On my fiftieth birthday, my grandson pouted when he saw the present I had given him and complained, “Grandma Cecil at the Emerald Manor has a cooler present for me. It was a Transformer toy that flies.”

I was confused by this remark.

Emerald Manor was one of the wedding gifts offered when I got married. My husband was not fond of this place because it was too far away from the city, so I have rarely been here as well, and it has been vacant ever since.

As we stood outside the manor, I could hear the cheery voices coming from inside the house. My husband and my adopted son were inside celebrating the birthday of the owner of the manor.

The Grandma Cecil my grandson referred to was the childhood sweetheart of my husband, Cecil Houston, who was married off far away a long time ago. She remained as beautiful as she once was and was snuggled in my husband’s arms, surrounded by my children.

I have dedicated myself to the Blightwells for two decades. This entire time, Cade has taken my commitment as nothing but a joke.

When I was reincarnated, I found myself on the wedding day. I listened to the clamoring noises and lifted the veil to see the commotion. It was time to start over.

On my fiftieth birthday, my grandson pouted when he saw the present I had given him and complained, “Grandma Cecil at the Emerald Manor has a cooler present for me. It was a Transformer toy that flies.”

I was confused by this remark.

Emerald Manor was one of the wedding gifts offered when I got married. My husband was not fond of this place because it was too far away from the city, so I have rarely been here as well, and it has been vacant ever since.

As I stood outside the manor, I could hear the cheery voices coming from inside the house.

“Mom, since your birthday is coming soon, I went ahead and had this pearl necklace specially made for you, do you like it?”

It was Liam's voice, the child I had raised for two decades. His voice had a deep affection that I had never heard before.

My husband’s voice came after that. “Your mother is very fond of pearls. You have picked the perfect gift for her. Cecil, I got this bracelet for you too. The gems fitted on it were harvested from South Africa. Take a good look at it and see how gorgeous it is.”

Finally, I heard my grandson’s voice. “Grandma, I wish you a long and prosperous life!”

A sweet, doting voice cooed, “Thank you. All of you are the best.”

The moment I heard the voice, I felt my head spinning. It was the voice of Cade’s childhood sweetheart, Cecil Houston. There was no way I could forget that familiar voice even if I tried.

On my wedding night with Cade, his childhood sweetheart had barged into the wedding and declared that she wanted to be Cade’s one and only lover. I was born into an upper-class family and had too much dignity to tolerate my husband having a lover who came before me.

My mother-in-law resolved the situation by getting Cecil married off far away. With that, I became Cade’s wife.

Even several years into the marriage, I could not get pregnant despite having taken all sorts of supplements and seeing countless doctors. One day, I laid on Cade's lap with tears in my eyes and expressed sorrowfully, “My dear, how about we get a divorce so you can marry someone else who can give you children? As the only child of the Blightwells, if I can’t give you children, the elders in your family are going to start complaining.”

Cade held me in his arms and whispered tenderly, “Don’t be silly. I love you and we’re never getting divorced. Even if you can’t get pregnant, we can just adopt. I will never leave you.”

I had bawled like a baby.

My parents have been incredibly grateful to Cade because of this. My father showed his appreciation by giving Cade all of his connections in the city, and in time, Cade became the most powerful man in Samara’s business circle.

Eventually, he brought a three-year-old child home and claimed that the child was adopted. I was told that the child’s parents had passed away and was a perfect fit for us.

When I noticed how much the child looked like Cade, I became enamored with him and named him Liam. I dedicated myself to becoming a good mother and raised him into a man. Then, we had him marry a lady from a reputable family.

Was it all a lie this entire time? Why was my son addressing someone else as his mother? Why was my grandson addressing the same woman as her grandmother? Why was Cecil in the house?

When the door swung open from the inside, the occupants of the house were stunned with silence upon recognizing me.

I saw a flash of panic in Liam’s eyes when he recognized me. He greeted me stiffly, “Mom.”

Cade looked up to face me with Cecil wrapped around his arms. I had to hold onto my assistant so that I didn’t faint.

When I stepped into the house, Cecil regarded me with a smug look in her eyes. “Why are you here?”

I ignored her and turned to Cade. “This house was given to me as a wedding gift. Cade, would you mind explaining what is going on here?”

Cade responded curtly, “Mia, since you’re here, I assume you already know everything. There’s no point asking a question you know the answer to.”

Cecil was never married off at all; Cade had been taking care of her this entire time. When he noted how the manor that was given to me as a gift was located in a quiet place with an exotic and serene view, he pretended to dislike the place so that I would not come here as well. With that, he had Cecil move in here, and she had been living here for the past two decades.

Cade got up. “Now that the cat is out of the bag, I might as well tell you everything. The reason you couldn’t get pregnant all these years is because I never wanted to get you pregnant. Cecil is the only woman I want to have children with.

“Now that you know the truth, I’m sure you are intent on getting revenge. That’s not going to happen since a dead person cannot spill any secrets.”

I felt a sharp throb of pain and clutched my hand against my stomach while hissing, “The tea is poisoned?”

Cade had been plotting this for a long time. This entire time, the boy I had raised was his and Cecil’s son. How could I have been so foolish?

“You have always been so arrogant just because you come from a rich family. I have always found you to be incredibly boring and have put up with you for so many years. You were the one who stole me away from Cecil, but now she’s going to take back what is rightfully hers.

“I wasn’t going to do this to you and was going to wait until after your father died. Well, you can only blame yourself for digging your own grave.”

The pain in my abdomen grew sharper at this point. I turned to Liam, who had handed me the tea, and groaned his name, “Liam.”

Liam put his hand on Cecil and glared at me. “Don't you dare talk to me. She is my mother! You are the reason I could not be with my real mother for twenty years! It’s time for you to rest forever.”

The agony in my stomach cut through me like a knife. Soon, blood spurted out of my mouth and nose. I shot a vengeful look at Cade, Cecil, and Liam who were all huddled together before I closed my eyes for one last time.

When I opened my eyes again, I realized I had reincarnated. I found myself dressed in a wedding gown. I had returned to my wedding day with Cade.

“I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride,” the pastor announced.

“Mia, I am Cade’s true lover, not you!” A shrill voice cut through the scene.

Everyone turned in the direction of the voice. Without even having to look, I knew it was Cecil.

She climbed on stage with tears stirring in her eyes, looking every bit as dainty and beautiful as always. She turned to me. “Mia, I know I should not have come here but at the same time, I know I was going to regret this forever if I didn’t do this.

“I have nothing but pure love for Cade. I don’t want any titles. Just let me see Cade now and then. Will you at least let me have that?”

Cade's expression froze. “What are you doing here? Someone, take her away!”

“Wait.” I lifted my veil and stopped him.

I fixed a look on the young Cecil after that. In my previous life, I had forbidden her from staying in Somara by getting her wedded somewhere far away. This was what gave Cade a chance to keep her as a mistress for two decades.

I slowly marched toward Cecil. The wedding gown I was wearing was designed by the most famous designer in Somara and took a year to complete. It was an exquisite gown made with the finest craftsmanship and inlaid with countless pieces of diamonds.

When I stopped in front of Cecil, the reflective glow of the diamond seemed to blind her eyes. “If you say you are Cade's sweetheart and are in love with him, why aren’t you the one he’s marrying?”

Her eyes were swelled with tears as she retorted, “He’s only marrying you because of your family background. Do you think he truly loves you?”

I remained calm and composed. “Alright, then. If Cade confesses in front of me that he loves you and does not want to marry me, I will call off the engagement immediately. Go ahead. Ask him! I would hate to tear apart a pair of lovers.”

Everyone below the stage started to murmur among themselves. They were astounded that the eldest daughter of the Lynotts was not upset by such a disturbance on her wedding day. Any other bride would have kicked up a storm if something like this happened.

“The Blightwells are outrightly disrespecting the Lynotts. How could they have allowed Cade’s lover to interrupt the wedding of all days?”

“I can tell just by looking at that girl that she’s the indecent kind. If a mistress showed up on stage at my family’s wedding, we would have dragged her behind the stage and beat her up.”

My mother-in-law's expression darkened as she glared at Cecil.

Cecil turned to Cade expectantly. “My dear, why don’t you tell her that we are in love? Nobody can separate us from being together.”

Cade regarded her dully and clenched his jaw tightly. “Why are you here causing a scene? Haven’t I told you I will talk about what happens between us later on? You have always been obedient. What’s with this behavior? Come on. Take her away!”

With that, two bodyguards rushed up on stage and carried Cecil out of the hall. She continued to cry out, “Cade, you said you would marry me!”

After the wedding ended, I returned backstage and wondered if Cecil was going to double down.

“I have already told her that we are breaking up and that you are the only one I love from now on, so don’t listen to her nonsense. Now that I have married you, I will not be involved with any other woman.”

I sneered to myself. The reason Cecil was so bold in the first place was because Cade spoiled her.

I put a hand over his mouth. “My dear, we are now husband and wife. I have your back no matter what. I will not let anyone badmouth you, and even if the one you love is your childhood sweetheart instead of me, I…”

I teared up at this point.

Cade gently embraced me. “Don't worry, I will not mistreat you. I know that your feelings for me are genuine.”

As Mia Lynott, I was blessed with beauty and wit, enough to charm all of the young men from the upper class of Somara. I knew how to use my appearance to get sympathy, and just as I expected, Cade was quick to respond to my grievances.

While he took me into his arms and started to whisper sweet nothings to me, his phone rang.

It was Cecil crying for help. “Cade, my stomach hurts. Help me.”

Just as I expected, the troublemaker was here again. Cade’s expression fell immediately.

When he gave me a wry look, I set aside my wineglass and prompted him gently, “Go on and see her just in case it’s something serious. Just make sure that the housemaids keep quiet about this. We don’t want anyone hearing about you slipping away to see another woman on your wedding night.”

A thought suddenly came to Cade upon hearing this. He dismissed Cecil on the phone, “Go to a doctor if you have a stomach ache. I'm not a doctor. What do you expect me to do?”

Then, he hung up on her before hugging me again. “Don't worry, my dear. Today is our wedding night and I'm not going anywhere. I’m going to be with you.”

I snuggled into his arms.

The next day, we went to see his parents.

When I walked into the courtyard, I saw Cecil who was punished with having to stand in the courtyard. Cade seemed to take pity on her the moment he met her.

Cecil turned up to him with tears in his eyes and apologized, “Cade, I didn't mean it yesterday.”

Cade turned to his mother. “Mom, what is this about?”

My mother-in-law set aside the teacup before stating, “When her parents passed away and she had no one to take care of her, I decided to take her in out of pity. I didn’t give her a proper education and a roof over her head just so she could turn around and soil our family’s reputation! How could she cause such a scene on your wedding night and put my daughter-in-law in such a difficult spot?

“Do you know the entire city has heard about what happened yesterday? Have you thought about what you are going to say to Mia’s father when you meet him?

“I knew I had to put this brat in her place before she starts getting ahead of herself and thinking that she can bend us to her will. What a fool!”

Cade's expression sank. Everyone in Somara knew how much my father spoiled me and that he would not take the incident last night very kindly. Now that Cade managed to marry me, he knew he was toeing a fine line.

At this point, Cecil suddenly doubled over and started dry retching.

Cade grew frantic. “Cecil, what's wrong? Hurry up and call a doctor!”

Cecil collapsed into his arms with the color drained from her face and started to whimper, “Cade, I feel so awful. Am I going to die?”

Cade embraced her tightly. “Don’t be silly, I'm here with you. I won't let anything happen to you.”

Soon, the doctor showed up. Upon inspecting her condition, he announced brightly, “Congratulations, you are two months pregnant.”

As expected.

A pregnancy would usually be something worth celebrating, but not in this particular case. Cade had just gotten married and his past lover had gotten pregnant—something most upper class families would never permit to happen.

Cecil squirmed shyly and hardly paid attention to Cade and his mother’s reactions. All she did was put a hand over her belly and turn to Cade. “Cade, it’s our baby.”