Caleb Thompson and I had been in love for ten years. Then, right before our wedding, he suddenly vanished without a trace. The next time I saw him, he was sweetly holding hands with another woman. He told me he was on an undercover mission, that the woman was just his target, and I was the only true love of his life. Later, when the mission ended, he blocked her everywhere and came home to marry me. For six years, our life together was blissful. I had long forgotten about the past, until I went to file some official paperwork. “Ms. Hayes, our records indicate you are still unmarried.” Those words sent a shockwave through me. “That’s impossible. My husband, Caleb Thompson, and I have been married for six years.” “The system shows Mr. Thompson is indeed married, but you are not.” “Then who is his wife?” “Alexa Monroe.” The very woman who was Caleb’s undercover target all those years ago. The clerk handed me all the processed documents. The name “Alexa Monroe” pierced my heart. A whirlwind of memories flashed before my eyes, all the moments of these past years. Six years ago, Caleb and I had a grand wedding ceremony. To make it up to me, he gave up his dream and quit his job, just to be by my side. He had a fortune in flowers flown in, simply because I’d once said I liked them. He even personally traveled to South Africa to pick out gemstones and crafted our wedding rings with his own hands. For six years, we were sweet and devoted. All our relatives and friends called us the perfect couple. It was all a lie. I walked like a zombie back to our doorstep. Before I even stepped inside, I heard Caleb talking on the phone. “Be a good boy, sweetheart. Daddy will come see you tonight, okay?” “Make sure you listen to Mommy. Daddy will bring you a gift.” Caleb was cooing softly, using that syrupy sweet voice a tough guy like him usually despised. “You’re doing great, babe. Just a little longer, and we’ll finally be a family…” That last sentence exploded in my mind like a bomb. My blood ran cold. He had a child already. When we first got married, he’d traveled frequently for a year. For the last four months of that period, he’d been completely incommunicado. Now, it seemed, that must have been when the baby was born. When he returned from those trips, he always smelled faintly of baby formula. I even teased him, saying he’d suddenly turned into a big softie, a total daddy, at his age. Now, it all made sense. “I love you both. You’re the ones I love most in this world.” I listened as Caleb kept pouring out his love to the person on the other end. He hadn’t said those words to me in six years. He always said old married couples didn’t need to say mushy things like that. Turns out, he was saving them for someone else. For six whole years, I had lived in a fake dream, completely oblivious that his heart had changed long ago. I tried to escape but tripped. Caleb heard the commotion and immediately hung up. Seeing me on the ground, he rushed over and scooped me into his arms. I fought back the surge of disgust, tearing myself away from his embrace. Seeing my reaction, he looked guilty, hesitant as he spoke: “Riley, what’s wrong?” I stared at him, trying to find a flicker of genuine concern in his eyes. “It’s nothing, just wasn’t watching where I was going and took a tumble.” He helped me to the sofa, got out the first-aid kit, and carefully cleaned my wound. That serious look always made me mistakenly believe he still loved me. Caleb nervously darted his eyes up. “Riley, I have to go out of town soon. There’s a crucial project that’s run into some trouble. I’ll be gone for a few days.” My heart sank into a frozen abyss. I forced a smile. “Okay. Have a safe trip.” After he left, I made a call. “I’m willing to accept the company’s assignment to work in France.”
“Excellent. Prepare your paperwork, and you can depart next week.” “Perfect, right after the design competition finishes, we’ll be ready to go.” Hanging up, I looked around. This place, which had held six years of our supposed happiness, now seemed utterly ridiculous. I packed my bags, tossing everything that represented ‘us’ into the trash: the photos we’d taken together, the matching custom mugs, the good luck charm he’d sought for me with such devotion… From high school sweethearts to my wedding day, from fifteen to twenty-five, all the love from those years went straight into the garbage. As soon as I finished packing, my phone rang. It was a colleague. “Riley, there’s a document here at the office that needs your signature at the client’s office.” I left for work immediately. As I exited the client’s building, I saw a familiar figure. “Daddy, take me to the amusement park!” Caleb scooped up the child, his voice soft with affection. “Alright, Daddy will take you.” Then he saw me. Caleb set the child down. Before I could even speak, he grabbed my arm and explained, “It was just so sad for the kid to not have a dad around… so I brought him out to play.” I no longer believed a word he said. This whole scene just felt pathetic. Suddenly, the child picked up a rock from the ground and threw it straight at my head. *Thud!* Blood streamed down my face. Alexa’s eyes immediately welled up with tears. She grabbed my hand and said, “Oh, dear, he’s just a child. Please don’t blame him!” “That’s right, he’s just a kid! Don’t do anything rash!” The couple played off each other, pretending to be terrified, like I was about to commit murder on the street. I glared at Caleb. “Didn’t you say you’d blocked all her contact information? How do you already have a child this old with her?” Caleb instantly panicked, his eyes darting nervously. “I… we just happened to run into each other on the street.” “Yes, and then I saw this child who looked so much like me…” It was a pathetic excuse, but I no longer cared. Caleb waited nervously for my reaction. Alexa stood beside him, her face filled with obvious jealousy and resentment. Suddenly, the child charged at me like a little cannonball. I was knocked to the ground, my stomach hitting the curb of the flower bed. “Leo, are you okay?” Caleb anxiously checked on his energetic son. The frantic look on his face made it seem as if the child was the true victim. Their happiness, as a family of three, burned my eyes. Beneath me, I felt a warm, wet sensation. “Blood? Why are you bleeding?” Before I lost consciousness, I vaguely saw Caleb’s worried face. When I woke up again, Caleb was sitting by the hospital bed. “Sign this!” He frowned slightly, handing me a document. “Some busybody passersby called the police earlier. This is a statement saying you won’t press charges.” “Get up and sign it quickly. I’ll explain everything about Alexa later.” I couldn’t be bothered to watch Caleb’s act. I turned to the nurse beside me. “Excuse me, what happened to me?” The nurse’s curious, almost nosy eyes darted between us. “You were pregnant, and you lost the baby. But you’re still young. Take good care of yourself, and you can have more children later.” Her voice held a hint of pity. She offered a few simple words of comfort before leaving. Caleb cleared his throat awkwardly. “You can have more children later, don’t worry about it. Just sign this.” I raised my hand and swatted the document away. Was my baby worth less than a piece of paper? Seeing this, Alexa, who had been eavesdropping outside the door, walked in. “Please, dear, just sign it. Leo is still so young, he didn’t mean it.” “If you have any anger, you can take it out on me. Hit me, curse me, anything.” Tears streamed down her face the moment she entered, as if someone had tormented her. “That’s right,” Caleb added, “and to get you to the hospital, Alexa got hurt too.” He gently blew on her barely-scraped skin, his face full of concern. Alexa raised an eyebrow at me, a blatant taunt in her eyes. I let out a self-mocking laugh. My baby dying was a minor detail, but her scraped knee was a huge deal. I stood up, ready to go home. Caleb tried to stop me, but then Alexa cried out from behind him: “Honey, my scratch hurts so much!” Hearing her, Caleb’s steps faltered. I scoffed, my resolve to break up with Caleb hardening even further. I had lost everything — my baby, my husband. All I had left was my career. I needed to focus on the design competition tomorrow. Before bed, I double-checked all the necessary materials, making sure everything was perfect. The next day, as soon as I entered the venue, security personnel approached me. “Ms. Hayes, your entry has been accused of plagiarism. You are disqualified from entering the venue. Please leave!” The loud voice echoed through every corner of the hall. Everyone looked over, curious. “No way, isn’t that Riley Hayes, the genius designer in our industry? She plagiarized?” “She won a national award at eighteen! Could all her past works be copied too?” This design was my life’s work for the past three years; there was no way it was plagiarism. Just as I was about to question the organizers, I saw two familiar figures in the crowd.
I stared hard at Caleb, trying to figure out what he was up to. “I announce that the first-place winner of this design competition is – Alexa Monroe!” Alexa Monroe’s design was identical to mine! My rage completely consumed me. I pushed through the crowd, intending to confront that conniving couple. I hadn’t walked two steps before Sarah Jenkins, a colleague I knew well, stopped me. She pulled me aside. “Riley, I just asked for you.” “The organizers said that when they received two identical design entries, they already questioned Alexa.” “But Alexa provided all her design sketches to prove her originality.” Her expression towards me was sympathetic. “And… Thompson Industries had pulled strings. They promised the organizers unconditional funding for the next ten years if they acknowledged Alexa as the original designer.” Every word was a dagger to my heart. My mind went blank. I couldn’t understand why Alexa would steal my work. Watching Alexa and Caleb mingle and work the room, I charged forward. Before I could even speak, Caleb clapped a hand over my mouth and dragged me outside the hall. “Why?” I demanded, my eyes red. His gaze flickered nervously, and he stammered, “Alexa has nothing. I just wanted to make her happy.” “And you think you have the right to use *my* hard work to make her happy?!” He frowned, looking agitated as he loosened his tie. “I’ll divorce her later and marry you. It’s just… it’s not easy for her, raising a child alone…” I felt a surge of nausea. I didn’t want to argue with him anymore. I quickly walked back into the hall, where my boss was standing on stage, making an announcement. “Alexa Monroe is our company’s newly appointed Design Director!” “And in the future, she will also serve as the General Manager of our French branch!” “How could this be?!” I cried out, my voice hoarse. Alexa walked towards me with a triumphant smirk, leaning close and whispering in my ear: “Now, both your husband and your job are mine.” “Oh, and by the way, while you were in the hospital yesterday, I had your parents’ ashes relocated. A little *rearrangement*, you know?” I trembled with fury, unable to stop myself from slapping her across the face. As I raised my hand for a second slap, Caleb shoved me hard to the ground. “Security!” he bellowed. At his command, several burly men immediately pinned me to the floor. A man’s large hand pressed painfully against my face. Alexa ran over, feigning distress, and said to everyone, “It’s all a misunderstanding! It’s my fault! Please, don’t hit her!” Caleb tenderly stroked her cheek. When he looked at me, his expression had shifted from gentle affection to pure disgust. “Look at Alexa, so sensible, so composed, unlike you! You’re always causing a scene!” “Get on your knees and beg her forgiveness, and we can put this whole thing behind us.” I scoffed, staring at them with intense hatred. The man I had loved for ten years… now I finally saw his true colors. I closed my eyes, unable to look at them anymore. Caleb grew angry. He gestured to his bodyguards. “Take her home. Starve her for a few days. Let’s see if she still dares to disobey!” My hands were bound, and the bodyguards forcibly dragged me into a car. Inside the car was an unexpected passenger – Caleb’s son. I was trapped in the car by the bodyguards, and the child was like a savage. “You hurt my mom! I’ll kill you!” A knife plunged into my abdomen. Blood stained the car seats. Outside the car, Caleb simply waved a hand, telling someone to send me to the hospital, while he rushed to comfort Alexa. When he had finally calmed Alexa down, he remembered me. He searched frantically throughout the hospital, but couldn’t find my room. “Hello, can you tell me which room Riley Hayes is in?” The nurse looked up, confused. “Riley Hayes? We don’t have a patient by that name here.” She spoke while flipping through records. “Who are you to her?” “I’m her husband.” “My condolences, sir. Ms. Hayes was brought in very late, and due to severe blood loss, she has already passed away.”
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