My husband cheated on me. His mistress brazenly approached me with their love child, mocking me for being a barren woman and telling me to step aside. Later, watching my husband kneel before me begging for forgiveness, I didn’t get angry. Instead, I gently suggested, “Why don’t we register the child under my name?” “The child in this photo is Jack’s and my son.” I calmly observed the young woman sitting across from me. She was pretty and petite, not looking at all like someone who was already a mother. If only her smug and arrogant expression could be ignored, it would be even better. I stared at her delicate face, thinking to myself. The Jack she mentioned was my husband. Being suddenly told that your husband has a child with another woman feels absurd, but I chose not to make a scene. On the contrary, I remained rational. I listened coolly as the young woman across from me recounted how she met my husband, fell in love, and gave birth to the fruit of their love. “So?” Out of politeness, I had patiently waited for her to state the purpose of seeking me out, but she kept going on and on about her love story with Jack Thompson. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I finally couldn’t help but ask. “You… you…” She looked at me in shock, as if she hadn’t expected me to say that. She was completely stunned. Under her shocked gaze, I elegantly took a sip of the coffee in front of me. She quickly regained her previous arrogant demeanor. “Hmph, Jack told me you had a miscarriage before, and you probably can’t have children in this lifetime. “Now that I’ve given Jack a son, what right do you have to still hold the title of Mrs. Thompson when you’re just a barren woman? “If I were you, I’d voluntarily divorce him. You might even get some money out of it. Better than ending up kicked out with nothing, just an old hag that no one wants.” I didn’t expect Jack to even tell her about my infertility. But what she doesn’t know is that I was once pregnant. It was Jack’s and my first child. At the time, I didn’t know I was pregnant. I was busy accompanying him with work and social engagements, and due to overexertion, I miscarried. It damaged my body, and since then I’ve had a tendency to miscarry. I remember Jack swearing to me in front of my parents. “Emma, don’t worry. Even if we never have children in this lifetime, I will love you forever. If I ever cheat on you, may I die a terrible death.” My parents, who had never liked him, weren’t moved by these words. Their expressions only grew heavier. I was the only one who was touched. Thinking about it now, I was so foolish. To believe such words. I chuckled lightly and said, “You want to be Mrs. Thompson? Then you shouldn’t be coming to me, you should go to Jack. It seems he doesn’t know you came to see me, right? “You may be younger and prettier than me, but so what? His success today is because of me, because of my family! “Why don’t you go ask him if he dares to divorce me for you and this illegitimate child? Does he dare?” With that, I took out my wallet, placed some cash on the table.
“I’ve paid for the coffee. You should keep the money you’ve earned as a homewrecker and mistress for yourself.” Having said that, I ignored her murderous glare, picked up my bag, and left the coffee shop. Leaving the cafe, I found myself in a daze at a private hospital. Today was originally the day I was supposed to pick up my medical report. After that miscarriage, I became very concerned about our health. At first, he would accompany me to get the medical reports, but in the past two years he always said he was too busy and let me go alone. He trusted me completely with this task. Now that I think about it, he was probably just too lazy to ask. “Emma, here’s your medical report. There’s nothing wrong, but Jack’s situation isn’t good. Why do you look so upset?” my best friend Lily asked with concern. She’s a doctor at this hospital, which is owned by her family. I wanted to put on a brave face and maintain my dignity. But at that moment, seeing my caring best friend, I couldn’t hold back the hurt in my heart any longer. My voice was choked with tears as I spoke: “Lily, Jack cheated on me. He even had a child with another woman. What should I do? How could he do this to me? “He said he didn’t care if we had children or not, that he would love me forever.” From childhood to adulthood, I rarely cried because my life had always been smooth sailing. Even after marrying Jack and going through some hard times, I still had my parents’ help and support. But now, I hated myself for being so weak, yet the tears still flowed uncontrollably. Jack and I were college classmates and have been married for seven years. In these seven years, we experienced the sweetness of passionate love, but that passion eventually faded into calm. I should have realized earlier that behind any calm surface, there are always turbulent undercurrents hidden beneath. Seeing me cry uncontrollably, Lily frantically tried to wipe away my tears. “That bastard Jack actually dared to cheat on you behind your back. Emma, don’t cry. Let’s divorce him! “I knew he was no good when he persuaded you to sneak your ID to get married. I felt he wasn’t a good person. These past two years he’s been so busy he can’t even spare the time to accompany you to get medical reports. But you just loved him so much, you wouldn’t listen to anyone. “I was wondering how to comfort you, but now it seems there’s no need. Karma! Jack Thompson deserves this!” Indeed, when I first introduced Jack to Lily, she didn’t like him. She always believed Jack wasn’t good enough for me, and I often defended him to her. I’m an only child from a wealthy family, pampered since childhood. I hardly encountered any difficulties or setbacks growing up. In college, I met Jack. After a few encounters, he started pursuing me. Having never dated before, I fell into the whirlpool of love. Blinded by love, I secretly married him right after graduation, persuaded by his sweet talk. Although my parents were angry with me, they reluctantly accepted him due to the circumstances. For my sake, my parents not only provided financial support but also introduced business connections, giving him the greatest support and boost in his career. During the early days of the company, I accompanied him in working overtime and attending business events. Later, as the company gradually got on track, I retreated behind the scenes, becoming what outsiders saw as the pampered Mrs. Thompson. Before meeting this woman, I had always been grateful that I hadn’t misjudged him. Now I see that Lily’s judgment of people was indeed accurate, at least better than mine. I was wrong, terribly wrong. Just then, my phone rang. It was Jack’s mother, my mother-in-law. “Where have you been? I found a folk remedy from my hometown. The master said it can cure your illness. Hurry back home from wherever you are and drink it while it’s hot, so you can give our Thompson family a child.” Ever since learning about my health issues, my mother-in-law didn’t say much at first. Actually, I’m not stupid. I know it’s not that she didn’t want to say anything, but that Jack had specifically instructed her not to. At that time, the company wasn’t as big as it is now, and still couldn’t do without my parents’ help. If they upset me and displeased my parents, the company’s business would be over. So for those few years, my mother-in-law treated me, her daughter-in-law, even better than she treated Jack, her own son. In the past two years, Jack has been quite successful, growing the company bigger and bigger, gradually no longer needing to rely completely on my parents’ help. With her son now having a say in the company, my mother-in-law started to show her true colors, nitpicking at me and finding fault everywhere, often forcing me to drink Chinese medicine to improve my health. Every time I mentioned this to Jack, he would use the excuse that his mother was old, telling me to be patient and bear with it. I loved him and knew he was busy with work and under a lot of pressure, so I didn’t want to trouble him with this. Even though I was reluctant, I forced myself to drink a lot of bitter Chinese medicine. As for him, he went behind my back to find a mistress and had an illegitimate child. How ridiculous when I think about it! “Mom, these folk remedies have no scientific basis and can be very dangerous. They might even kill someone. Please don’t look for these remedies anymore. I won’t drink them.” Because of Jack’s affair, I was in a bad mood, and my tone was somewhat harsh. My mother-in-law on the other end of the phone heard it too, and immediately became sarcastic. “Well, if you won’t drink it, that’s fine. But can you give me a grandson? Look at you, married to Jack for seven years and still haven’t given our Thompson family a child. “Our Jack is almost thirty, the only son of the Thompson family, the boss of a big company. If it weren’t for your inability to bear children, how could he not have a child by now? Is this how your parents taught you to be a daughter-in-law? “You better come back and drink this medicine, or don’t blame me for making Jack divorce you! A barren divorcee like you probably won’t be able to find a good man like our Jack again.” Before I could retort, she hung up the phone. “The Thompson family is really too much! Divorce! Emma, you must divorce him!” My best friend Lily indignantly said. I stared at the medical report in my hand, lost in thought. Just then, my phone received a text message from Jack. “Emma, don’t be angry with Mom about the medicine. She means well. She’s old and has high blood pressure. If she says a few words to you, just bear with it. After all, she’s your elder. “I’m coming home for dinner tonight. Remember to wait for me. I have something to tell you.” Again, asking me to bear with it. But I’ve endured enough. I don’t want to endure anymore. I did love Jack, but my love for him ended the moment I found out about his affair today. The child looks just over three months old, which means he’s been cheating for at least a year and a half. And I’ve been kept in the dark all this time. Thinking back on this past year and more, he often used overtime and business trips as excuses to not come home for days, not answering my calls. Even his attitude towards me became increasingly perfunctory and cold. I foolishly thought it was because of his work pressure. On our wedding anniversary, I called him to come home for dinner, and he accused me of being unreasonable and inconsiderate. It turns out it wasn’t my problem. He already had someone new. I’m not a fool. I won’t tolerate him continuing to trample on my dignity. I want to make him pay for this. “Lily, you’re right. I was blinded by love before, but now my mind is clear. “Divorce? That would be letting Jack off too easily. The company might even have to be split in half. If it weren’t for my parents’ help and support back then, the company wouldn’t be what it is today, and Jack Thompson wouldn’t be where he is now. “If I didn’t have this medical report, I might choose to divorce him. But now, I absolutely won’t divorce Jack. I know him. He would definitely leave everything to this child. “They want a son and she wants to be Mrs. Thompson? Well, I won’t let them have their way. “Back then, I co-founded the company with him. My efforts were no less than his. “For the sake of the company, I lost my child. But he broke his vow from back then. Since he’s being cruel, he can’t blame me for being ruthless. He can forget about the company.” I didn’t plan to sit idly by. Lily has a wide network and knows many people. I asked her to help me find a very capable private investigator. How much it costs doesn’t matter to me. After all, money is the least of my concerns. Jack gives me a sum of money every month as my living expenses. Although I no longer work at the company, I’m still a major shareholder and receive dividends every year. Plus, I have a good head for financial investment, earning enough money to cover my daily expenses. I need to find evidence of Jack’s affair as soon as possible, just in case. I also asked the private investigator to thoroughly investigate the background and identity of Jack’s mistress. She dared to arrogantly arrange a private meeting with me, presumably because Jack gave her the courage. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have told me such private information about my inability to conceive. Over the years, I’ve noticed Jack’s desire to have his own child. I’ve seen many doctors for this, but unfortunately, we’ve never been successful. At first, when my mother-in-law made me drink Chinese medicine, he would try to stop her. But in the past year, he directly told me to go along with my mother-in-law’s wishes. I suppose by then, he was already with Mia. People really are fickle. After seven years of marriage, I still know Jack’s personality inside out. He’s someone who responds better to gentle persuasion than to force. I believe that if I lower my stance and show some weakness, given our years of feelings and my parents’ influence behind me, he definitely wouldn’t divorce me for someone like Mia. But the premise is that I have to accept his illegitimate child. He’s no longer the poor boy who could only rely on my family. He now has his own connections and resources. So he’s willing to risk falling out with me and my parents to have his own child. Even though doing so would have a huge impact on him. But for this illegitimate child, this child he’s been longing for, he might really be willing to do anything. After all, he’s an only child, the only heir of the Thompson family. But I’m not willing. Why should I? I’m not the one who did anything wrong. He’s the one who cheated first, betraying our love and our marriage. Life is truly marvelous. It can bring you shocks, and it can also bring you surprises when you least expect them. Jack came back. As soon as he got home and saw me, he immediately apologized with a guilty face. “Honey, it’s all my fault. I had an emergency meeting yesterday and then worked overnight on a project. I didn’t have time to tell you, and I made you wait for me all night.” He looked remorseful and sincere. If I hadn’t seen the video Mia sent me, I might have believed his lies. Now he’s just full of lies, not a single word of truth coming out of his mouth. Seeing him like this, it’s clear he doesn’t know that I’ve found out about his affair. But since that’s the case, I’ll pretend I don’t know either. I kept my composure and replied, “It’s okay, I know you’re busy with work. I understand.” “I knew it, honey. You’re always so understanding. There’s something else I need to tell you. You know the economy hasn’t been good this year, which has led to some cash flow issues in our company. So I’ve been working on a big project. If we get it, our company will be able to overcome this difficult period. “The client is a well-known foreign company, but we’re not the only ones after this project. Other companies want it too. I’ve found out that the project manager on their side is the son of your dad’s old war buddy. Do you think you could ask your dad to help make a connection?” So that’s it. I looked at Jack’s fawning face in front of me and suddenly felt utterly disgusted. The person I once loved has long since become unrecognizable. I’m afraid he’s had no place for me in his heart for a long time. I’m just a ladder for him to climb up, a bridge to gain benefits. But I’m grateful that heaven is still on my side. I was wondering why my mother-in-law suddenly changed her attitude towards me. It turns out her precious son needs something from me. If he needs something from me, then many things will be much easier to handle. “Is that so? Honey, don’t worry, of course I’ll help you. I’ll talk to Dad about this.” Seeing that I agreed so readily, Jack was very happy. “Honey, there’s something else I want to ask you.”
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