hit me!" "If you have the guts, hit me back!" Ethan stared at me for a long time. Suddenly, he reached out and dragged me all the way into the bathroom. He turned the tub on full blast with freezing cold water. Ignoring my struggles, he forced my head under the icy water. "Cough... Ethan! You're crazy!" He scrubbed violently at my skin. "Evelyn, I don't hit women, but that doesn't mean I don't have a temper." "This is your one and only warning. I never want to see you contact your ex-husband again." The icy water cut to the bone, but it was a fraction of the chill in my heart. "Ethan, what gives you the right to be such a hypocrite?" "You and Chloe were alone in a hotel room last night. You expect me to believe nothing happened?" He held me down in the tub, his voice dark. "You don't have the right to question my business!" Water rushed into my nose. Panic and suffocation set in instantly. Just as I thought I was actually going to die by his hands, the pressure on my head suddenly vanished. I shot up, gasping desperately for air. Ethan looked down at me from above. "You stay in here and think about what you've done." I scrambled up, instinctively trying to run out. But I was locked inside the bathroom. "Ethan, you can't do this to me! Let me out!" Through the door came his cold voice. "I'll let you out when you realize you were wrong." A sudden, violent cramp ripped through my lower abdomen. A warm stream of liquid slid down my inner thigh. With trembling hands, I reached down. My fingertips came back covered in a horrifying crimson. "Ethan... my stomach hurts. Let me out..." I weakly pounded on the door, my voice trembling uncontrollably. Footsteps approached. Just as I thought he was going to open the door, I heard a scoff. "Evelyn, the lengths you'll go to just to get me to open this door." "Faking sick this time. Are you going to fake your death next?" The red pooling beneath me grew darker. Scalding tears mixed with the bathwater on my face. I had never been so terrified in my life. Even when I had the abortion with Arthur, it happened under anesthesia. Now, I was watching my own child dissolve into a pool of blood with my own eyes. "Ethan, I'm not lying." "I'm having a miscarriage. Please... take me to the hospital." The silence outside the door lasted only a second. "Evelyn, do you think I'm an idiot?" "You've had an abortion before. The doctors said it would be nearly impossible for you to ever get pregnant again!" "And even if you are pregnant, I have no intention of keeping that bastard child." It felt like a knife plunged straight into my heart. Even drawing breath brought a dull, agonizing pain. I couldn't hold on any longer, and I slipped completely into darkness.
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