I’ve been married to my husband for five Christmases now. After being away on business for half a Christmas, my husband Frank Roberts brought his first love, Sarah Jensen, back home. Sarah was already more than three months pregnant. Frank said her life was difficult and wanted her to stay at our house temporarily. I refused. But Frank accused me of being unreasonable. He spoke to me with disgust in his voice, seemingly forgetting that this mansion belonged to me before our marriage. His family had been spending my money all along. This time, I decided to cancel all living allowances for them. I smiled as I called my assistant, saying, “Draft divorce papers immediately. He actually dared to bring his mistress home openly.” Knowing Frank was returning today, I had arranged all the gifts I’d bought for him from various places over the past half-Christmas early in the morning, and instructed our housekeeper Janet Hall to prepare a lavish meal. At that moment, the front door opened. Frank appeared before my eyes with his arm around his first love. I was utterly stunned. Sarah walked toward me with a smile, gently caressing her belly as she greeted me: “Zoey, long time no see.” Fury burned within me as I stared at her slightly swollen abdomen. Sarah seemed to notice my change in mood and quickly came to my side, taking my hand and saying, “Zoey, please don’t get upset. This is all my fault. Don’t blame Frank.” Sarah’s simple statement left me speechless. I hadn’t asked anything yet, but Sarah had already confessed everything. Frank stood nearby, intently watching my expression, poised to rush over and protect Sarah at any moment. I clenched my fists and glared at Frank, asking, “Aren’t you going to explain yourself?” He sighed, took Sarah’s hand, and said softly, “Let me show you to a room first. I’ll handle all this.” Frank’s gentle tone surprised me. In our five Christmases of marriage, Frank had never spoken to me with such tenderness. Under my watchful gaze, he carefully helped Sarah upstairs. The driver brought in three suitcases. Sarah was evidently planning to settle in permanently. Though she appeared even healthier than me, Frank was protecting her with extraordinary care. I sat on the sofa, waiting for Frank to give me an explanation. Just as I was about to rush upstairs after hearing the laughter from above, the doorbell rang. With a sudden interruption, Frank’s parents pushed the door open with displeasure, ignored me completely, and hurried upstairs. I followed them up. Frank held their hands and said sincerely, “I didn’t mean to hide this from you. Sarah’s progesterone levels were unstable in the early stages. I was afraid something might happen to her. “I hope you understand. Sarah and I love each other. The baby in her belly is your grandchild after all. Please don’t blame her.” I reflected on our five Christmases of marriage—whenever I disagreed with his mother Alyssa Davis, he would say she was getting old and ask me to be more understanding of her, never once taking my side. I always thought that was just his personality, until today when I saw him defending Sarah at every turn, I realized I had misunderstood all along. Sarah held Alyssa’s hand and added, “I didn’t intentionally try to ruin Frank’s marriage. We truly love each other. I hope you can understand.” Alyssa’s expression softened as she looked at me standing in the doorway. I knew she was hesitating. For five Christmases, I had given her a monthly allowance. She knew Sarah wasn’t nearly as wealthy as I was. I was deeply disappointed. Frank, as my husband, didn’t inform me about this beforehand, but instead humiliated me in front of everyone. His treatment of me deeply wounded my self-esteem. Seeing everyone’s silence, Sarah suddenly began to sob. She said, “The child in my womb is innocent, and I will give birth to him no matter what. “You can say whatever you want about me, but I hope my child won’t be harmed.” Sarah looked pitiful as tears streamed down her face. Frank tenderly wiped away her tears with his thumb, his face contorted with concern as he said with displeasure, “Mom, answer her quickly. Pregnant women need to maintain emotional stability.” Frank’s parents had been pressuring us to have children immediately after our wedding. Because I never got pregnant, they had been complaining behind my back. I knew all about it. Frank’s father, Brian Roberts, who had been silent until now, said, “After all, Sarah is carrying a descendant of the Roberts family. Let’s all be patient for these few months.” Hearing his words, everyone looked at me. They stood together in solidarity. I felt like I was the outsider. I let out a cold laugh and said, “Doesn’t anyone want to ask for my opinion?” Seeing my displeasure, Frank angrily positioned himself in front of Sarah’s face and confronted me: “Zoey, what do you mean? “I’ve already told you everything to your face, what else do you want to know?” I couldn’t help but scoff. My husband had been away on business for half a Christmas, and upon his return, he brought me such a “wonderful surprise”—instead of explaining, he was blaming me. Seeing my silence, Sarah began to cry again, clutching Frank’s hand and sobbing, “Frank, Zoey is angry. I should leave.” Alyssa immediately responded with displeasure: “You’re carrying our grandchild. You can’t leave.” Frank glared at me and said, “You’ve scared Sarah. Apologize. “After all, Sarah is carrying my child. If you have any objections, you can only express them to me in private. I will not allow you to hurt her.” Sarah urgently held Frank’s hand and said, “No, Frank. I don’t want you to be upset either. It would break my heart.” Sarah’s brief statement touched Frank deeply. Brian and Alyssa nodded with approval, clearly satisfied with Sarah. I couldn’t take it anymore and turned to leave.
I locked myself in the master bedroom for the entire morning without coming out. The laughter from the living room was particularly grating. In the afternoon, Janet came in to tell me that Sarah had wanted to stay in my master bedroom, but Alyssa had stopped her. “She said that since you’re from the Moore family, they still need your help and can’t completely anger you. She also said…” Janet, who had grown up with me, knew my temperament, so she paused here to observe my expression. Seeing that I didn’t interrupt her, she continued, “She also said that you would pay for all her expenses after she gets pregnant. Since you can’t have children anyway, you might as well get involved and experience it.” I asked with displeasure, “Did they say anything else?” Janet added, “They said that since you don’t have children, all your assets will belong to this child in the future…” I couldn’t help but laugh. This family was truly devious. Although I was furious, I didn’t show it. I knew I needed to be patient. Janet asked me what to do next, and I smiled, telling her to carry on as usual. She brought me lunch. After eating, I sat by the bedroom window looking down. At that moment, Frank was taking Sarah out. Five years ago, around Christmas, I pleaded tearfully in front of my parents, Xavier Moore and Anne Mitchell, insisting on marrying Frank. By then, they already had someone in mind for me—the only son of the Brown family. The Brown family held a high position in Houston. Owen Brown and I had been neighbors since childhood. Xavier and Anne always liked him and often invited him to our house for dinner. But I had never been interested in Owen. After meeting Frank, I only loved him and refused to marry Owen. I always told my parents that I should decide my own marriage, saying that Owen surely didn’t like me either. But Xavier and Anne told me that if Owen wasn’t interested in me, he wouldn’t have gone out to dinner with me so many times. In truth, I didn’t care whether Owen was interested in me or not. The day I met Frank was at the club recruitment fair on the first day of college. We reached for the same registration form almost simultaneously. He apologized very politely and graciously gave me the form. That day, he wore a gray tracksuit, was very tall, and looked incredibly handsome when he smiled. Frank had beautiful hands. I liked them very much. That unexpected encounter made me memorize his phone number. After we parted, I added his contact information. I sent him a message. He replied without hesitation: “Miss Moore, I’ve heard so much about you.” From that day on, I unconsciously hoped to run into Frank on the street, and even tried desperately to join his club just to have more contact with him. I began to follow him. After we married, Frank proactively offered to help me manage the company, allowing me to live freely. I didn’t refuse him, believing that couples should strive together. Frank’s family background was quite ordinary. I thought that since he wanted to make a name for himself in business, I should help him. My parents and friends all advised me to be cautious. After all, before our marriage, Xavier and Anne had told me that Frank wasn’t marrying me purely out of love; he was interested in my family’s wealth. I said I didn’t care about those things, as long as he truly loved me. After we got married, Frank’s parents began living the good life. They quit their factory jobs and lived very comfortably on the monthly allowance Frank gave them. They also spread the word everywhere that Frank was now a CEO, causing many relatives of the Roberts family to come to Frank for help. Those relatives even asked Frank to arrange their children’s marriages, demanding that he help them choose prominent figures in Houston as spouses for their children. Regarding this situation, I wasn’t anxious. I thought my family had money, so helping them wouldn’t be a problem. Frank didn’t know that on the eve of our engagement, Owen had come to see me privately and given me a share transfer agreement. He wanted me to sign it. He said if one day my marriage wasn’t happy, he hoped I would have enough leverage to leave Frank. He also earnestly told me, “Besides having the support of the Moore family, you also have me. If he ever hurts you, I won’t let him get away with it!” I always believed in my judgment and trusted that Frank wouldn’t betray me. Looking back now, all the advice given to me was reasonable, but I had lost my rationality at the time. After our marriage, even though I complied with Frank in everything, he still had various complaints about me, criticizing me for not knowing how to do housework, having a bad temper, and not being as virtuous as the wives of his other friends. I loved him so much then that I would even change my habits for him. He wanted to see me whenever he came home, so I tried my best to wait for him at home and studied recipes to cook delicious meals for him. My friend Karen Clark said I had completely changed after marriage, saying she couldn’t believe that someone who loved shopping the most would be willing to change for a man. Frank’s parents were very satisfied with me. During our family gatherings, his relatives would praise me for being kind. Perhaps the only one in the family who was dissatisfied with me was Frank. I always thought I wasn’t doing well enough, but now I realize he was merely exploiting me for his own gain, without a shred of genuine love.
No one asked for my opinion before settling Sarah in my home. That evening, Sarah came to call me for dinner. After I refused her three times, she began crying outside my door. Her sobs grew louder, attracting Frank’s attention. She said, “Zoey seems to have a big problem with me. I invited her to dinner, but she yelled at me.” I opened the door irritably and stared at Sarah’s pitiful expression. Frank comforted her tenderly, “Don’t cry. I’ll handle this.” Sarah promptly pulled a hairpin from her pocket and offered it to me. “Zoey, I made this myself. Please accept it. Can we get along from now on?” I immediately cut her off, “Not possible. Stop putting on this act.” Sarah sadly buried her face in Frank’s chest. Frank was so angry he slapped me across the face. He said, “Zoey, I’ve already warned you. Sarah is pregnant and needs emotional stability. You heartless woman, are you trying to upset her to death?” Frank looked at me with such fury, as if I were some unforgivable criminal. His behavior destroyed any remaining affection I had for him. I rushed forward and slapped Frank twice with all my strength. Frank’s cheeks instantly swelled red. He said in disbelief, “Zoey, have you lost your mind? How dare you hit me!” Looking at my own swollen right hand, I laughed coldly, “You hit me first, so why are you angry now? I’m the heir to the Moore family fortune. Don’t think you can bully me.” Alyssa heard the commotion and hurried over to mediate, “Zoey, Frank was just momentarily upset. Please don’t be angry.” Seeing that I remained expressionless and silent, she quickly tugged at Frank’s sleeve and winked at him. This was the only time Frank ever hit me. I could tell he was somewhat nervous about it. But perhaps because Sarah was present, or perhaps due to male pride, Frank refused to apologize to me. “Frank!” Alyssa shouted. She knew that if we continued this standoff, Frank would be the one to lose. He said, “I admit I lost my temper just now, but if you had simply come down with Sarah for dinner, none of this would have happened.” His words weren’t an apology at all—he was blaming me. I was heartbroken and didn’t go down for dinner that night. I avoided them for the rest of the evening. Janet brought dinner up to my room. The next day, I slept until noon. When I saw them preparing for lunch, I walked out without looking back. My assistant informed me that everyone was gossiping about us since Frank had returned with a pregnant woman after a half-month business trip. Just half an hour after I left, I received a message from Frank. He asked me to bring back two boxes of strawberries for Sarah when I returned, and preferably some jewelry as an apology for upsetting her yesterday. I found his request ridiculous. I replied: [Buy them yourself.] Shortly after, Janet informed me that Sarah had eaten all the fruit Anne had just sent me, claiming it was good for her unborn child. I asked, “What did they say about it?” Janet angrily told me, “Frank and the others were delighted, saying she could have whatever she wanted.” Anne arranged for these fruit deliveries every three months specifically for me to ensure I got enough vitamins. But they had taken advantage of Anne’s kindness. Even the usually rational Alyssa tacitly approved of Sarah’s behavior. I refused to tolerate them any longer. Since they treated me this way, I had to strike back. I went directly to the company and called a meeting with the executives. After getting updated on recent developments, I reorganized the work assignments and notified all employees. I announced, “Effective immediately, I am returning to Moore Group. From today onward, Frank is forbidden from setting foot in Moore Group!”
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