In the third year of our marriage, my husband’s mistress was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Logan, a man who had never stepped foot in a church or believed in anything higher than a stock ticker, personally went to the National Cathedral. He knelt at every altar, lighting candles and praying for a miracle. The story broke the internet. Everyone was talking about the "devoted" man and his "tragic" love. He called me to explain: "It’s her final wish, Jade. I couldn't say no to a dying girl." I smiled to myself and hung up. Then, I turned back to the sheets, tangling again with Silas Thorne—the rebellious, billionaire heir of the Thorne empire. 01 I was curled up on the sofa reading a script when Logan returned from his business trip. He looked rattled. His expression was loose, his eyes darting around the room. The atmosphere between us felt like ice. I kicked off my slippers and asked, "Why so late?" Logan walked past me without a word. As we brushed shoulders, I caught the faint, clinical scent of antiseptic. "Did you go to the hospital?" "Just visiting a friend," he said, his voice flat. I frowned, but I didn't push him. I figured he was just exhausted from the flight. Later that night, I showered and changed into a silk slip, spritzing a bit of perfume on my neck. We had been in a cold war since before his trip because of his sudden pressure to get pregnant. I wanted to end the silence. I walked into the bedroom and sat on his lap. For a second, his body went rigid. But we had been together for years; I knew exactly how to move. Within moments, we were breathless. Logan’s face was flushed, his breathing ragged against my ear. I thought this was our "makeup" night. But then, his phone on the nightstand chimed repeatedly. Before I could glance at the screen, Logan grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me into a kiss that felt forced, designed to keep me from turning around. Suddenly, he pulled away entirely, his brow furrowed. "Something came up at the office. I have to handle it now. Go to sleep." I looked at him, confused and annoyed. "It’s midnight, Logan. What could be so urgent?" He didn't give me a chance to get angry. He grabbed his phone and locked himself in the study, leaving me cold and bewildered in the middle of the bed. Logan had never been like this. Eight years of dating, three years of marriage. He used to leave his phone on silent the moment he walked through the front door. He never prioritized work over me. Maybe it really is an emergency, I tried to tell myself. I tried to shake the feeling, pulling my robe back over my shoulders. As I stood up, I noticed Logan’s iPad was still active on the nightstand. Driven by a gut feeling, I leaned over. The screen was open to an Instagram "alt" account. I scrolled through the posts. It was a digital diary of our relationship, starting from our college days. Seeing the old photos made me smile. Until I reached the very top. The latest post. "I finally realized that the only person in the world who truly, selflessly loves me is Lily." I froze. I tapped on the comments. A user named @Lily_Vance had left a single heart-eyes emoji. "Logan, you never change." Logan had replied thirty minutes ago: "Rest up. I'm coming." Lily replied: "I’m so happy. I missed you so much. I feel like I can’t live without you anymore. What am I going to do?" Lily Vance. The girl who had been stalking and chasing Logan for ten years. 02 Lily appeared in Logan’s life a year after I did. She was a freshman when we were seniors. She claimed she fell in love with Logan at first sight during orientation and asked for his number in front of everyone. Logan had politely turned her down. "Sorry, I have a girlfriend." That night, I had teased him about it. He leaned down, cupping my face with his hands, his eyes soft. "I don't have eyes for anyone but you, Jade." But then, Lily started showing up everywhere. She was at every basketball game, cheering for him until her voice went hoarse. She would do full "clean girl" makeup looks that looked ridiculous under the stadium lights—thick white foundation that didn't match her neck, and bright pink blush that made her look like a doll. She ignored the whispers of the crowd, shouting, "Go Logan! You're the best!" My roommate nudged me, smirking. "Your boyfriend sure attracts the crazies." "At least the competition isn't very threatening," I joked. After the game, Lily would be the first to run toward him with a Gatorade. It made me uncomfortable, but Logan always walked straight past her to me. He’d wipe the sweat from his hands before putting an arm around my shoulder. "Hey, Jade. Dinner with the team?" He never even looked at her. I’d look back at the girl. She’d be standing there, clutching her skirt, looking down at her feet. This happened for four years. Lily’s obsession made her a local legend—a joke, really. She was the "stalker girl" everyone used to mock over drinks. Logan blocked her number a hundred times. He never gave her an inch. One day, she sat directly across from us in the dining hall and smiled, asking if she could join the table. Logan’s face went dark. He didn't raise his voice, but his tone was lethal. "I've been polite because you're a girl, but let me be clear: my girlfriend is sitting right here. You’re making a fool of yourself. Don't you have any dignity?" "Even if Jade and I broke up tomorrow, I would never look at you." "You are exactly the type of person I despise." Lily’s eyes filled with tears instantly. "I'm just following my heart. What's wrong with that?" The tears washed tracks through her foundation. It was pathetic. I told her, "Take the hint, Lily. Go back to your dorm, have a cry, and focus on your GPA. Or find a guy who’s actually single. This is embarrassing." When she finally stumbled away, Logan exhaled a long breath. "God, she’s exhausting. I should have been meaner sooner." I kissed him, thinking that was the end of the drama. I was wrong. Six months later, Lily managed to transfer into the same graduate research program as Logan. Logan still ignored her, but because they shared a mentor, he was forced to have her on his contact list. He would show me his phone every night to prove he never replied to her. Eventually, we graduated, got married, and stayed happy. Logan worked at a high-end research institute. Lily seemed to vanish. I thought she had finally given up. Until Logan’s colleague ran into her in the oncology ward. 03 In our three years of marriage, Logan had been the perfect husband. So when did it change? Lily had undergone surgery. Their mentor organized a small group to visit her. She had breast cancer. It was aggressive. Because of her depression and physical weakness, she had been refusing treatment. When Logan came home from the hospital visit, we had some colleagues over for dinner. A junior researcher laughed and said to me, "Jade, you should have seen it. Lily is literally on her deathbed and she’s still obsessed. The way she looked at Logan... it was like she saw a god." "The girl is mentally ill," another added. "Stalking a man for a decade? Crazy." "She’s nothing compared to Jade," a younger girl said, hugging my arm. "You and Logan are the blueprint." They laughed and gossiped about Lily’s past antics. I just gave a tight smile. "Alright, let's leave it. She's sick." I didn't notice Logan’s face darkening. But when someone mentioned how Logan used to throw the lunches she made him into the trash, Logan slammed his fork down. "That's enough!" The table went silent. Four or five people stared at him in shock. I stepped in. "Logan just thinks we should focus on the food. Try the roast, guys." The mood recovered, but no one mentioned Lily again. At midnight, after the guests left, I went into the bedroom to finally talk to him. Logan was leaning against the headboard, staring at his phone. The light from the screen cast a soft, almost tender glow on his face. When he heard me enter, he snapped the phone shut. His face turned to stone. "I have more work. I'm sleeping in the study tonight." Usually, after I’d been away on a trip, we were inseparable. Now, he was freezing me out for the third night in a row. "What is going on with you?" I demanded. He avoided my eyes. "Work is just heavy." "Work wasn't heavy for the others at dinner. Just you?" I reached for his phone. "Let me see." Logan flinched, hiding the phone behind his back. "Stop being dramatic, Jade. I'm busy." I didn't listen. I lunged for it. In the struggle, the phone hit the floor and the screen lit up with a notification. "Are you not coming to stay with me tonight? I'm used to sleeping alone, but I'm scared." "The doctor says if I stay stable, I can go home in a few days. But without you, I don't think I can make it through the next surgery." "Logan... if I get better, can I give you the son you've always wanted?" Logan shoved me back and snatched the phone. I stood there, my breath hitching. I didn't think. I just slapped him. "How long has this been going on?" My voice was hoarse. "She has cancer, Logan. Do you have any common sense left? Or have you lost your mind?" Logan gritted his teeth. "We haven't done anything!" "Nothing? She’s offering to have your children!" I suddenly realized why he had been pushing for a baby. We had agreed to be child-free when we got married. But lately, his mother had been pestering him for a grandson. Logan had started wavering, trying to convince me to quit my job and "prepare." He knew my history. He knew I watched my own mother die in a hospital bed from a traumatic birth. Marriage and childbirth were my biggest fears. I only married Logan because he promised me a life without that pressure. He even promised to get a vasectomy. And now, I was up for a major promotion at the law firm. I couldn't go back to being a housewife. We had fought about this for weeks. Was it really that simple? Because Lily was willing to die to give him a child? Logan turned his face away. "Enough, Jade. I don't want to fight." "She's a terminal patient. She has nothing. I'm just looking after her. Why do you have to be so petty?" "I have work. I'm leaving." I sat alone on the sofa. I found that alt account on Instagram again. He had updated. A photo of a girl's head resting on his lap. "Get well soon." Lily had commented with a laughing-crying emoji: "Why are you so eager? Are you ready to take my 'first time' finally?" 04 Logan didn't come home for days. I slept alone. I dreamed of our wedding—Logan smiling, promising to always choose me. Then the dream would shift to him looking at me with pure irritation before walking away. I was tired of the cold war. I wanted a confrontation. But every time I called, his voice was like ice. "The lab is busy. We'll talk when I'm back." I couldn't wait. I took a half-day off and went to the institute. His junior colleague looked at me with pity. "Logan? He took a week off. Said there was a family emergency." My heart hammered against my ribs. I opened an app on my phone. When we first got married, Logan had installed a tracking app on both our phones. He said it was for my safety because we both worked late. I tracked his location. I got an address from a colleague. It was an apartment in a neighborhood slated for demolition. The walls were peeling, showing red brick and mold. Logan made a six-figure salary. Why was he here? I knocked. A raspy but cheerful voice answered. "Is that the food? Hurry up, I'm starving!" "I've got it, you little glutton." The door opened. Logan and I locked eyes. He was wearing a bathrobe, his hair damp. I felt a sharp, stinging pain in my chest, but I forced a smile. "Sorry to interrupt the party." I pushed past him into the room. Lily was lounging on the sofa in a slip dress. No bra. She was so thin her ribs were visible, but her neck was covered in faint pink hickeys. I looked at the bedroom. The bed was a disaster. And on the pale pink sheets, I saw a dark red stain. I felt like I was going to throw up. Lily looked surprised. "Jade? What are you doing here?" I didn't answer her. I threw my designer bag straight at Logan’s face. "If you want a divorce, just say the word. I’ll give it to you." "But this? This is fucking disgusting." Logan stayed silent. The hardware on my bag had cut his cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood. Lily stumbled over, shielding him. She glared at me, her face full of defiance. I looked at her closely. She wasn't pretty. The anemia made her skin look greyish-yellow. Her freckles were dark against her pale face. She looked like a corpse. I couldn't understand how Logan could touch her. Lily started crying. "Jade, you've had him for ten years! Can't you just give me a few days?" "I'm giving him my entire life. I just want him by my side as I die. Is that too much to ask?" "I love him. I..." She didn't finish. She coughed up a spray of blood onto the floor. I looked at the blood on my coat. I felt nothing but a cold, heavy exhaustion. Logan pushed me aside and scooped Lily up. He roared at me, "She just had surgery! She can't get worked up! What is wrong with you?!" He grabbed his keys to take her to the ER. Lily nestled into his chest like a frightened rabbit. "Logan," I said, my voice hollow. "Are you really choosing to walk out on your wife right now?" Logan paused, his jaw tight. "Lily has no one. Her parents are gone. She’s dying. You... you have your career, your family. You'll be fine without me." I let out a short, sharp laugh. "So it's my fault for being healthy? My fault for being independent?" Logan didn't answer. I raised my hand to stop him from speaking. "Fine. Divorce." 05 I took a deep breath and laid it all out. "Our salaries have always been separate, so we don't need to split that. You rarely use the car, so I'm taking it. We bought the house together, but it goes to me. You’re the one who cheated; I'm entitled to damages." Logan blinked. "I'm just taking care of her for a while, Jade. We don't have to do this." "What? You want to wait until she gets better or dies, then come crawling back to me? You want to force me to 'forgive' you for the sake of our history while I rot away as a bitter, suspicious wife? No." I walked forward and yanked his robe open. His chest was covered in marks. The thought of them together made my stomach turn. "I already have the evidence of your affair and your cohabitation. You know I'm a lawyer. I'm good at this. Don't waste my time." "You're so cold-blooded," Lily piped up from his arms. She looked at me with pure malice. "You treat Logan like a defendant in a courtroom. Do you even have feelings for him?" "No wonder he chose me. You never gave him real love." I didn't bother replying to her. I just tilted my chin up. "Expect the papers by morning." I grabbed my bag to leave. Logan called out behind me. "Jade! Every time we fight, you have to win. You never back down." "Do you know what it's like at the lab? Other wives bring their husbands lunch and clothes. I have nothing. I come home to an empty house. I asked you to quit, I told you I could support you, but you always chose your job over me." "In college, having a high-achieving, beautiful girlfriend was a flex. I was proud of you." "But now that we're married, I just wanted a wife who cooks and takes care of the family. Is that a crime?" "Lily is different. She's willing to do those things for me." He slid his wedding ring off and threw it at my feet. "Fine. Have it your way. Good luck with your 'limitless' career." The ring clattered on the concrete. My heart died right then and there. "If you wanted to use a PUA tactic on me, Logan, you should have tried harder. I'm not looking back." The next day, I drafted the papers and faxed them to his office. Ten minutes later, a former colleague called me. "Jade? Did you and Logan break up?" "He didn't tell you?" I was reviewing a brief. "He's with his 'gentle and sweet' Lily now." I heard a gasp, then a disgusted "Tsk." "What an idiot. Leaving a wife like you for... her? Men are trash." "Actually, Jade, I heard a secret at the lab today." The girl lowered her voice. "Lily is actually our mentor’s niece. That’s why Dr. Harrison always gave her a pass. Her grad school admission was basically rigged." I went silent. Logan’s career hadn't been going well lately. He was the most senior researcher but his results were thin, and he was being passed over for promotions. He was ambitious and proud. He had been depressed for months. Was that when he started wavering? I realized that the man I had slept next to for years was even more disgusting than I thought. I went home to pack the rest of my things. I opened a drawer and saw a box of condoms. I felt a chill. I picked one up and looked closer. Every single wrapper had been pricked with a tiny needle. I dropped the box, grabbed my keys, and drove straight to a clinic for a blood test. When the results came back negative for pregnancy, I finally breathed. As I was leaving the hospital, I heard a familiar voice. Lily was standing outside the OB-GYN clinic. "Doctor, if my condition stabilizes, can I start trying to get pregnant?" 06 Lily turned around and we locked eyes. She gave me a slow, poisonous smile. Even with her gaunt face and sunken eyes, she had applied a bold red lipstick. She looked like a caricature. "Logan said he'll marry me as soon as the divorce is final." I ignored her. I had no interest in a public scene. But she followed me, grabbing my arm like a lunatic. "I told you, Jade. What's wrong with following your heart? If you love someone long enough, they come around." "You were just the college sweetheart. I'm the one he chose in the end." "I'm willing to do anything for him. I love him more than you ever did. I even wrote a will leaving everything to him. When he saw it, his eyes went red. He held me so tight it hurt." I stopped and looked at her coldly. "I think you have brain cancer, not breast cancer." Lily acted like she didn't hear me. She began shouting to the crowd of onlookers about how she "won" Logan’s heart. "He stayed with me for seven days while you were away on business!" "The nurses all thought he was my husband! He's so devoted! When you called him, he lied just to keep me from getting upset!" "You're the one who's alone now, Jade. No parents, no husband. You're pathetic!" Whatever grief I had left for the marriage evaporated. If it weren't for my professional ethics and my upbringing, I would have slapped her right there. I walked out to the parking lot and saw Logan waiting by the curb. When he saw me, guilt flickered in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by tenderness when he looked at Lily. I watched expressionlessly as Lily threw herself into his arms. They kissed in the middle of the sidewalk—a tall, handsome man and a shriveled, sickly girl who looked like a skeleton. A few bypassers even took photos, thinking it was a touching "sick-girl-reunited-with-hero-boyfriend" moment. I got into a cab and didn't look back. The cold wind blew through the window, but I didn't feel it until my phone started buzzing. My college group chat was blowing up. Someone had posted a screenshot of Lily’s Instagram. She had posted a photo of her clinging to Logan, her legs wrapped around his waist. The caption: "True love knows no timeline." I let out a cold laugh and called my old roommate. I told her everything. "What is Logan thinking?" she asked. "Does he really want her 'inheritance'?" "I heard Lily is drowning in debt. Debt collectors were calling her classmates last month. She doesn't have an inheritance." I paused. "Wait. Don't researchers at that level make good money?" "I don't know about that. All I know is that in college, Lily was always on financial aid. And in this city? She’s only been working a few years. How much could she possibly have saved?" I exhaled. "Whatever. I got the house. I'm done." But after I hung up, I hired a private investigator to look into Lily’s "background." It turned out she came from a family in the rural Midwest that treated women like property. She had promised to send them $20,000 a year just so they’d let her go to grad school. Her relatives had been showing up at her apartment demanding extra cash for years. No wonder she lived in a dump despite her salary. Between her family of leeches and her medical bills, she was likely broke. I laughed silently. Logan had some savings. I wondered if it would be enough to feed those parasites. 07 A few days later, the signed divorce papers arrived at my office. Included in the envelope was a wedding invitation. Red and gold. I glanced at the names, tossed it in the trash, and headed to the courthouse. Outside the building, I saw them again. They looked like Siamese twins. Lily was draped over Logan, ignoring everyone’s stares. Logan is 6’2”. Lily is barely 5’2”. She looked like she was trying to drag him down to the earth. We didn't speak. We went in and got the decree. When I held the paper in my hand, Logan looked at me. He mouthed the words: "I'm sorry." I just wanted to laugh. "Sorry" is such a cheap word. Right then, Lily leaned over the counter and asked the clerk, "My husband just got his divorce. Can we apply for a marriage license right now?" Her voice was loud, completely ignoring the people around her. I could feel the judgmental stares from the other couples in the lobby. The clerk looked between the three of us, her expression strained. "You can apply today, yes." Lily couldn't wait. She dragged Logan toward the next window. Logan looked humiliated. "Can't we do this another day?" "The clerk said we can do it today! What's the problem?" she snapped. "You promised! You said you'd marry me as soon as I got better. I'm better now!" "Don't make me upset. The doctor said stress is bad for my recovery!" Logan opened his mouth to argue, then saw her face and shut it. I grabbed my bag and walked out. Lily shouted after me, "Jade! You got the invite, right? We’re getting married next month! I’m inviting all our old classmates! Make sure you show up!"
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "418546", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel