After seven years of a long-distance marriage with River Dustin, I finally got pregnant. I quit my job and went downstairs to his company building, planning to surprise him. “Honey, where are you?” Seeing him come out, I called out excitedly. “Just got off work. What’s up?” His voice was warm. I was about to wave when I saw a pregnant woman walking out behind him. He turned, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her on the mouth. Then he said into the phone. “Something came up. I’ll call you back.” The line went dead. I stood in the cold wind, tears streaming down my face, falling onto the pregnancy test report in my hand. My blood pressure spiked. My vision went black, and my exhausted body drifted down like a leaf. Before I lost consciousness completely, I thought I heard a woman’s startled cry. I barely caught the shock and panic on River’s face. When I woke, I was in the hospital. River sat on a sofa across the room, staring intently at a report in his hands. Dressed in a suit. Polished. Refined. Nothing like the low-level office worker he’d pretended to be. Seeing me open my eyes, the woman enthusiastically approached me. “You’re awake! I’m Summer Fields. You fainted from low blood sugar last night.” “The doctor said you just got pregnant, and your condition is very unstable. You can’t run around alone.” “Where’s your husband? Why isn’t he with you?” The woman’s voice was sweet, with an unconscious lilt. She was clearly already pregnant, yet she still radiated the aura of an innocent girl who knew nothing of the world. I could tell she’d been very well taken care of. Worlds apart from me, who haggled loudly with vendors at the farmers market over a few cents. “He’s dead.” Dead in my heart. Dead the moment I saw the truth. As soon as I spoke, a burning gaze shot toward me from across the room. I stubbornly and silently turned my head away. I didn’t want to look pitiful, but my eyes still reddened despite myself. “Oh no, don’t cry! You just got pregnant, you need to take good care of yourself!” “River said that when you’re pregnant, you can’t cry, can’t get angry, can’t do housework, and also can’t…” Summer bit her blood-red lips, trying hard to remember, and finally had to turn to River for help. “Honey, I forgot…what else am I not allowed to do?” That word made my chest tighten. Something flickered in River’s eyes, just briefly. Then his expression softened into that familiar, doting look he saved for Summer. “Silly. You also can’t eat crab, can’t get cold, and definitely no coffee every day.” “What! I don’t even drink coffee. I’m a milk tea girl!” Summer wrinkled her nose and hummed coquettishly, blaming River for forgetting her preferences. But I understood. That last sentence was actually meant for me. After all, I loved gulping down cup after cup of coffee when pulling all-nighters on reports, just so I could get ahead faster and transfer to the city where he was. But now it seemed that all that desperate effort and struggle was just a joke. Even this kind of casual concern came as an afterthought while he was loving another woman. My chest ached unbearably. I just wanted to leave as quickly as possible. I threw back the covers to get out of bed. River’s body moved, but ultimately he didn’t stand up. Instead, it was Summer who hurried over to stop me. “Where are you going? You’re not worried about the money because this is a VIP room, are you?” “Don’t worry, my husband is the richest man in New York. This little bit of money is nothing to him.”
“The richest man in New York?” My movement froze. I looked up in disbelief. This person who was supposedly drowning in debt, forcing me to stay and work thousands of miles away while taking care of his seriously ill parents for seven years-he was the richest man in New York? “That’s right!” Summer looked completely proud. She pulled out her phone, searched for old news articles, and held it up to me. “See? Seven years ago, when we had our arranged marriage, he was already the richest man in New York.” “Not that I don’t deserve some credit. I did bring a very generous amount of money.” I took the phone. My breath caught as I read the headlines. “A Real-Life Fairytale! The Century Wedding of the Heir and Heiress That Shocked the City!” “From Empire to Legacy: River Dustin and Summer Fields’ Romantic Alliance. A Modern-Day Love in a Fallen City!” At the bottom of the article was a date I recognized. It was the same time he insisted on moving to New York without discussion. The only time we ever had a cold war. So that argument was premeditated. So when I couldn’t sleep all night, clutching my phone and crying over him, he was sweating on top of another woman. So in this marriage, I… was actually the one who came later. Sourness and grief rose in my throat without warning. I choked up and began to dry-heave uncontrollably. The sound seemed to affect Summer too. Her stomach turned, and she started feeling sick. “Honey…” “Doctor! Help!” Before she finished speaking, River pulled her into his arms. Several doctors rushed in from outside, pushing a wheelchair, anxiously taking her out of the room. The surroundings instantly became empty. I vomited bile, tears dripping onto the floor, but only the hospital room door swayed mockingly in the wind. I still remembered when we got married, River knelt before my mother’s grave and swore he would take care of me for the rest of his life. But it turned out even his vows were lies. I collapsed weakly onto the bed. I don’t know how long passed before River came back alone. As if nothing had happened, he sat by my bed and carefully, patiently peeled a green apple. “Eat some of this. It’ll help a lot with morning sickness.” The sweet and sour aroma spread through the air. But by the time it reached my nose, only bitterness remained. This was probably also something he learned little by little while taking care of Summer. “Who are you? Do I know you?” “Should I call you River Dustin, or Mr. Dustin?” I looked at him with sad mockery. The air fell silent for a few seconds. River sighed softly and admitted it without hesitation. “Yes, I lied to you. So what?” “I’m the sole heir to the Dustin Group. You’re a scholarship kid from some small town with no connections. We were never on the same page. How could they ever have accepted us?” “Isn’t this better? You’re still the one I love most, and I’m still playing the devoted husband.” “Can’t you be understanding and sympathize with my position?” Good husband? I looked at him in disbelief. For the sake of ridiculous lies, making me give up a high-level management job in New York and trapping me in a small county town thousands of miles away-that’s being a good husband? Making me revolve around a three-foot stove like a clueless donkey who only wanted to be a good housewife-that’s loving me? How absurd. I dodged his hand reaching to fix my hair, suppressing my nausea, and responded coldly. “We’re divorcing immediately.” He refused without a second thought. “No.” “Then I’ll report you for bigamy! I’ll have you thrown in jail! That should get us divorced!” I could no longer control myself and screamed hysterically. But he just looked at me and shook his head lightly, his voice floating into my ears. “Ember, you can’t report me.”
“Why?” I gripped the sheets tightly, an answer emerging in my mind. Sure enough. The next second I heard him say. “Because the marriage certificate is fake, the parents are fake, and the friends and family at the wedding were fake too.” “Everything was carefully arranged by me.” “Ember, how are you going to report me?” His tone was too calm, as if discussing what to have for lunch tomorrow. But my heart grew colder and colder. How could the boy who once knelt before 31 floors and 186 households during the pandemic, just to get me half a tablet of ibuprofen-how could he lie to me? When my mother was hospitalized for three years, he was the one who stayed by her side day and night. He saved the sweetest part of the watermelon for me, and only bought new clothes for me. Even the pictures of snakes, insects, and toads in textbooks were folded over page by page because I was afraid of them. But now he personally told me. Everything I cherished most was all fake. “Fine, then I’ll leave right now and stay far away from you for the rest of my life. That should be okay, right?” His dark eyes held mine for a long time. Then he pulled me into his arms and kissed me like a storm, as if trying to melt me into his bones. No matter how I struggled, he wouldn’t let go. Then a knock came at the door. “Mr. Dustin, your wife is here.” “Mm.” He lifted his head, breathing unsteady. I slapped him without hesitation. He caught my wrist and, eyes red, pressed his lips to my palm. “Don’t tell Summer about us. You can’t bear the consequences.” “She wants you to accompany her for maternity photos tomorrow. Be good and go, or she won’t be happy.” Every word was a command. He quickly straightened his clothes and turned to leave. Outside the door were bodyguards, and inside I soon received a transfer notification. Two million dollars. This amount used to be so unattainable for me. But now it was just his most insignificant means of pleasing Summer. Early the next morning, I was picked up and brought to a photography studio. As soon as I went upstairs, I saw River massaging Summer’s calves and rubbing her feet, while the surrounding staff members looked on enviously. I stood frozen in place, suddenly remembering long ago. River had studied massage techniques on his phone for ages, giving me relaxation massages every night just to relieve my headaches and back strain. Back then, I thought his love and tenderness were mine alone. I truly believed we would grow old together. I never imagined I’d one day watch him be tender with another woman. And I was the “other woman,” standing by. The ache in my chest nearly swallowed me. My eyes reddened. I lowered my head. But Summer called me over cheerfully. “Ember, you’re finally here! Help me pick which sets to shoot!” I pointed at random in the album. Summer’s face fell. “What should I do? Ember likes this set, but I still want to shoot the other one more.” Hearing this, River immediately took away the album, directly tearing out the photo I had chosen, and kissed her forehead indulgently. “It’s okay. What she thinks doesn’t matter. What matters is what you like.” “There, now it’s settled. Have her choose again.” Summer laughed coquettishly and put the album in front of me again, looking at me expectantly. I looked at that intimate couple’s photo, my finger slowly reaching out, heavily tapping on it. That phrase “doesn’t matter” kept echoing in my ears. So it was because he felt my feelings didn’t matter that River could lie to me without scruple and ask me to compromise without a care. In this relationship, he had always held the upper hand. And I never had a say. Summer walked off, satisfied, to change. I sat on the sofa, staring blankly as River posed for her camera.
He kissed her swollen belly, his face full of happiness. He held her, showing the ultrasound to the camera, his possessiveness fierce. He wore cute outfits he’d never tried before, cooperating with her playful poses. The scenes were warm and sweet. In the non-stop flashing lights, I suddenly saw the scene of taking wedding photos with River. The photos were simple, just a few taken with a phone. He wore a gray-black cotton coat, I wore a cheap veil. Even though we were freezing in the cold wind, blowing white puffs of breath, our faces were full of sweetness. Snowflakes filled the sky, growing old together. To me back then, that was happiness, that was fulfillment. But now, that phantom I thought I had firmly grasped had finally shattered. “Ember, come quick and help me see which of these two is better!” Summer summoned me again. River quietly cast his gaze on me. I braced myself on my stiff, numb legs and stood, then walked into the changing room. Only Summer and I were left inside. “Ember, how do you think our photoshoot went?” Her tone carried an edge I didn’t catch at first. “What?” “Nothing.” She still smiled sweetly at me. But as her arm reached for the clothing rack, all the gorgeous, exquisite dresses came crashing down. Heavy steel poles all smashed onto my lower back. She screamed and backed away, drawing people from outside. “Summer! Where are you!” “River, I’m here! Come save me!” River immediately rushed over and protected her pale face in his arms. Just as he was about to have the bodyguards help me, he heard her weak voice. “River… my belly…” She fainted after speaking, and River quickly scooped her up. But my abdomen felt severe stabbing pain. I desperately reached toward him, using all my strength to call his name. His jaw tensed. He clearly heard me, but he never looked back. Blood quickly stained the wedding dress hem. I clearly felt my abdomen gradually growing cold, until something was pulled out of my body. I don’t know how long passed before I woke from the nightmare. Summer’s smiling face came into view, very similar to the scene when I first entered the hospital. But this time, her eyes held a scheming I couldn’t understand. “Illegitimate children have equal inheritance rights. Do you really think I’d let you give birth to this child?” My pupils contracted sharply. I pressed my belly in disbelief. The scene of blood everywhere before I fainted kept flashing in my mind. “You knew… the baby… my baby…” Seven years ago, the doctor diagnosed me with blocked fallopian tubes, making it almost impossible for me to have children. And this baby gave me my only chance to be a mother! But… “The baby’s gone, isn’t it! My baby is gone!” I broke down crying and shouting. But Summer calmly closed her eyes and gently pressed her finger to her lips. “Shh, not enough yet.” She supported herself and slowly sat on the floor, smiling triumphantly at me. The next second, she let out a piercing scream. River happened to return with the little cake she wanted. He burst through the door and carefully helped her up. “Summer, what’s wrong!” “Ember said I killed her baby, so she deliberately pushed me and wants my baby to pay with its life! What should I do? I really didn’t mean to!” Summer turned back into that innocent, pitiful appearance. River looked up fiercely and condemned me without hesitation. “You couldn’t protect your own child, and you dare blame Summer! Someone, send her to Nightshade Auction!” “No! River Dustin, I have nothing to do with you. You have no right to do this!” Everyone knew Nightshade was New York’s biggest den of vice. Women sent there for auction were either gang-raped to disability or death! But before I could even struggle, I was already slung over a bodyguard’s shoulder. “Tell Nightshade her starting bid is one dollar. Only gambling debt cripples are allowed to raise their cards!” “No! No! River Dustin, let me go! I’m not your wife. What gives you the right to do this?!” “I won’t go! I don’t want the baby anymore! I don’t want your-!” Before I could finish, a hand clamped over my mouth. The bodyguard beside me lowered his voice. “Miss Ember, rest assured. Mr. Dustin will find someone else to take your place.” “It has to look like a misunderstanding. We’ll keep you safe the whole time. You won’t get hurt.” The elevator door closed quickly. But the bodyguard soon let out a muffled groan and collapsed. I was terrified. Amid futile struggling, I was stuffed into a sack by another group of people. “Miss Summer already knew he left a backup plan. She specifically had us wait here for you. Just accept your fate.” I was completely hopeless, letting my tears fall. But before we even reached the first floor, the elevator door opened eerily. Someone stood in the shadows outside, their eyes extremely sinister. “You… how is this possible…” The people in the elevator looked terrified, as if they’d seen a ghost, fumbling for their phones. But I stared at that blurry figure and couldn’t hold on any longer. I collapsed. Whether I lived or died this time- River Dustin, I never wanted to see you again.
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