On the day of my divorce, my ex-mother-in-law updates her social media with a photo. It's my husband's mistress' ultrasound—she's pregnant.

Their friends and family congratulate her. Meanwhile, I share a premarital medical report. It belongs to her son, Owen Wade. It also clearly indicates he has congenital necrospermia.

There's no way I'll want a man who can't have kids!

I met Owen Wade in college, and we started dating after graduation.

My paycheck after graduation was pretty slim. I was barely getting by, and the best I could afford was renting a place in a half-finished building.

Owen and I worked at the same company, and he'd drive me home after work every day. He'd always get me a little something on holidays, and even if he couldn't swing that, he'd at least take me out for tacos.

I grew up without parents, money, or connections—just Grandma to lean on. People talked behind me when I was a kid, saying I was just some stray kid Grandma took in, but I never believed them.

After she passed, I lost the only family I had. Since then, I'd longed for a place I could call home.

Since I didn't get much love or attention growing up, I started leaning on Owen more and more. When we were dating, he was sweet, thoughtful, and always careful with my feelings.

He never judged my family or where I came from. I was young then and mistook that basic kindness for love. When he proposed, he promised me we'd have a happy future, and I was thrilled to marry him.

But after we got engaged, his relatives started whispering in his mother, Mildred Manning's ear. They called me a gold digger trying to marry up and a nobody with a sketchy past.

Some even hinted I might have some "infectious illness" and pushed for me to get a checkup before the wedding.

I sighed, deciding to take it all in silence for Owen's sake.

When the results came in, I found out he had congenital necrospermia, which meant he couldn't father children, and there was no cure.

I cherished our relationship and loved him deeply, so I kept it a secret to spare his feelings. I wanted us to have a good life together.

Back then, I believed that as long as we loved each other, it didn't matter if we couldn't have kids. If we really wanted a family, we could always adopt.

But while I thought that way, others didn't.

After Owen and I married, Mildred kept making things tough for me. She started by pressuring me to quit my job, have kids, and be a housewife.

I pushed back at first, but then Owen got on board, asking me to do the same. Besides, he started treating me even better and promised he'd bring in the money while I just kicked back at home.

I bought into all his sweet talk, quit my job, and became a housewife. I never expected that after getting married, I'd be hit with an endless cycle of frustration and heartache.

Every morning, I woke up early to make breakfast. After everyone had eaten, I would do the laundry, mop the floors, and wash the dishes.

One morning, just as I finished cleaning and heading to my room, Mildred threw a basin of underwear at me. It wasn't the first time she expected me to wash her intimates.

I sighed and said, "Underwear is personal, Mildred. You really should be washing that yourself."

She was texting someone on WhatsApp to come over for a card game. She looked up and glared at me. "If I tell you to wash it, just do it. Why are you making such a big deal?"

I refused. I dumped the basin in the bathroom and went back to my room to change the sheets.

Mildred started yelling from the living room, "Oh, you think you're something now? Do you think Owen married you so he could treat you like a queen? Go and take a good look in the mirror! You actually think you're a swan, huh? Get out now and wash those, or I'll call Owen back to put you in your place!"

I couldn't take it anymore. "I married into your family, Mildred, but I'm not your maid. I didn't take a single cent from your family when I married Owen. If you want a maid, why don't you hire one?"

I stormed off to my room and slammed the door behind me. Then, I threw myself on the bed and cried into the sheets.

Mildred wasted no time playing the victim. She called Owen, sobbing as she spun the story in her favor.

When Owen came home, he yanked me off the bed. "Paige, apologize to Mom!"

He always took her side—every single time we argued.

"Why should I apologize? What did I do wrong? She's the one picking on me, and you're still telling me to apologize?" I wiped my tears and turned my back on him.

Mildred marched into our room, her words hitting hard. "I told you not to marry her, didn't I? And now look—it's barely been any time since the wedding, and she's already trying to walk all over me."

Owen shoved her out and said, "Enough, Mom. You've said enough. I'll take care of it."

Then, he grabbed a tissue and wiped my tears away, saying, "You know Mom's getting up there in age, Paige, and with her heart condition, she can't handle all this stress. You're always understanding—shouldn't you be the bigger person here? Go apologize to her, okay?"

He took advantage of my softer side, knowing I wouldn't stay mad at Mildred. With his smooth talking, he had me going to apologize to her.

What he didn't see was that the more I gave in, the more Mildred trampled over me.

…

One night, my period started in the middle of the night, leaving stains on the sheets and my pajamas.

I got up, stripped off my pajamas, and tossed them and the sheets in the bathroom, figuring it was too late to deal with it. I decided to wash them in the morning.

But the next morning, I was yanked out of sleep by Mildred's yelling. She didn't even knock. She barged in and threw the stained sheets right at my head.

"Get up and clean this! How can you be this gross?" she barked.

A sharp pain twisted in my stomach, and I explained, "I've got bad cramps, Mildred. Let me rest for a bit, and I'll take care of it."

But she was relentless, pulling me like she'd completely lost it. "You're talking about cramps? Seriously? You've been married forever and still aren't pregnant!"

Mildred ripped my blanket off the bed and tossed it on the floor. I only had one set of pajamas, which were stained, so I was left with nothing on.

I crossed my arm over my chest and grabbed my blanket, feeling like she'd just crushed whatever dignity I had left.

My voice turned cold as I said, "I'll get dressed and wash them, but please get out. Now!"

Luckily, Mildred's phone happened to ring from her room, interrupting what could've turned into a full-blown argument. She had invited her relatives and friends over again for a card game.

I was out on the balcony, hanging up laundry, but I could still hear their chatter buzzing like a swarm of bees.

"Your daughter-in-law still hasn't gotten pregnant?"

"Who knows? Nothing's happened."

"Maybe she's infertile?"

"Exactly. My daughter got pregnant right after she married, and her baby's over a year old now."

"Maybe you should try some remedies or something?"

Mildred rolled her eyes at me and taunted, "Well, looks like she's just some barren woman with nothing to offer."

What kind of mother-in-law would crack such jokes?

I couldn't take it anymore. I went into my room and tried calling Owen, but he didn't answer, no matter how many times I tried.

When he finally came home that evening, Mildred dragged him into her room, muttering about who-knows-what.

Later, Owen came into our room. I wanted to talk to him, but he was glued to his phone, typing away non-stop.

I reached for his phone.

"Quit being ridiculous. I'm working," he muttered, looking flustered.

I was taken aback. "What kind of work has you this busy, even after you get home?"

"Do you think money just falls from the sky? Every penny in this house comes from the hard work I put in. And you? All you do is spend money. You can't even take care of my mom properly."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "What money of yours have I spent? Other than the groceries and the essentials, what else is there? Mildred picks on me every single day, and now you're saying I didn't look after her?"

"I'm done. I'm not arguing with you," Owen said, turning his back and going to sleep.

I cried quietly, not getting a single wink of sleep that night.

…

After that, I pretended not to hear it whenever Mildred gave me a hard time. I stopped complaining to Owen, too. It wasn't worth it since he never had my back.

I put up with it for over six months, all just to have a place to call home.

But something about Owen started to feel off. His late nights away from home became the norm, even when work wasn't the real reason.

And every time he returned, he'd be glued to his phone, his face lighting up with such a soft smile. Whenever he saw me catch it, he'd quickly cover it up.

That day, I left the house and quietly flagged down a cab to follow Owen. He pulled up to a fancy residential complex. I couldn't get in, so I just waited outside.

It didn't take long before Owen finally showed up. But to my surprise, he had his arm around a woman with a small baby bump. They looked so cozy as they got into the car together.

I quickly hopped into another cab and tailed them. In the end, their car pulled up outside a hospital.

I stepped out of the car and finally saw the woman's face. It was Owen's second cousin, Serena Lambert. But I couldn't make sense of it. Why would Owen be with her at a prenatal checkup?

I was just about to head into the hospital to figure things out when my phone went off. I checked the screen and saw a call from the police station.

"Hello, is this Paige Zeller?" an officer asked.

"Yes, this is Paige. What's this about?"

"After going over your recent medical examination report, we found that your blood type matches a missing girl's. She's been gone for years, and the match is 99%. Do you have time to visit and discuss this?"

My heart skipped a beat. I pushed thoughts of Owen and Serena aside and headed straight for the police station.

Before Grandma passed away, she told me we weren't related by blood. She found me on her way home from the city, where she'd gone to get medicine. She didn't have anyone else, so she brought me home.

Grandma also gave me a pendant. She said it was around my neck when she found me, and it could help prove my identity if I ever found my birth parents. They'd definitely recognize it.

When I got to the police station, I handed the pendant to the officer and explained about it.

A little while later, a fancy car pulled up outside. Then, a well-dressed, plump woman got out. As soon as she saw the pendant, she hugged me and started to cry.

"I'm your mom, Ellie! Oh, my dear Ellie!" she cried.

So, my real name was Ellie. Tears filled my eyes, and I hugged her tight.

A moment later, a middle-aged man exited the car, and I froze the second I saw him. It was William Cromwell, the CEO of Cromwell Group, where Owen worked.

I couldn't believe it. I was the missing daughter of the Cromwell family!

Mom told me that I went off to play one day when I was little and never returned. They searched for me for years but couldn't find me.

Grandma and I had been living in a small, secluded village. Back then, with limited means of communication, it was nearly impossible to track my whereabouts.

After Grandma passed away, I moved to the city, working part-time while finishing college.

Mom and Dad wanted me to come home with them, but I told them I was married and needed to head back first to tell Owen the big news and bring him along.

Mom was fine with that. She gave me her contact info and their address before dropping me off at my apartment.

I walked home, buzzing with excitement while picturing the look on Owen's face when I surprised him with the news.

But as I reached the door, I heard voices from inside, and the words hit me like a knife twisting in my chest.

"Just sign the agreement already." Mildred's voice rang out from inside.

"How am I supposed to tell her, Mom? What if she won't let me go?"

"What are you so afraid of? You're the only son in the Wade family—the one we're counting on to keep the name going. And besides, you've already got Rena pregnant. Are you seriously not going to make it official?" Mildred snapped.

That was when I heard a woman crying inside.

So that was why he'd been leaving early and coming home late. He'd been seeing someone else! And the other woman was none other than his second cousin!

I clearly remembered that Owen had necrospermia, so there was no way he could get anyone pregnant.

I rushed to the hospital, got his last medical examination report, and double-checked with the doctor, who confirmed it was congenital and incurable.

Right then, Mildred called, telling me I needed to come home immediately because she had something important to talk about.

I shoved the medical report into my bag, my mind racing with a whirlwind of emotions. It seemed like things were getting more interesting by the second.

When I got home, only Mildred was sitting on the couch. I looked around, but Owen and his mistress were nowhere to be found.

Mildred tossed an agreement at me, her voice cold and cutting. "Hurry up and sign it. The Wades have been a single bloodline for three generations. We're not keeping someone like you, a barren woman who offers nothing."

I picked up the agreement and skimmed it. I couldn't believe how heartless the Wades were!

I had given up my career and the best years of my life to marry a man who couldn't have kids, choosing to stay home as a full-time wife, swallowing my pride to keep the peace and build a happy family.

And now, here I was—betrayed by Owen, put down by Mildred for not being able to have kids, and being forced to divorce and leave with nothing.