Everyone’s calling me a homewrecker because I stole my twin sister’s fiancé. But what they don’t know is that this was all an elaborate scheme orchestrated by my sister… all because she can’t have children. I’m getting divorced. My husband, or soon-to-be ex-husband, is named Lucas Parker. He’s a high-level executive at a publicly traded company – respectable job, respectable looks. The only thing not so respectable about him is his wife – me, Olivia Reed. Because I’m the “other woman”, the one who stole her own twin sister’s fiancé. Everyone who knows Lucas is aware of this fact. Ever since I married Lucas, I’ve often been the target of mockery and disdain. I’ve grown used to it. Even if Lucas and I didn’t have this messy entanglement, I was frequently the object of ridicule anyway. And it’s all thanks to my sister, Emily Reed. I’m not sure what kind of relationship she truly had with Lucas, or if there were real feelings involved. But they were officially boyfriend and girlfriend for seven years. If I had to guess why Emily pursued Lucas, I’d say it was probably just to spite me. Emily and I are identical twins. We look very much alike, but our personalities couldn’t be more different. According to our mom, Emily is the perfect lady – gentle, virtuous, and well-mannered. I, on the other hand, am the family disappointment, the black sheep. I have no comment on that assessment. Emily hates me, and I can’t say I’m particularly fond of her either. From a very young age, I was always a loner. I vaguely remember having many friends when I was little, but those friendships never lasted long. Whenever I made a new friend, it wouldn’t be long before they became Emily’s close friend instead. Eventually, I just stopped trying to make friends altogether. Back then, I’d often overhear people gossiping nearby: “Emily, you’re twins, but how come your sister looks so… unpleasant in comparison?” Every time, Emily would smile that fake smile of hers and explain, “Oh no, my sister is fine.” Then when I wasn’t looking, she’d flash a smug grin in my direction. As a teenager, I still had some of that youthful defiance in me. I really couldn’t stand her two-faced act. So I felt I had to get back at her somehow, and my attitude towards Emily grew increasingly hostile. The angrier I got, the more pleased she seemed. In the end, of course, I became the villain, while she was the poor little princess everyone sympathized with. I scoffed at this, trying not to let it bother me. I figured I could just keep my distance. But I never imagined Emily’s malice towards me ran so deep that she’d set me up even on my wedding day. In my youth, I had someone I liked too. But due to my insecurities and tendency to keep to myself, I could only bury those feelings deep in my heart. That guy looked so handsome in a white dress shirt. I remember secretly peeking at his profile in the library, hiding behind a book. He was different from the other boys in our class. His eyes were warm and gentle when he smiled. But now those same eyes look at me with nothing but venom, devoid of any emotion besides resentment. I’m sure you’ve guessed by now – he’s my current husband, Lucas Parker. Back then, I thought I had hidden my feelings well. I believed no one knew about my secret crush. But not long after, rumors about me having a crush on him spread all over campus. I panicked and tried to distance myself, thinking if I just avoided him, the gossip would eventually die down. But I never expected that the next time I paid attention to Lucas, he was already dating Emily. Emily even had the audacity to claim that all those rumors about me liking Lucas were false, because she was the one who truly liked him, not me. The implication was that Lucas had fallen for the wrong person, and that I wasn’t worthy of him at all. Although I didn’t believe her, everyone else seemed to. So I forced myself to believe it too. Later on, probably because of Emily, I started seeing Lucas more often. But the way he looked at me grew increasingly disgusted. There was even one time when he asked to meet me alone. Before I could ask why, he got straight to the point: “Even though you and Emily are twins, I only like Emily. Emily’s been too nice to say it to your face because you’re her sister. But I’m different. I’m telling you to give up on me for good.” I was completely stunned. What was this about? I’d been going out of my way to avoid them when they came over for dinner. What more did he want me to do? To be honest, hearing the person you like directly tell you they dislike you – even someone with skin as thick as mine was genuinely hurt for a long time. But in the end, I healed on my own. Because no one came to comfort me.
On my 23rd birthday, Emily was uncharacteristically enthusiastic about celebrating with me. Based on what I knew of her, I suspected she was up to no good. But after being ignored for so many years, suddenly receiving warmth from my parents and old friends – I found myself craving it. Because of that small desire, I walked right into a trap. You might not be able to imagine how cruel a woman can be when she sets her mind to it. Emily showed me exactly what that looks like. On my birthday, I was dressed like a princess in a designer gown. My parents were there, and even some of my old friends showed up. Because of Lucas and Emily’s relationship, I wasn’t surprised to see Lucas there as well. I sang “Happy Birthday” with everyone, feeling a bit awkward as I made my wish. That day, I secretly told myself that no matter how difficult the past had been, I was ready to make peace with it all. Because I still had my family. Since it was my party, I inevitably drank too much. The next time I woke up, it was to Emily’s piercing screams. I looked groggily at Emily, then at my dad and mom. Their expressions were all different – Emily’s eyes held disappointment, while my parents looked furious. Feeling scared, I asked them, “Mom, Dad, what’s wrong?” “Don’t call me Mom. I’m not your mother,” my mom said as she strode over and slapped me across the face. My head was spinning – I still couldn’t grasp what was happening. As I was slowly coming to my senses, I heard a derisive snort beside me. I turned to look – it was Lucas. Suddenly everything clicked, and I lifted the covers. The evidence of our intimacy was unmistakably displayed all over my body. It was over, I thought to myself. Lucas was very calm. He got up and got dressed, then looked down at me condescendingly. “Olivia Reed, I always knew you were devious. But I never imagined you’d stoop so low. Emily was kind enough to throw you a birthday party, and this is how you repay her? By getting drunk and crawling into my bed?” “I don’t remember anything,” I tried to defend myself. But Lucas’s scorn only deepened. “Olivia Reed, do you think we’re all idiots? Look around – this is my room, far away from yours. If you didn’t do this on purpose, how did you end up here?” At that, I looked up at Emily, and everything became clear. How ironic that just yesterday I was thinking about making peace with the past. I said nothing, just quietly got up and got dressed. Because I knew that anything I said would be useless. When I went out to the living room, it was full of people – everyone who had been at my birthday party. They all knew about my one-night stand with Lucas. Unsurprisingly, their faces were full of contempt and disdain. They didn’t even try to hide their mocking voices as they spoke: “How shameless, sleeping with your own sister’s boyfriend.” “I always knew she was no good, but I didn’t realize she was this awful.” “If you ask me, she’s just desperate. Aren’t there any other men out there? Even rabbits know not to eat close to home.” … For a moment, I thought about ending it all. But in the end, I still clung to life. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here now. As the memories faded, I recalled how Lucas had acted so nobly that day, saying he would marry me. It was laughable. Emily had said she found him “tainted” now, putting on an act of being hurt yet magnanimous as she told him to take responsibility for me. If I hadn’t caught her secret smirk directed at me, I might have really believed she had my best interests at heart.
Lucas and I have been married for five years, and there hasn’t been a single day without arguments. During these five years, Emily has become like the air in our home – everywhere and inescapable. I developed severe depression. I toss and turn at night, unable to sleep, losing clumps of hair. But no one knows about this. After marrying me, Lucas hardly ever comes home. He leaves me alone in this house to fend for myself. Because he has to keep Emily company – I heard she developed serious depression because of what happened between Lucas and me. Speaking of which, Lucas even got physical with me once over Emily’s depression. Because I often couldn’t sleep, I developed a habit of drinking heavily. One night when I came home late, the house was dark. Suddenly I felt something yanking at me, dragging me outside. In my drunken state, I managed to open my eyes and saw Lucas pulling me by my hair. “Lucas Parker, are you insane?” I yelled. “If it weren’t for you, Emily wouldn’t be depressed and suicidal. She’s in such bad shape at the hospital, and here you are partying at bars?” Lucas snarled through gritted teeth, sounding so self-righteous. I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly inside. I kicked Lucas away and finally snapped. “If you were really so great, you wouldn’t have ended up in bed with me. You can act all high and mighty now, but you’re only fooling those idiots out there. Lucas Parker, don’t tell me you didn’t recognize me that night. I may have been drunk, but you certainly weren’t. Now you’re acting like some chaste martyr – who are you trying to impress?” Lucas froze. I had guessed correctly. After all these years of liking him, I finally realized he was nothing but a hypocrite in sheep’s clothing. Because of my bad reputation, he had the audacity to make me take all the blame just to protect his own dark desires. On what grounds? I had never wanted to escape this prison as badly as I did in that moment – to go somewhere far away from Emily. I don’t know if her depression is real or not. But my condition is no better than hers. It’s just that I’ve never shown anyone my medical reports. Otherwise, I suspect she would have driven me to suicide by now. Lucas looked a bit defeated. He stopped pulling at me and sat down on the couch, lost in thought. To be fair, he’s never actually abused me physically. I actually kicked him several times just now. Maybe because this fight got particularly ugly, Lucas seemed to tone things down after that. He started ignoring me instead of constantly berating me like before. I suspect it’s because I called him out that night and exposed what was really in his heart. He wasn’t as devoted to Emily as he claimed to be. Lucas and Emily had been together for years without being intimate – Emily told me this herself. She used to brag about how she could keep a man completely devoted without using her body. That man was Lucas Parker. In a way, I felt a bit sorry for Lucas. But I didn’t think he was pitiable. He chose to be willfully blind in the name of love. I couldn’t say anything about that – you can’t wake someone who’s pretending to be asleep. I’m not sure if Emily’s condition has improved. I’ve blocked my parents’ numbers – since they wanted to cut ties, let’s keep it that way. These days, I’ve been thinking about what I really want. I used to want Lucas – that’s been true ever since I first met him. But now I don’t want him anymore. The price I’ve paid for this has been too high. But I never considered divorce. Maybe I hadn’t completely given up hope yet. Sometimes I wonder, if I got divorced, where would I go? In this vast world, I have nowhere to call home. I blocked Emily’s number too, but I know she and Lucas are still in contact. Later, I started frequenting bars, but I only drank – no flirting. The bartender at one place was quite nice. He not only mixed great drinks, but also helped me out of some sticky situations a few times. He was tall, handsome, and seemed very reliable. Maybe because people saw him looking out for me, rumors started spreading in that bar that I was his mistress. The stories got wilder and wilder. He never explained, and I couldn’t be bothered to say anything. After all, I barely knew any of them. But you always have to pay the price for your actions. Some people will come after you even if you don’t provoke them – like Emily. The day I ran into her and Lucas, I had gone to the bar as usual and ordered a bottle. Emily walked in on Lucas’s arm, appearing right in front of me. Lucas’s eyes were dark and unreadable. I glanced at him once, then ignored them. Nothing good ever came from those two being together. But Emily wasn’t about to let it go. She was clearly here to humiliate me. She sat down next to me and said, “Sister, why are you ignoring me? Lucas and I – I mean, my brother-in-law and I – just happened to be passing by when we saw you drinking here.” “What, you want a drink too?” I asked Emily. “Oh no, I can’t drink. The doctor says it’s not good for my health right now.” “Then hurry home and rest. You’re so delicate – if you get sick again, you’ll find some way to blame me, and I won’t be able to defend myself.” While I was talking to Emily, Lucas hadn’t come over. But I didn’t care. I was already over Lucas. The bar owner muttered to the bartender: “So that pretty regular isn’t your girlfriend after all.” That comment seemed to spark something in Emily. She turned to the bartender and said, “My sister is already married. That man over there… is my brother-in-law.” I felt incredibly awkward. I had barely interacted with the bartender, but now he was being dragged into this mess. Looking at him, I felt a bit guilty. But he didn’t seem to mind. He just smiled and asked Emily, “Is that so? But what does that have to do with me? Just like how no one cares why a sister-in-law would be hanging on her brother-in-law’s arm in a place like this.” “That’s because you don’t know why I ended up like this. If your boyfriend was stolen by your own sister, you wouldn’t be saying that about me.” Emily’s voice got louder. The people around us immediately changed the way they looked at me. Some who had tried to hit on me before now had contempt in their eyes. But that bartender seemed naturally unsympathetic towards women. He glanced at Lucas and said, “You two actually look well-matched. From what I can see, I don’t think your boyfriend was stolen. You seem more like you’re here to show off. If your boyfriend was really stolen, you should know how hurtful it is to be the other woman. But you’re still interfering in their marriage. I don’t think you’re as innocent as you claim.” “You…” Emily bit her lip, looking a bit hurt. She turned back to give Lucas a pitiful look. Lucas was about to step in, but he was clearly annoyed too. The relationship between him, me, and Emily was supposed to be a private matter. But Emily had just aired it all out in front of so many people. Lucas had always cared about saving face – how could he not be upset? But the bartender wasn’t done. He smiled and continued, “Your acting skills really aren’t very good. People who work in bars long enough have seen it all. You’re living too fake a life.” With that, he turned and went into the back room behind the bar. Emily had probably never been shut down like that before. Her eyes were brimming with tears. She turned, wanting to seek comfort from Lucas. This time, Lucas actually stepped away from her a bit. He looked at me. I met his gaze, took a sip of my drink, and said nothing. Emily tried to say something else, but Lucas came over to me first. He grabbed my wrist and said, “You’ve had too much to drink. Let’s go home.” I didn’t protest. I left with him. The whole way home, Emily sat in the driver’s seat, chattering away about something. Lucas would occasionally respond, but not much. I don’t know why he was acting so strangely today, but I couldn’t be bothered to think about it. I leaned back in the rear seat and slowly drifted off to sleep. To be honest, this was the most at ease I’d felt in a long time. At the bar, I kept wondering if that bartender would end up pointing fingers at me like everyone else. I have to admit, Emily is very skilled. After all these years, I’ve grown so afraid of her taking things from me. Lucas dropped Emily off at home first, but he didn’t stay. I could tell Emily was extremely unhappy about this, but Lucas didn’t give in. It was quite novel. I didn’t particularly want to watch this scene, but as we were about to drive off, Emily woke me up. She had that look on her face like she was about to cry, trying to get Lucas to stay. I unbuckled my seatbelt and said to the lovebirds, “You two carry on. I’ll take a cab home.” I was about to get out of the car when Lucas locked the doors. He said to Emily, “She’s drunk. I need to take her home first. We’ll talk tomorrow.” And so we drove away, leaving Emily with a resentful look in her eyes. I didn’t say anything, and neither did Lucas.
We arrived home quickly. I went straight to take a shower. When I came out, I saw Lucas sitting on the living room couch, already cleaned up. He doesn’t usually come back here. I’ve been the only one sleeping here. I was surprised he stayed today. I glanced at him but had no desire to talk. I was heading to the bedroom when he followed me in. I was about to ask what he was doing when he pushed me onto the bed. “Lucas Parker, have you lost your mind?” I snapped. “Olivia Reed, you’re a married woman. What’s going on between you and that bartender?” Lucas accused me first. I felt like I understood him less and less. He was all touchy-feely with Emily, and now he was trying to make it look like I was the one having an affair? I struggled hard, but Lucas wouldn’t let me go. He kept pressing against me, slamming into me over and over. This was the second time I’d been with Lucas, while I was fully conscious but completely unwilling. The strange thing was, Lucas was also fully conscious this time. I wonder what Emily would think if she knew. Afterwards, Lucas actually held me and cleaned me up a bit. I thought he must be possessed or something. How else could he suddenly be so gentle with me? Shouldn’t he hate me to death? After that night, Lucas started coming back to our house frequently. He didn’t treat me like before anymore. I don’t know what happened between him and Emily, but he stopped mentioning her to me. After being neglected for so many years, Lucas’s sudden kindness made me start to fall for him again. I even began to feel something called hope. I never went back to that bar after that day. Lucas came home every day after work. We ate together, slept together, watched movies, kissed, made love – it was passionate and intense, like we couldn’t get enough of each other. I was completely addicted. If only I hadn’t gotten pregnant. If only I hadn’t overheard Lucas talking to his parents later. Then I wouldn’t have felt so desperate. I got pregnant a year and a half after marrying Lucas. When I got the test results, I cried. Lucas stood next to me, a flash of complexity in his eyes. I didn’t pay attention to it. I thought that with this baby, we would surely have our own little family in the future. Lucas’s parents’ attitude towards me gradually improved too. But I could tell that every time, they were more concerned about my belly than me. Pregnancy made me very sleepy. Eventually, his parents simply moved into our little home. At the time, I was still daydreaming about how wonderful our big family life would be in the future. Looking back now, I was truly foolish. When I was about five months pregnant, Lucas treasured me dearly. That should have been my happiest time. If I hadn’t discovered the truth, I really would have believed that love could grow over time. One stuffy night, I carefully got out of bed and slowly went downstairs for some water. I was feeling lazy, so I didn’t turn on the lights. Standing at the corner of the staircase, I saw several people sitting in the living room, planning something. It was just like that time before I married Lucas. My parents, Lucas’s parents, Lucas, and Emily were all huddled together, whispering about something that sent chills down my spine. It turned out Emily couldn’t have children anymore. For all this time, the reason she hadn’t come to bother me was that she had made a deal with Lucas and the others. They wanted me to get pregnant and have the baby, then divorce me. That way, they could all be one big happy family again. Because Emily couldn’t have children, she didn’t mind Lucas being with me for a while. But she had one condition – the child I gave birth to would be raised by her. She wanted both the baby and Lucas. Shockingly, Lucas had agreed to this absurd proposal. How foolish of me to think Lucas had had a change of heart. I thought he had finally realized I wasn’t as bad as Emily made me out to be, and that Emily wasn’t as pure and innocent as she seemed. They must want me dead, right? That was my first reaction. Then I collapsed to the floor, making a loud noise. Everyone turned to look at me, their expressions varied. My mom seemed like she wanted to scold me, but I couldn’t hear anything clearly. My consciousness was fading, and I felt a sticky liquid flowing between my legs. In a daze, I think I saw Lucas rush towards me, his face anxious as he picked me up and carried me out. This child must be so important to him, I thought as I lost consciousness.
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