Shattered Vows,I Saved Her Life, She Stole My Husband

Three months into my pregnancy, a woman appeared at my husband's side.

Mature, striking, dripping with confidence. Nothing like me.

Every time she parted ways with my husband, she seamlessly rejoined hers.

I asked her to meet me.

I slid the photos of her and my husband's private rendezvous across the table.

"Does your husband know you're sneaking around with mine?"

Her red lips curved upward.

"I remember you.

"You're the one my son keeps on the side, aren't you?

"I heard you're pregnant. Well, so is my daughter-in-law.

"The Vance family doesn't accept children born to mistresses."

A bank card slid across the table toward me.

"Ten thousand dollars. Get rid of it, and buy yourself something nice to recover."

——

I stared at the bank card, then looked up at the woman in disbelief.

I'd always assumed she was just an older woman. Well-maintained, sure.

But she was actually my husband Brad Vance's mother?

"I take good care of my skin. Sorry for the misunderstanding."

Claudia Abbott, Brad's mother, tilted her red lips into a thin smile.

"My son likes to play around with women. That's his business.

"But there's one rule: no bastard children.

"Ms. Simmons, I suggest you take care of it yourself."

My hands flew to my stomach.

"But we're married!"

"You mean the marriage certificate?"

A man's voice came from the doorway.

Claudia turned with a smile. "Honey."

The two shared a brief kiss.

The man sat down beside his wife, smiling.

"Young lady, that certificate was fake. He'd already legally married the other girl by then. He was afraid you'd cause a scene, so he had some friends of mine stage the whole thing.

"Don't take it personally."

I stared at the man in front of me.

A titan of the martial arts world.

A master-level swordsman.

Jacob Vance.

"Mr. Vance..." The name left my mouth before I could stop it.

Brad Vance, the boy my father had taken in and raised, his birth father was the Jacob Vance? The man I'd only ever seen on television?

If it was him, then staging a fake marriage registration would have been effortless.

I pressed my hands against my belly.

No words came.

"Our daughter-in-law is also three months along.

"The Vance family has rules. We don't accept children from women outside the marriage.

"Our son was lost to us for a time when he was young. He didn't grow up under our guidance, and when it comes to women, he lacks the discipline a Vance man should have.

"He's caused you trouble. I apologize on his behalf. But this child..."

Jacob Vance pointed at my stomach. "You'd best handle it yourself."

Claudia was escorted to the Maybach by Jacob.

I sat alone in the chair.

I watched him shield her head with his hand as she ducked into the passenger seat, then close the door behind her.

Every gesture careful. Attentive. Practiced.

Exactly the way Brad treated me.

There was one thing the Vance men passed down without fail.

They cherished their wives.

Up until an hour ago, I'd believed I was one of them.

Brad came home to find me on the couch. I'd been sitting there for three hours, not moving.

He leaned in to kiss me, same as always.

For the first time, I pulled away.

His handsome eyes crinkled with amusement.

"What's wrong? Jealous?"

I said nothing.

"You went to see her?"

I looked at him.

"Babe, there's nothing between me and her."

He reached out, one long arm pulling me into his chest.

"Of course there isn't." I let my lips curl. "What could there possibly be between a son and his mother?"

The arms around me went rigid.

I pulled out a report I'd printed at the county clerk's office.