Even though my wife, Eunice Mercer, is afflicted with touch starvation, she never gets intimate with me over the five years of our marriage.

I keep enduring her antics, but all I get in return is the sight of Eunice coming home with a little boy in her arms.

"It's my fault for being allergic to you. Let me use this child to make it up to you."

Two years later, when I'm about to settle some official paperwork for the child, I find out that his mother is actually Eunice.

To make things worse, the staff member informs me that my copy of the marriage certificate is a fake.

"Did you get swindled by someone? This is obviously a marriage certificate that's sold in stalls. You can buy a huge pack of them for just two dollars, you know."

I hurry over to confront Eunice, only to overhear her conversation with her friends.

"Dylan is finally coming back after all these years. That means you'll finally throw the wedding that's been delayed by five years, right? Otherwise, Jayden will seriously think that he's the master of the Mercer family."

As Eunice toys with the certified copy of marriage certificate, she says with a light sigh, "Dylan has a rather unique job that requires him to leave for five years. Naturally, I need to find someone who can take care of the child and me. Jayden fits the bill just fine.

"Then again, I still have to sell his chastity. That way, Dylan will truly believe that I've never slept with Jayden before."

I can only clench my fists tightly as I feel my eyes reddening. Then, I flip through the messages in my phone helplessly.

That woman who has always wanted to become my mistress finally has a chance to pursue me.

"That marriage certificate we bought from a street vendor worked like a charm. Jayden fell for it for five whole years. Can you believe how stupid he is?"

Eunice Mercer swirled the ice in her glass, wearing a self-satisfied smirk.

"And that's not even the best part. Even the child was born through a surrogate that Dylan and I paid for. He still thinks I adopted the baby from an orphanage. He's unbelievably easy to manipulate."

She casually swallowed a pill.

"I have this thing where I'm desperate for touch, but honestly, I'd rather take the pills than touch him. I gave Dylan my word."

The room erupted into laughter.

"But Eunice, you've kept the marriage and the child a secret. What about the fact that you took his virginity? Aren't you afraid he'll make a huge deal out of it?"

Eunice gave a cold, dismissive laugh.

"Oh, please. You don't know how desperate he is for me. If I walked away, he'd fall apart completely. Do you honestly think he'd confront me?"

She took a slow sip of her drink.

"Besides, everyone already thinks he was the other man for five years. Who would want to be with someone like that? I'm the only one who's ever been willing to keep him."

Laughter rippled through the room once more as her friends raised their glasses to her cunning.

A crushing weight pressed down on my chest, and a wave of bitterness surged up my throat.

The picture-perfect family I had believed in for years was nothing but a lie.

The woman I had called my wife for five years was fake, while the son I had loved as my own for three years was hers and Dylan's child.

And I had been nothing more than a pawn, kept in the dark for years.

In that one moment, I felt as though I had been ripped from heaven and hurled into hell.

It finally made sense why Eunice, who had never stopped loving Dylan Sterling, had agreed to marry me without a second thought.

It explained why she had never let me touch her in all those years, and why she had never once called me her husband in front of anyone else.

At that moment, everything finally added up.

But why did I have to go through this?

To protect her image, Eunice was even willing to throw me into another woman's bed. And yet, I had done nothing to deserve it.

A loud crash jolted me back to the present as a camera slammed heavily onto the table.

From inside the room, Eunice's cold voice echoed once more.

"I don't care which of you draws the short straw and ends up in bed with him. Just make sure you get it on camera. Otherwise, Dylan won't believe I kept my virginity for him."

She said it so casually, as though she were arranging something trivial for a pet. And just like that, she had decided my fate.

I leaned against the cold wall, tore the worthless marriage certificate into pieces, and tossed the fragments into the trash.

I brushed the tears from my face and finally responded to the message that had remained unanswered for years.

Without a second thought, I typed, "You don't have to be the other woman. I'll marry you."

…

When I got home, I ignored the crying baby and walked straight into the room to pack my things.

Before I could even start packing properly, Eunice kicked the door open and pulled me into an embrace.

Her breath was hot against my ear. "Jay, I need you. Please don't leave me."

It was the first time in five years she had touched me, and the first time she had ever called me by such an intimate nickname.

However, I couldn't stop thinking about what she had said. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I pushed her away.

"I'll get your medicine."

I was barely out the door when Eunice grabbed me and forced a glass of milk into my mouth.

My vision blurred, and through the fog, all I could see was her irritated face.

"Drink it and rest. I'll be back when I'm done."

It turned out that her gentleness was nothing more than a cover to slip me something. The heat consumed me, and I tried desperately to hold back.

Moments later, Eunice's friends pushed through the door, laughing cruelly.

"Eunice was right. Jayden really is that desperate. All it needed was a tiny dose, and he's already out of control."

"Let's hope the higher-ups enjoy this little show."

Several of them stripped me naked and posed me in all sorts of positions while the camera flashed again and again.

I dug my nails into my thigh, fighting to stay conscious, as burning tears slid down my cheeks and pooled inside my ears.

They stretched and bent my limbs into grotesque, humiliating poses, and I was drowning in a sea of shame.

I couldn't fight back. All I could do was lie there and let them do as they pleased, knowing the camera was recording every second of my humiliation.

At that moment, even the thought of death felt like a mercy I didn't deserve.

In a haze, I started to hallucinate. I saw two bodies tangled together, moving up and down in front of me.

A familiar voice reached my ears.

"Dylan, you have to believe me. I've never touched him all these years. As soon as I find someone to take his virginity, I'll finally be able to prove my innocence..."

Eunice's breath broke into gasps and moans, raw with a passion and surrender I had never once seen in all our years together.

When the heat finally subsided and the last gasps had faded into silence, they turned to the baby.

"Here's your daddy, little one. You're going to be the best little boy for him, aren't you? Go on, give Daddy a cuddle."

The baby gurgled happily, producing two crisp sounds.

"Dada."

Those two syllables I had so desperately wanted to hear now fell on me like a crushing weight, leaving me gasping in agony.

Now, as I looked back, I couldn't help but wonder what those three years of raising him had really amounted to.

I had held on to a loveless marriage for five years, only to find out that the woman I called my wife and the child I called my son had never truly been mine.

While they laughed and celebrated around me, I collapsed into the darkness of despair.

…

In just one night, the video they had recorded had circulated everywhere, and the barrage of cruel comments was unending.

"Eunice, I can't believe there are actually women who don't care that Jayden was a homewrecker. They're fighting over him. Who knew he'd be so popular?"

Eunice scrolled through the footage with a satisfied smile.

"Good. Keep it under wraps for now. Once everything is in place, I'll bring Dylan home. We'll hold our wedding on the baby's first birthday. You can go and make the arrangements."

Her friend asked cautiously, "And what about Jayden? Do we still keep him as the other man?"

Eunice's expression flickered, and then her gaze accidentally met mine.

"Jayden, you're awake?" Eunice's lips quivered, and panic flickered across her face. Her breath seemed to catch for a long, telling moment.

"What... What did you hear just now?" she stammered.

I discreetly wiped away my tears and forced a smile. "Nothing. What video were you watching?"

Eunice, who had finally relaxed, was instantly thrown back into panic by what I said.

I took a step toward her phone, but she snatched it behind her back and offered a shaky grin. "It's nothing."

As I watched the cold sweat gather on her forehead, I couldn't hold back the faint mockery that rose in my chest.

I withdrew my hand, and only then did she finally relax.

Trying to steer the conversation elsewhere, she said, "I wanted to be with you tonight, but my condition is flaring up. Maybe we can try another time."

Her act was so polished it nearly made me laugh out loud. If she really couldn't stand the touch of a man, then how had she ended up carrying Dylan's child?

The truth was, she wasn't allergic to men. She just didn't want me.

And honestly, after finding out she was already married, I was relieved she had never touched me.

I turned to leave, but she hurried after me and casually brought up another topic.

"I've already arranged Jace's first birthday party. Dylan, my ex-boyfriend, might be there that day. Don't mind it."

They were the real family. Why would I care?

I shrugged it off. "You all go ahead. I'd rather stay home and rest."

Eunice's expression immediately darkened.

"How can you miss Jace's birthday? Don't tell me you're jealous of Dylan. You're not a child anymore. Why are you being so childish? You're being completely unreasonable."

She didn't even seem to notice how openly she was already defending Dylan.

Then again, what right did I have to be jealous?

…

When we got to the birthday party, Dylan was already at the center of it all, holding the child like a trophy. He looked like Eunice's husband in every way, seeming as if he were staking his claim.

The moment I entered, the room buzzed with whispers.

"Only a homewrecker could have that much nerve. A decent person would never be this shameless. Is another man's wife and child really that appealing to him?"

"Did he really think he could play that role forever? How naive. Now that Dylan's back, it's time for him to step aside. I heard there's a good show coming up later."

Even though I already knew the truth, hearing them tear open my wounds so openly still cut deeper than I expected.

The other female guests sized me up with hostile glares, their faces twisted with ridicule and barely concealed disdain.

Was this about the "good show" they were anticipating?

A wave of unease washed over me.

I turned to leave. But the moment I did, I ran straight into Dylan, who was carrying the child.

He backed me into a corner. The polite smile he had worn earlier dropped away, exposing something cold and mean.

"How much longer do you plan to sponge off the Mercers? I've never met a homewrecker as shameless as you. Eunice is my wife, and this child is the proof of our love. What exactly did you do to make her let you into this house?"

I was backed into the wall, shrinking away with every step he took, while tears I couldn't stop streamed down my face.

"I was the one who got deceived for five years. I was the victim."

Dylan let out a mocking laugh.

"Victim? Everyone in Valdoria knows you've had a thing for Eunice since you were a kid, and now you want to play victim? You knew exactly what you were doing. While I was working overseas, you conveniently stayed by her side and tried to worm your way in."