After an unexpected miscarriage, I left my ward in search of Victor. I saw him inside the doctor’s office. Just as I was about to knock on the door, I overheard their conversation.

“Give my wife a hysterectomy. I don’t need her to bear me any children.” Victor Gayes pulled the woman beside him to face the doctor, his hand rubbing her belly. “The baby inside her belly will be my only child. You must protect it no matter what.”

I knew the woman very well. She was Victor’s secretary of three years, Rachel Aniston.

Victor reminded the doctor again and again, sternly and anxiously. “You have to give her the best medicine. I won’t allow anything to go wrong with this baby!”

I pulled my hand back, all my blood running cold.

To think Victor would do something so heartless to me, just after I lost our baby. To think my faith in him would become a dagger, stabbed straight into my heart.

If love had another face, it would probably be letting these feelings go with a smile.

I dragged my feet back to my room in a daze, the sight of Victor’s hand on Rachel’s belly replaying endlessly in my head. That scene overlapped with the memory of him placing his ear carefully to my belly after finding out I was pregnant.

I knew he wanted kids. I thought he loved me.

Now, his love felt so fake and cheap.

Every nurse on this floor looked at me with envy.

“I’ve never seen a man book the entire OBGYN department for his wife before.”

“He even hired twelve nurses to watch her 24/7!”

“You should’ve seen how hard he wept when he found out about the miscarriage.”

If I had not witnessed that scene at the doctor’s office, I would have felt like the happiest woman in the world. Now, their words were simply ironic to my ears.

When I was about to reach my room, I saw a basket of fruit flying through the door. The fruits smashed into rotten puddles on the floor.

“With all of you watching over her, how could you lose sight of her? What do I pay you for, you idiots?!”

It was my second time seeing Victor get upset over me. The first time was when I had a fever that would not break even after a night at the hospital. Back then, Victor seemed angry enough to beat up every doctor in the ward.

He even yelled that he would take down the entire hospital if they could not cure me.

I watched as he paced the room, ignoring the stains on his trousers despite his need for neatness. This time, however, I was not moved in the slightest.

“Victor, I just went to the washroom,” I said calmly.

As soon as he heard my voice, he turned around and walked up to me, helping me back into bed. “Nina, why didn’t you tell me before running off? You scared the hell out of me. I thought something happened to you…”

“I felt stiff after lying in bed all day, so I went for a walk,” I said coolly, instinctively pulling my hand out of his grasp.

Victor was not bothered at all, yelling at the nurses to give me an IV.

“I’m fine now. I don’t need any more IVs.” I could not forget what he said to the doctor, so I automatically rejected anything he gave me.

Usually, he would go with anything I said. Now, though, he uncharacteristically refuted my refusal. “No, you’ll get better with an IV. Once you heal up, we can have another baby.”

See? He knew I really wanted a baby.

I abruptly pulled my hand back and kicked him away from the bed. “No means no! What part of ‘no’ do you not understand?!”

Victor caught his footing before he fell, his gentle expression turning livid.

I lay down and covered my head in the blankets. I thought I could escape by refusing the drip, but I somehow still lost consciousness, my mind fading to black.

When I next woke up, three days had passed. I knew the worst had happened, but I still prayed for a miracle.

After hesitating for a long time, I pulled up my shirt. The bright red sutures on my stomach proved that it was too late. I stared at the ceiling helplessly, all the strength gone from my body.

Victor walked into my room and tucked me in tenderly when he saw I was awake. “You passed out that day, and the doctor diagnosed you with choriocarcinoma. They had no choice but to give you a hysterectomy.”

He even showed me the signed medical reports. If I had not overheard that conversation, I would have believed him wholeheartedly.

I rubbed the scar through my shirt. That surgery had robbed me of my uterus and my heart.

It was all because Victor betrayed me. I hated him with every fiber of my being.

He wiped the tears flowing down my face gently and soothed me. “I know you really wanted kids, Nina. We still have plenty of time. Once you recover, let’s adopt one!”

I was about to reply when the door opened. Rachel came in with a bouquet of flowers and a basket of fruits.

“Sorry to disturb you, Mr. and Mrs. Gayes. I’m here to visit Mrs. Gayes on behalf of the company.”

Rachel had been working for Victor for three years now. He was full of praise for her every time he mentioned her.

She was sexy, smart, and good at reading people. She had scored many contracts for the company, and Victor was fond of anyone who could earn the company money. The same went for me.

Victor just nodded coolly at her in lieu of a reply, his gaze never leaving me. I knew this was all just a show they were putting on to trick me.

“Thanks. I need some rest now.” I turned away, assuming Rachel would take the hint and leave. However, she grabbed a chair and sat next to Victor.

Victor massaged my back tenderly, while Rachel actually stood up and massaged his shoulders. The three of us caught the nurses’ attention as they gave us sideways looks.

Victor did not reject Rachel’s advances. In fact, he seemed to enjoy her preferential treatment.

The nurses left the room quietly, but I knew they would be full of gossip once they were out of earshot.

Rachel’s hands began to wander down Victor’s shoulders, creeping down to his chest and pausing on his abs. Victor frowned and glared at her, but Rachel only grew bolder as though receiving the green light.

Her hands weaved between his buttons, her soft touch pressed against his belly. Victor’s hands pressed down harder on my back.

I squeezed my eyes shut, not daring to move. I even fought to keep my breathing even.

Victor thought I had fallen asleep for real, so he pulled his hands back and pinched Rachel’s waist instead. Rachel leaned in for a kiss which Victor happily accepted.

My eyes narrowed, and I watched everything through the reflection in the window. My tears gradually drenched my pillow.

Victor seemed to be getting worked up. After a brief but passionate kiss, he glanced at me and dragged Rachel out of the room.

I held my breath and followed them to another room. The half-open door seemed to be mocking me, telling me how false Victor’s love had been.

Inside the room, Victor held Rachel by the throat, pressing her onto the bed. “I warned you not to try anything funny in front of Nina!”

Rachel giggled, her hands still fondling Victor’s chest teasingly. “But you’ve been with her for so long! The baby and I miss you…

“Don’t you want to have some fun here, Victor? You booked the entire floor, so no one will notice!”

Victor did not refuse. Rachel brought his hands down to her chest, and Victor bent down to kiss her neck.

“Be gentle, okay? The baby’s still tiny…”

“Shut up, don’t talk to me about self-restraint!”

I did not dare to watch anymore. When I turned and ran, I could still hear their moans echoing in my ears.

I never imagined they would dare to do it right under my noses like that. Reality was like a KO punch, knocking me to the ground.

I lay spreadeagled on the corridor floor, a pathetic mess.

“Are you alright, Mrs. Gayes? Did you hurt yourself anywhere?” Before long, a few nurses surrounded me. They exchanged looks and did not say anything, focusing on comforting me.

They probably knew that my husband Victor Gayes had betrayed me. He had even robbed me of my fertility.

I could not hold back my grief any longer. Once I was back in my room, I buried my face in the pillow and wept for ages.

At some point, I cried myself to sleep. When I woke up, Rachel was the only one by my bedside, her expression mocking me. “You know everything, don’t you? I’m pregnant with Victor’s baby, his only baby.”

Rachel picked up an orange and ate it, rubbing her belly as she taunted me.

“W-When did you start the affair?” I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms. The pain was nothing compared to the agony in my heart.

Rachel scoffed and held up three fingers. “Three years ago, when I joined the company. He didn’t bring you to a party, and I accepted many drinks on his behalf as his PA. That night, we ended up in bed together.

“He thought he betrayed you, so he wanted to pay me off. I told him I loved him, and I didn’t need him to acknowledge me in public. I volunteered to become his secretary instead, and he agreed.

“After that, he suddenly said he wanted to leave you all his money! I hate how stupid he is, but I couldn’t stop him. He secretly transferred all his assets to your name.”

I watched Rachel’s gradually distorting face, resisting the urge to slap him.

“Your marriage is such a joke. He thought he could enjoy the affair guilt-free once he gave you his money. I bet you didn’t know he comes to me every day because I live next door!

“Sometimes, he would even feed you sleeping drugs and sleep with me in the living room. You never woke up no matter how much I screamed!”

The paler I became, the more excited Rachel got.

“When you had that unexpected miscarriage, he was sound asleep in my room. He couldn’t give a rat’s ass about you.

“Nina Morgan, you should know your place and leave of your own accord. After all, I’m pregnant with his child.”

To think he repaid my consideration with such betrayal. I had assumed he was too busy with work that day, accepting his excuse when he missed my many calls for help.

The next day, he stood by my bed with reddened eyes, begging for my forgiveness. He said he was too tired and fell dead asleep. He said he even forgot to charge his phone, and it ran out of battery.

I was naive enough to believe him.

So much for being too tired. He was with another woman.

Rachel saw my dazed expression and assumed her ploy had succeeded. She held her phone screen to my face.

“Rest up. Tomorrow is our wedding, and you’re free to join us if you have the time. Here’s the address. Isn’t it familiar? It’s where you had your wedding too.”

Rachel left, humming a cheerful song. My heart hurt so badly that I gagged, and the next second I lost consciousness.

When I woke up after that, it was already nighttime. Victor held my hand tightly, his eyes red.

I remembered what had happened over the past few days and pulled my hand back with all my strength. I even wiped it on the covers repeatedly.

Victor blinked and then looked at me dejectedly.

“Do you remember our wedding vows?”

If we fell out of love, we swore to let go without holding back. If he lied to me, I would disappear from his life forever.

Victor nodded without hesitation. “Of course I remember. Did I do something to upset you? Or did someone say something to you?”

He leaped to his feet and roared at Rachel. “Who was here the past two days? Give me a list at once!”

Rachel looked at him calmly, as though she was used to this. “Only the nurses came in, and they left once they gave her the medication. Yesterday, I only dropped by to check on her while you were resting, out of concern for her.

“Mrs. Gayes, you shouldn’t overthink things and focus on recovering. Mr. Gayes is constantly worried about you, you know.”