The Truth Beneath the Silk

So that was how it was.

Compared to them, I should have remembered that day more clearly.

I had been lying on an ice-cold operating table, using every ounce of strength I had to bring our hard-won child into the world.

Should I have been heartbroken, or relieved, knowing that at least I might have unknowingly witnessed the very moment they first met?

A dull ache throbbed steadily in my chest. I dug my nails into my palm, forcing myself to maintain a calm, professional expression.

"Ms. Greenfield, do you have any other requests for the wedding?"

Anna tilted her head, thought for a moment, then suddenly spoke up. "Oh, right. The entire floor has to be covered with imported cashmere carpets. My wedding dress is pure silk. My boyfriend bought it for me. It can't snag even a little. Money doesn't matter. My boyfriend has plenty of it."

I almost laughed when I heard that.

Victor. The poor student I had personally lifted up. The boy who once couldn't even scrape together five dollars, now a billionaire CEO. What took others twenty years to achieve, I helped him accomplish in just three.

Maybe I had made his path so smooth that he forgot where he came from and the person who paved the road for him.

As for that wedding dress, it was a luxury brand that required proof of assets just to place an order.

At the runway show, the amazement in Victor's eyes had been unmistakable. In that instant, I was certain the dress would be mine.

And then I received the brand's confirmation letter, informing me that the order had entered production.

Only the size was two sizes smaller.

I had assumed it was simply his miscalculation of my postpartum body.

Now I finally understood. The dress I could never fit into had never been meant for me.

I closed the folder. "I understand, Ms. Greenfield. I promise you a wedding that no amount of money could ever replace."

After smiling and seeing her out, I let out a cold laugh and called my best friend, who worked as a lawyer.

"Victor cheated," I said flatly. "I want him out with nothing. When it's done, everything under his name is your legal fee."

…

Less than half an hour later, the evidence of Victor's affair landed in my inbox.

Just two months' worth of material, yet nearly 100GB in total.

The first video was from the day I gave birth. Anna hadn't told the whole story.

At the very moment I was fighting for my life on the operating table, Victor had taken her to a hotel.

When I came out of surgery, he rushed back with his clothes in disarray, claiming he had gone out to buy me chocolate.

The second video was from our child's one-month celebration.

Someone, drunk, had held the baby improperly, causing a severe rash all over his body. He was rushed into surgery.

As I stood trembling in the hallway, Victor walked into another exam room and flirted softly with Anna, who was on the night shift.

The third video was from my postpartum recovery, the time he claimed he was away on a business trip.

The excuse had been laughably weak.

I owned the company. How could I not know whether there was a business trip or not?

But when I saw him jolting awake night after night from the baby's crying, exhaustion written all over his face, I felt bad for him. So I let him go out and relax.

I never imagined my understanding would give Victor and Anna exactly what they wanted. An uninterrupted trip, just the two of them, sweet and indulgent.

My hands shook as I held my phone and opened the longest video.

The moment it started, a piercing cry filled the room. I recognized it instantly. My son's cry.

My fingers trembled as I fast-forward the video.

Anna's syrupy voice drifted out. "You're really bringing your own son to me so I can practice inserting IV needles? Is that really okay?"

Victor answered casually, almost amused, "What's the problem? People are always giving you a hard time because your hand isn't steady enough. Practicing on mannequins is nothing compared to the real thing. If he can't handle a little pain, he doesn't deserve to be my son."

In the past, I had always believed Victor was a good father. From his early clumsiness to later skillfully burping the baby and changing diapers.

Especially after he started "traveling for work," he seemed even more attentive and experienced with the child.

That was why I had felt safe letting him take our son out alone.

The Wedding I Was Never Meant to Attend

I never imagined he could be so cruel to his own son.

In the video, Victor forced the child's limbs apart while Anna calmly drove needles into his small body.

My son's cries grew weaker and weaker, and my heart hurt so badly it felt like I couldn't breathe. I wanted to smash through the screen and kill that vile man and woman with my own hands.

Then, in the very next second, my phone rang.

I answered, and Anna's shy, sugary voice came through the line. "Ms. Shaw, the wedding may need to be moved up. My future mother-in-law had the date specially chosen for us. We'll get married in three days. It's the perfect timing. It'll help us conceive a child in one go."

Almost at the same time, Victor sent me a message.

'Honey, my business trip got moved up. I might have to leave as early as tomorrow. You and the baby stay home. I'll bring you both presents.'

I looked at the wallpaper on my phone, my son sleeping peacefully, his face soft and innocent, and suddenly, I smiled.

Since my husband's wedding was about to take place, how could I, the lawful wife and the wedding planner, possibly not attend?

…

I flew to Clairmont one step ahead of Victor.

The moment I landed and turned on my phone, his message popped up. 'Honey, how are you and our son doing?'

With a cold expression, I casually sent him a photo of me and the baby together.

He replied almost instantly, 'Our son looks so good. Honey, you're beautiful too. I don't even want to go on this trip anymore. I just want to come home and be with you both.'

I stared at those lines of text, a faint sneer tugging at my lips.

That photo was from last month. Back then, I wasn't this thin yet. My son was much smaller, too.

Victor had taken the photo himself, yet he didn't notice a thing.

…

On the wedding day, I stood behind the scenes in my role as the wedding planner.

Nearly all of Victor's relatives and friends were present. His mother moved briskly through the crowd, her face glowing with joy, attentive and considerate in every detail—the image of a flawless, loving mother-in-law.

Once upon a time, she had treated me the same way, as proof of how much the Langfords valued me.

The day Victor and I registered our marriage, it was during the pandemic. No guests. No banquet.

She had gripped my hand tightly, her voice thick with emotion. "It's our fault. We owe you so much. We'll make it up to you someday."

I wasn't used to staying in the countryside, so she spent thousands to book me a hotel in town.

When my morning sickness was severe, she tried every trick she could to cook food I might be able to swallow.

On the day I gave birth, she was the first to rush to my bedside, clutching my hand and crying as she said, "We're never doing this again. Children come at the cost of a mother. My heart aches for you. I don't want you to suffer like this ever again."

My own mother passed away many years ago. It was her deliberate care and protection that made me believe, for a fleeting moment, that I had found that long-lost maternal love again.

But now, standing beside Victor was Anna, smiling sweetly, while behind them stood Victor's mother, Olivia Parker, gazing at the couple with indulgent affection. They looked like a warm, happy family.

Only I stood apart, like an excluded stranger, completely unaware that I had already become an outsider.

So all that tenderness from before had been fake.

The bells rang, and the wedding began.

Under everyone's gaze, Victor held Anna's hand and walked to the center of the stage.

The wedding dress, the roses, the church, and Victor himself—it was all exactly as I had once imagined. Except the woman beside him wasn't me. It was Anna.

At Victor's request, the officiant stepped aside.

Victor was visibly emotional. He insisted on presiding over his own wedding.

"From the moment I first saw Anna, I've imagined this scene countless times," he said. "I believe that the nurse who comforted me outside the operating room deserves the very best wedding. That's why I spent two months giving her all of this. It's not that it took me two months to decide to marry Anna. It's just that preparing a wedding takes two months."

The audience burst into applause, deeply moved by this "ordinary yet great love."

I sat in the very last row, watching the affectionate man on stage and the delicate, charming woman beside him. If I didn't clap along, it would seem out of place.

Then Anna took the microphone, her voice trembling with emotion.

She said Victor was the best man in the world. When patients bullied her, it was Victor who stepped in to protect her.

A Wedding Drenched in Red

When her coworkers froze her out, it was Victor who stepped in to defend her.

"To meet a man like this," Anna said sweetly, "must be a blessing earned over several lifetimes."

Watching the two of them trade lines like a rehearsed duet made my stomach churn.

I had already found out the truth. Anna's nursing job had been bought. She didn't understand even the most basic medical knowledge.

She followed medication orders word for word and still managed to give patients the wrong drugs, making their conditions worse. In the end, her coworkers were always the ones cleaning up her mess.

But Victor didn't care about any of that. All it took was a few tears from Anna, and he was cruel enough to turn my son into a living teaching prop for her.

At that moment, Victor wrapped an arm around Anna's shoulders and turned to face the audience.

He was so overwhelmed with emotion that he even choked up, unable to speak for a second.

"Today," he finally said, voice trembling, "there's actually one more piece of good news to share. Anna is pregnant. We're about to welcome our first child."

The room exploded instantly. Gasps and cheers rose one after another.

Amid the noise, I clearly heard his uncle who had borrowed over two million from me laughing loudly. "Victor, you really are something! A thriving career, a happy family. You're the pride of the Langfords!"

Margaret, his aunt who once made me pull every string I had to send her daughter abroad, clapped her hands while wiping away tears. "This is wonderful. I could tell the moment I saw Anna that she was a lucky girl. And look at that. She's already carrying your precious child!"

Then there was Victor's younger brother, whose startup had failed again and again, every time relying on my connections to survive. He was so excited that he stood up straight from his seat. "Victor! Anna! Congratulations! I can't wait to welcome my first niece or nephew!"

Every single one of them had benefited from me in real, tangible ways. They had accepted my help, my favors, my kindness.

And yet, at this moment, not one of them remembered I existed. Not one of them spoke my name.

Just then, a five-year-old little cousin of Victor's suddenly piped up, her clear voice cutting through the flattery filling the room. "Shouldn't it be the second one? Vanessa already has a son."

Her innocent words drained all the color from Anna's face. She swayed and nearly collapsed into Victor's arms, her eyes darting in panic, brimming with guilt and grievance.

Victor himself froze for a split second. Then he recovered quickly, pulling her close as his expression turned icy. His voice sharpened without warning. "Only the child I acknowledge counts as my first. As for that other bastard, don't mention him again."

When I heard that, my nails dug deep into my palm.

All these years, because he said he wanted a child, I had suffered endlessly. Medication. IVF. Giving up my career. Everything I endured was for the sake of bringing our love into this world.

And in the end, all of it was dismissed with his casual words: that other bastard.

Olivia hurriedly stepped in, smiling as she tried to smooth things over. "Today is a day of celebration. Let's not bring up things that don't matter."

As she spoke, she shot Victor a meaningful look. "Victor, the wedding isn't over yet. Don't miss the precious moment."

Victor's expression slowly settled. He reached into his pocket and took out a diamond ring.

"Anna, before I met you, I never understood what love truly was. You taught me what marriage and having children really mean. Will you marry me and let me spend the rest of my life protecting you?"

Anna was already in tears. Trembling, she held out her hand. "I will. Victor, from this day forward, whether in good times or bad, I will stay by your side forever."

The instant they exchanged rings, a basin of dark red liquid poured down from above, drenching both of them on the stage with chilling precision.

The entire audience leapt to their feet in shock. Shouts rippled through the hall.

Victor wiped his face in a panic. When his eyes reappeared, they burned with fury.

"Where's the wedding planner?" he roared. "Who planned this disaster of a wedding?"

As my gaze swept over the two of them in their miserable state, I rose from my seat and walked forward at an unhurried pace.

"What's wrong?" I said calmly. "You're unhappy with the wedding personally planned by your lawful wife?"