I, Darcy Cowell, have been secretly married to my husband, Frank Winston, for seven years. He is the president of a company and has just hired a new assistant.

The new assistant, Johanna Scott, is well-behaved and has a voluptuous figure. Scandalous rumors about her and Frank quickly spread throughout the company.

Feeling uneasy, I seek Frank out for answers, only to overhear him telling his good friend over the phone. "I'm not interested in her. My wife, Darcy, will always be my only love."

I am filled with warmth and relief at those words.

A fire suddenly breaks out at the company banquet, and I get crushed under a falling cabinet. Yet, as my life hangs in the balance, Frank turns to run toward Johanna.

When I next regain consciousness, I find that I have survived but lost my unborn child forever.

This time, I truly lose all faith in Frank.

Our child is gone, and I want him gone from my life as well.

As the fire raged fiercely, I took my husband's hand and tried to rush out of the banquet hall with him.

However, Frank Winston shook me off and turned to run toward his assistant, Johanna Scott.

As I stood frozen in disbelief, the cabinet beside me collapsed with a rumble and pinned me beneath it. I yelled out for Frank, but he simply picked Johanna up and hurried off without a single glance back at me.

Flames and thick smoke enveloped me. I watched helplessly as Frank and Johanna moved further and further away until I eventually lost consciousness.

When I next regained consciousness, a doctor informed me that I had barely escaped death, but my unborn child was not so fortunate.

I stared blankly at the ceiling with tears streaming silently down my face.

I always had trouble conceiving throughout the seven years I had been secretly married to Frank. We had finally been blessed with a child after going through great pains.

I remembered how excitedly Frank hugged and kissed me back when he found out I was pregnant. He wanted nothing more than to tell the whole world that he was about to be a father.

I recalled how scandalous rumors had spread throughout the company after Johanna became his assistant. Yet, I had clearly heard him declare to someone over the phone back then that he would always only love me.

I also recalled how he had promised to announce my identity as his wife during the company banquet yesterday. Even after the banquet was over, he hadn't mentioned a thing.

In the end, he told me that he had forgotten about it.

I always assumed he was completely devoted to me. It wasn't until I saw him running toward Johanna without hesitation that I finally realized just how laughably foolish I had been to trust him.

My phone vibrated twice.

One of the notifications was a message from Frank. "Where are you right now, honey? You weren't hurt in the fire yesterday, were you?"

At the same time, Johanna also sent me a message. "Take good care of the baby, Ms. Cowell. Don't worry about me. Frank has been taking good care of me."

She had attached a photo of Frank sitting next to her hospital bed, considerately peeling an apple for her.

I clearly remembered him having mysophobia.

He once mentioned that he hated the sticky feeling of foreign matter on his fingers, so he always left the preparation of fruits to me.

Yet, Johanna had become the only person he would make an exception for.

I looked at the diagnosis report at my bedside, upon which the words "miscarriage confirmed" were clearly printed in large font.

After the tears on my face had completely dried out, I smiled as if a burden had been lifted from my shoulders.

I then contacted a lawyer and had him draft a divorce agreement.

This time, I had truly lost all faith in Frank.

Our child was gone, and I wanted him gone from my life as well.

After leaving the hospital, I headed to the office instead of going home.

I had worked as a jewelry designer at Frank's company for seven years and created numerous popular products for the company. I needed to retrieve some of the creative data that was still stored on my work computer.

However, after returning to the company, I realized that my workstation was covered with someone else's belongings.

The personal belongings I had placed on my desk had all been tossed into a tattered cardboard box in the corner.

I stopped a passing colleague, Timothy Elston, and asked blankly, "What's going on? Why has my workstation been occupied by someone else?"

Timothy replied, "Mr. Winston said that since you were pregnant, he'd let Ms. Scott take over your workstation while you were on maternity leave. Ms. Scott has also taken over as the company's creative director."

I was instantly frozen in place. Frank had never brought this up with me.

Timothy did not notice my reaction and continued without care, "Ms. Scott treats us all very well, and she's also very talented. The Sky's Heart necklace, which she newly designed, has been very well-received lately."

I immediately felt blood rushing to my head upon hearing the necklace's name.

Sky's Heart was evidently my design—my favorite design, in fact.

It was the product of countless revisions and two full years' worth of blood, sweat, and tears.

Additionally, the reason I had designed the necklace was because I hoped to one day give it to my child after they were born.

I looked at the pamphlet displaying the necklace inlaid with an aquamarine gem. The designer's name was clearly printed in the bottom right corner—Johanna Scott.

She had blatantly stolen my work just like that.

I shakily made a call to Frank.

Before he could say anything, I couldn't help but ask loudly, "Why didn't you tell me you'd given Johanna my job? She stole my necklace design! That's my work!"

Even though I was shouting at the top of my lungs, Frank simply sighed in annoyance. "Why must you be so petty? No matter who gets credited for the design, the profits from it belong to the company all the same.

"Moreover, you're pregnant and on maternity leave. Johanna's naturally just helping you finish up your remaining work so you can have a good rest."

I heard how choked up my own voice sounded, and my hand wouldn't stop trembling around my phone. "Is that so? That's two years of my blood, sweat, and tears, Frank! It's the present I'd prepared for our child!"

He rudely interrupted me. "Enough. What matters most right now is for you to take good care of the baby and stop worrying about unimportant matters like this."

He then hung up heartlessly.

Take good care of the baby. That was what Frank said.

I couldn't help but smile as I caressed my flat stomach.

He was still unaware that he had already effectively killed our child.

I gazed at the necklace that originally belonged to me, swallowed down my bitterness, and went to the company's HR department.

"Excuse me. I'd like to resign from the company."

I returned to Frank's villa and started packing my things. After being married to him for seven years, our house was filled with memories of our time together.

Yet, when I made the decision to leave, I realized there were very few things here that belonged to me.

At that moment, I noticed a commotion outside the villa.

Frank was back, and Johanna was with him. They entered the villa while bantering playfully with each other.

When Frank saw me, he casually told me about Johanna. "Johanna said that she studied medicine before and knows a lot about prenatal care, babe. She'll be staying at the villa to take care of you during this time."

I pursed my lips. "I don't need anyone to take care of me."

My child was gone, so why would I need prenatal care?

Frank assumed I was still throwing a tantrum and grabbed my hand with a frown. "Can you please stop making a fuss? It's just a necklace, right? Once the child is born, I can buy you as many as you want."

On cue, Johanna chimed in with a soft, aggrieved tone, "Do you not like me, Mrs. Winston? It's alright. I won't ever appear in front of you two again then…"

When he heard that she was leaving, Frank immediately grew anxious. "Johanna is such a kind-hearted person. Why are you so unreasonable, compared to her?"

He then quickly started trying to cheer Johanna up, completely disregarding the fact that his actual wife was standing right next to him.

I didn't want to deal with them anymore, so I turned to leave.

In the end, Johanna started staying in our villa as a nurse.

When Frank knocked on my bedroom door that night, I deliberately turned off the lights and pretended to be asleep.

Still, he came into the room and murmured in my ear, "Don't be angry anymore, alright, babe? I'll tell Johanna about the necklace and get her to name you as the designer instead. I'll also hold a new banquet next weekend and announce you as my wife then and there."

It just so happened that I would be leaving next weekend, but I didn't respond.

The lights were off, so he didn't notice that my room had been tidied up. He simply stood by my side for a long while before leaving.

Soon afterward, my phone chimed again. Johanna had gone to the trouble of recording a voice message for me.

"Of course. I can give her credit for the necklace, but… you'll have to compensate me well. You know…"

It was quickly followed by quick and labored breathing.

I gritted my teeth and turned off my phone, then pulled the blankets over my head. I wasn't going to listen to those nauseating sounds.