Ten years of marriage. Ethan Sterling had slept with every single one of my friends. I pretended to see nothing. As usual, I rubbed my eight-month-pregnant belly and went for my routine ultrasound. Until that day on my way to the clinic. His latest mistress, Chloe Vance, deliberately crashed her car into mine. I lay on the cold asphalt, blood pooling beneath me, begging Ethan to take me to the hospital. Ethan only looked down at me, his face twisted with disgust. "Clara, since when did you learn to pull such cheap stunts?" "Don't think playing the victim will make me care about you. Even if you died right in front of me, I wouldn't waste a single glance." With that, he got back into his sports car, took his mistress, and sped away. By the time the ambulance finally got me to the ER, the baby in my womb had already suffocated. Even my mother, Helen, passed away from a sudden, fatal heart attack after hearing the shocking news. When I finally woke up in the sterile hospital room, my face was completely numb. I looked at Ethan's grandfather, Arthur Sterling. "Let me go, Arthur. I've paid back everything I owed the Sterling family. With my life."
As I spoke, my phone buzzed continuously on the nightstand. Dozens of notifications popped up on my screen. It was Snapchat. They were photos of Ethan and Chloe. While I was in the operating room, hovering between life and death, the two of them had been enjoying a wild night at a five-star hotel. In the photos, Chloe was covered in hickeys, clinging to Ethan's chest with a triumphant, mocking smirk. Arthur, who didn't know the full story of the car crash yet, wanted to make one last effort to save our marriage. He slid a share transfer agreement across my blanket. "Clara, Ethan isn't a bad boy at heart. You've loved him for so many years. Why not give him one more chance? As long as I'm alive, no one can take away your title as Mrs. Sterling." I didn't say a word. I just tapped on a video Chloe had sent me. Immediately, their heavy moans echoed through the quiet hospital room. In the video, Chloe gasped, "Ethan, you left Clara bleeding on the road. Don't you feel even a little bit sorry for her?" Ethan was biting her neck, his eyes hazy with lust. "Why should I care about her? You're the only one I love. Even if Clara gives birth to that kid, she'll never compare to you." The disgusting noises made the veins on Arthur's forehead bulge with rage. After a long, heavy sigh, the old man finally gave in. "The Sterling family has failed you, Clara. I will handle the divorce. In seven days, I will set you free." "As for your mother and the baby..." Right then, a nurse walked in, carrying a small, silent bundle wrapped in a blanket. It was as if God couldn't bear to see me suffer in this miserable marriage any longer. The baby had stopped breathing the moment he was born. I turned my head away. I tried my best to swallow the lump in my throat. "Bury the baby in the Sterling family plot. I will take my mother's ashes with me." Arthur nodded, his shoulders slumping with immense pain. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have forced you into this family. Go, Clara. You deserve a wider, better world." With that, his elderly, hunched figure carried the lifeless baby out of the room. The tears I had been holding back finally broke free. A wave of bitter memories rushed into my mind. My marriage to Ethan was arranged entirely by Arthur. Arthur needed someone stable to keep his wild, spoiled grandson in check. And I desperately needed someone to pay for my mother's incredibly expensive private cancer treatments. So, we made a deal. I quit my job and married Ethan. After the wedding, I learned about Ethan's tragic past—how he had lost both of his parents at a young age. I had seen him crying in his sleep, calling out for his "mom" in the middle of the night. At that time, I thought our two broken souls could heal each other. I genuinely wanted to save him. I wanted to build a real, happy family with him. To be a perfect wife, I spent months mastering cooking, trying to recreate the exact home-cooked meals he missed from his childhood.
I traveled to different towns just to rebuild the rustic wooden cabin from his childhood memories. I even read books and learned how to please him in bed, throwing away my own shyness. I thought we were going to have a beautiful future. But on our anniversary, he openly took my best friend to a luxury hotel. I went mad and ran to confront him. Ethan laughed in my face, throwing the copy of my marriage agreement with Arthur right at me. "Clara, who the hell do you think you are? Did playing house with me for a couple of days make you think you're actually my wife?" "You're just a stray dog my grandfather bought. What right do you have to question me?" "If you dare to make me angry again, I will cut off the funding for your mother's hospital bills tomorrow!" It felt like a lightning strike. I couldn't say a single word. Since then, Ethan became even more ruthless. Once he got bored of Instagram models, he started targeting my friends. He pushed my boundaries, over and over again. On one side was my sick mother who needed medical bills. On the other side was a rotten, suffocating marriage. I was pulled by both sides until I almost lost my mind. Once, I fell down the stairs because of exhaustion and discovered I was pregnant. Arthur begged me, "Clara, keep this child. He might be the turning point for Ethan." "If Ethan still doesn't change after the baby is born, I promise I won't force you to stay anymore." With a heart full of complicated emotions, I agreed. I never expected that after all my endurance... My mother, my baby, my marriage, and my love. I ended up losing every single one of them. I gently wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and stared out at the gray, foggy sky outside the window. Maybe the only comfort was... Both Ethan and I were finally going to be free. As I was lost in thought, my phone rang. It was Ethan. "Clara, did you run to Grandpa to complain again? You ruined my weekend with Chloe!" "I'm warning you, if you do this again, I will freeze all your credit cards!" In the past, I would have begged and apologized, trying everything to make him happy. But now, I just said coldly, "Do whatever you want." My icy tone caught Ethan off guard. But soon, he let out a harsh laugh. "I heard the baby is born. No wonder you sound so brave now." "But don't forget, I am the sole heir of the Sterling empire. As long as you live under my roof, I have a million ways to make your life living hell." I closed my eyes. Oh, I knew his ways. I had experienced them. The first time I caught him cheating, I naively asked Arthur for help. What followed was Ethan's brutal retaliation. He threatened my mother's life and forced me to stand in the freezing cold on our penthouse balcony for the entire night, shivering, while he slept with his mistress inside. I was hospitalized the next morning with severe frostbite and a swollen face. Whatever love I had left for him had died in that freezing night. Since then, no matter how outrageous his affairs were. I acted blind. I silently endured every humiliation just to keep my mother alive. But now, my mother was gone. My baby was gone. This dead marriage was finally, truly over. I hung up the phone without another word. I stood up and called a friend at the local funeral home to schedule my mother's cremation.
When I walked back to my hospital room, I saw Ethan standing by the door. He frowned at me, then sneered. "Oh, look who decided to stop playing the tragic victim." "Walking around right after giving birth? You seem perfectly fine. Guess you don't need any postpartum bed rest." "I'm planning to move Chloe into the penthouse. She's young, delicate, and doesn't do chores. Hurry up and sign your discharge papers so you can go back and be our maid." Ethan leaned in close, a sadistic smirk on his face. "You know, the look of agony on your face is always my favorite stimulant." He stared at me, waiting to see me burst into tears. But my face remained as still as stone. Feeling bored by my lack of reaction, Ethan stopped a passing nurse. "Where's the kid? Boy or girl? Bring it here, let me have a look." The young nurse panicked. I spoke up calmly, "Grandpa took the baby." Before Ethan could say anything else, his phone rang. The moment he answered, his face turned pale. Then, he suddenly raised his hand and slapped me hard across the face. "Clara! What did you do to Chloe? If anything happens to her, I swear I'll ruin you!" I was already extremely weak. The slap knocked me off balance, and I crashed heavily against the metal handrail behind me. The nurse rushed to support me. "Mr. Sterling! Mrs. Sterling just went through a traumatic labor! You're going to kill her!" Ethan didn't even hear her. Worried sick about Chloe, he rushed out of the hospital. The nurse looked at me with deep pity. But my pale face showed no emotion. Ten years of torment had drained every drop of love and hate out of me. After a quick checkup, the doctor told me to rest. But I soon found out why Ethan was so angry. Because of the baby's death, Arthur was furious. He had completely blacklisted Chloe from the high society and cut off her social media sponsorships. Chloe thought I was the one behind it, so she cried to Ethan, exaggerating the story. That was why Ethan had rushed over to attack me. Not only that. To retaliate, Ethan stripped me of my minor shares in the Sterling Group and transferred them to Chloe. To make her happy, he even bought twenty stars through an international registry and named them after her. In an interview on Instagram, Chloe proudly showed off her giant diamond ring. "I never think of myself as a homewrecker. If a woman can't hold her husband's heart, she deserves to be lonely." "Besides, the current Mrs. Sterling only married Ethan for his money. I am different. My love for Ethan is pure." The comment section was a mess. Chloe's brainless fans tagged my account, calling me a gold-digger and telling me to sign the divorce papers. I looked at the screen, feeling nothing but irony. After all these years, Ethan's way of courting girls hadn't changed at all. Years ago, he did the exact same thing for me. When he found out I grew up poor and never had a real birthday party. On my twentieth birthday, he bought me twenty gifts. Everything from a gold baby locket to a luxury townhouse. He said he wanted to make up for all the suffering I had gone through in my first twenty years. I still remembered him holding my hand under the starlight. "Clara, I lost my parents when I was a kid. From now on, your mother is my mother. I will build the happiest home for you." I melted in his arms. I naively thought I had found the man I would spend my life with. But soon, the excitement faded. And Ethan moved on to the next girl.
Once, during a date, he drove off to buy flowers for his mistress and completely forgot he had left me on a hiking trail in the mountains. I had to walk miles back to the city alone in the dark. My feet were bleeding, and the scars on my legs never fully healed. Actually, I should have realized back then. This man was selfish and incapable of true love. Our marriage contract was just an excuse he used to justify his cheating. Thinking of this, I left a comment under Chloe's video: "Wishing you two a lifetime of happiness. May you have many children." Within minutes, Chloe deleted the video. Immediately after, Ethan's angry call came through. I didn't answer. I simply blocked his number, just like he used to do to me. Then, I remembered today was the day of my mother's cremation. I signed the discharge papers early. My doctor, Dr. Julian Harris, was worried about my health, so he insisted on driving me there himself. When the staff handed me the small urn containing my mother's ashes. I didn't cry. I just felt like the heavy chains that had bound me for ten years had finally shattered. I took a deep breath, thanked Dr. Harris, and went back to the Sterling penthouse alone to pack my things. The moment I stepped into the living room, I saw Ethan and Chloe on the sofa. Seeing me enter, Chloe quickly zipped up her dress. But the dark red bruises on her neck showed exactly what they had been doing. I didn't feel sad or angry. I walked past them as if they were ghosts and went straight into the bedroom. By the time I finished packing my suitcase, Chloe had left. Ethan was sitting alone at the dining table, drinking. Seeing me walk out with a suitcase, he slowly raised his head. "Clara, where were you today?" "None of your business." I didn't want to waste my breath, but Ethan suddenly slammed his whiskey glass onto the floor. He marched over and blocked my way. "Stop acting so innocent! Don't think I don't know you went out with that toy boy doctor!" "Clara, are you really that lonely? Are you doing this because I ignored you lately? Fine, if you want it so bad, I'll give it to you!" With that, Ethan violently ripped my coat open and dragged me toward the bed. I panicked and struggled with all my might. "Ethan! Are you insane? I just had a baby!" But Ethan had lost his mind. He bit my shoulder hard. I gathered all my strength, pushed him away, and slapped him across the face. Furious, Ethan grabbed a heavy crystal glass from the table and hurled it at me. Smash. A sharp pain hit my forehead, and warm blood began to trickle down my face. Ethan froze, his eyes widening. He instinctively reached out to catch me. "Why didn't you dodge..." I stumbled backward, trying to speak, but my vision went black, and I collapsed onto the floor. When I opened my eyes again, the sound of Ethan and Arthur arguing woke me up. I was back in the hospital. Seeing me open my eyes, Ethan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. But he immediately turned to Arthur with a sneer. "See? This is the perfect wife you chose for me. She was out hooking up with a toy boy before she even recovered from childbirth." Arthur was shaking with anger. "Hooking up? Do you even know what Clara was doing yesterday?!"
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