When I was eight months pregnant, I lost my footing and tumbled down the stairs, ending up in the hospital. While waiting for a family member to sign for emergency surgery, My husband Nathan's voice came through the phone, sounding anxious. "I can't make it. I'm busy being the groom at Winnie's wedding—her fiancé bailed on her again. Just find someone else to sign." This was the second time I'd lost a child, and once again, I'd missed the critical window for surgery. I handled the funeral for my baby alone. Nathan still didn't show up. When people asked where the father was, I replied gracefully that he was too busy with work to get away. In the family group chat, someone posted a video of Nathan and his secretary kissing passionately, unable to break apart. "Mr. Cooper and Miss Johnson are perfect for each other—childhood sweethearts, a match made in heaven." Winnie Johnson said, "Stop joking around, everyone. Zoe is in this chat too." Nathan replied casually, "Today is Winnie's and my wedding day. Let's not talk about unpleasant things!" On their wedding night, I stormed into the room with police officers. "I'm reporting him for marriage fraud, stealing my assets, and deceiving my feelings!"
A crowd of people surrounded them, egging them on to kiss passionately. I pushed open the door with police officers in tow, and immediately saw Nathan's face covered in lipstick marks, completely lost in the moment. When Nathan caught sight of the police, his expression darkened, his tone dripping with hostility. "What's the meaning of this? We're having a good time, and you bring people to cause trouble? Are you deliberately trying to ruin my happiness?" "Are you sick or something? Can't stand to see me happy, so you pick this exact moment to mess with me?" An officer stepped forward, his tone serious. "Someone has reported you for marriage fraud. We're here to verify the situation." Winnie pulled the blanket tightly around herself, her voice sickeningly sweet, her eyes full of provocation. "How could you file a false police report? You're a lunatic with severe depression and mental instability. Who would believe anything you say? Have you ever told the truth in your entire life?" "I bet you're just jealous that Nathan and I are getting married, aren't you? Driven mad with envy." Nathan expertly took Winnie's hand, slipping a card into it discreetly, his face plastered with a fake smile. "Officers, don't listen to her nonsense. This woman is a stalker who's been following me around. She saw I was getting married and deliberately came to make trouble. You can't believe a word she says." He patted the officer's arm. "Sorry you had to come all the way out here in the middle of the night. There's money on this card—use it however you want. Consider it a token of my appreciation." I clutched the marriage certificate and our wedding photo in my pocket, about to pull them out to expose their lies. Suddenly, Nathan's grandmother struck me hard on the back with her cane, making me stumble forward. "You've ruined such a good day! You're nothing but bad luck. You can't give the Cooper family children, so why can't we let someone else?" "You occupy the position of Mrs. Cooper but can't even produce a child, and you still have the nerve to make a scene here." Nathan's grandmother pointed her finger at my nose, her tone full of disgust. "You're being completely selfish. I watched Winnie grow up—she's sensible and sweet, much more suitable for the Cooper family than you. You two should divorce immediately. Don't hold Nathan back, and don't prevent the Cooper family from continuing the bloodline." I turned to look at Nathan. He stood behind his grandmother, head lowered, not saying a word the entire time. He had no intention of defending me whatsoever. Nathan's grandmother left holding Winnie's hand. As Winnie passed by me, the provocation in her eyes overflowed. After they left, Nathan slowly walked over, putting on a guilty expression as he took my hand. "Zoe, I know it was wrong of me not to be by your side when our child died. I shouldn't have left you to face all this alone. Please don't be angry with me." He pressed a black card into my palm; the warmth from his fingertips made me sick. "Take this card. Find a nice place to lay our child to rest. Buy whatever you want on my card. Don't make things hard on yourself." He reached out to wipe the tears from my eyes, but I dodged sharply. The guilt on his face froze for a moment before he quickly covered it up. "Grandma wants us to divorce, but I won't do it. I love you." "Don't overthink it. Winnie and I are just fake married. I couldn't just watch a young girl get left at the altar and have people gossip about her, could I? Be the bigger person. Don't stoop to her level, and don't make me lose face in front of everyone, okay?" I gripped the black card, then touched the photo in my pocket, feeling nothing but disgust and mockery. His professed love, his guilt—it was all just to keep me in line, to prevent me from making this public.
Before leaving, he ordered me not to wear mourning clothes outside—said it looked inauspicious. He gave me a perfunctory kiss on the forehead. I ignored his words. I walked out of the hotel lobby wearing those very clothes, watched by everyone. At my child's grave, two small headstones stood side by side—everything I had lost. My first child was only five months along when a car accident caused massive hemorrhaging, and I missed the critical window for treatment at the hospital. I was in that car. So was my child. And so was Winnie Johnson. When Nathan arrived at the scene, he only had eyes for Winnie. He rushed over, scooped up that woman, and ran toward the hospital without even glancing at me or our child. We were left in that freezing car, waiting for rescue that might never come. My child grew cold in my arms, bit by bit. On the way to the hospital, the bleeding wouldn't stop. In the end, we couldn't save the baby. I pounded on Nathan's chest with all my strength, each blow using every ounce of my power. I demanded to know why. Why didn't he save his own flesh and blood? Why did he only have eyes for that woman? Nathan frowned and sighed. "Zoe, don't be jealous over nothing. Winnie and I grew up together. I only see her as a sister." "The situation was urgent. I heard you and the baby calling for help, so I figured you were both alive and could wait for other rescue. But Winnie was unconscious and silent. She's an only child. I couldn't let her parents lose their only daughter." I found it laughable. Simply put, in his heart, my child and I couldn't even compare to an outsider. He slapped himself while talking, looking pained and remorseful. Seeing him like that hurt and filled me with hate, but I couldn't bear to scold him anymore. I didn't even have the strength to blame him. Nathan comforted me, saying we could have another child to make up for the loss. I crouched in front of the headstones, talking to my children for a long time. I had failed to protect them. By the time the sky began to darken, I dragged my heavy body home. As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw a pile of things burning—all my children's belongings: toys, clothes, and the little blankets I had carefully prepared. Winnie stood to the side, directing servants to throw items from the nursery into the fire one by one, a smug look on her face. I rushed forward and slapped her hard across the face, my voice trembling with cold fury. "Who gave you the right to dispose of my children's things without my permission?" Winnie covered her face, sobbing. "Nathan asked me to help you move past the grief of losing your child. I did this for your own good." "Out of sight, out of mind—it'll keep you from dwelling on it." Looking at her fake, affected expression made my stomach churn. She threw the birth photos I'd taken of my children into the fire. The photos were instantly consumed by flames. "That little thing is dead and gone. I'm helping you with exposure therapy so you don't fall back into severe depression, have a mental breakdown, slit your wrists, and play the victim to get Nathan's sympathy."
I grabbed my child's photo from the fire with my bare hands and raised my hand to slap her again. Before I could say anything, Nathan appeared from behind, grabbed my collar, and yanked me backward. "The moment I'm not around, you target Winnie like this. Who gave you the nerve? Look at yourself—what makes you think you're worthy of touching even one hair on her head?" Winnie spoke up to explain. "Nathan, don't blame her. I should have told her before disposing of those useless things. She was right to slap me twice. If she's still not satisfied, she can slap me as many times as she wants. I won't blame her." Nathan softened his tone and quickly walked over to Winnie. His hand gently touched her face, his voice full of affection—completely different from the disgust he showed me. "You've always been too soft. You're born to be bullied. I've told you before—if someone hits you, hit them back. But you never listen. Now look what's happened—any random person thinks they can push you around." Nathan turned and shouted at a bodyguard. The guard immediately stepped forward and pinned me down. My knees hit the ground. Looking up, I could see Nathan holding Winnie's hand, his eyes dark and menacing as he stared at me. "She hit you, so you hit her back. Hit her hard. Don't be afraid—I'm here. I'll teach you how to deal with this kind of bitch." He controlled Winnie's hand and slapped it hard across my cheek. The burning pain spread from my face to my temples. He was about to do it again when Winnie pulled her hand away, her voice sickeningly sweet. "Nathan, forget it. Hitting her hurts my hand. She's not worth dirtying my hands over." Nathan immediately took her hand with concern and shouted at the servants. "What are you standing around for? Get some ice packs for her hand!" Then he glanced at me with even more disgust and ordered someone to drag me to the basement and lock me up. For a full day and night, they gave me nothing to eat and didn't give me my psychiatric medication either. My condition developed after losing my first child, compounded by prolonged work stress. Without my medication on schedule, I became dizzy and disoriented. My whole body went weak. My mind was filled with images of my children. The sound of high heels clicked on the basement stairs. I didn't need to guess—it was Winnie. She stood before me with an air of superiority, like a peacock, playing with my pill bottle in her hand. "I came specially to bring you your medicine. Looking at you now, you must be suffering, right?" Winnie sneered. "You need to apologize for those two slaps yesterday. If I'm satisfied, I'll give you this medicine. Otherwise, you can wait here until the pain drives you insane." I bit my lip, tasting blood in my mouth. "In your dreams!" I gathered all my strength and lunged forward to grab the pill bottle, but lacking the strength, I lost my balance and fell onto Winnie. My hands clutched desperately at her arms, my only thought to get the medicine back. Winnie screamed in fright and pushed hard against me. I held on tight, refusing to let go.
"Are you crazy? Murder is illegal!" Nathan kicked me away. My back slammed hard into the wall as he pulled Winnie into his arms. He turned to face me, his voice full of reproach. "Don't push it. I tolerated you bullying Winnie once, but that doesn't give you the confidence to do it a second time." I was busy dry-swallowing the pills I'd managed to grab. After regaining normal consciousness, I slowly stood up, supporting myself against the ground. My eyes reddened as I caught sight of their intertwined fingers. This man now looked at me with eyes devoid of any light—only darkness remained. That night, to more conveniently take care of Winnie, Nathan let her move into our master bedroom and banished me to the guest room. Through the door, I could clearly hear him going downstairs in the middle of the night to cook her a midnight snack. I stuffed earplugs in my ears and forced myself to close my eyes and sleep. The next morning, I opened the door and came face to face with Winnie. She said flatly, "I couldn't get used to the pillows here last night. Luckily Nathan let me sleep on his arm. He barely got any rest all night." She added sweetly, "He even got up early this morning to make me oatmeal." I looked toward the kitchen at Nathan wearing an apron—a sight I'd never seen before. Too unfamiliar. I had never once seen him voluntarily cook during my pregnancy. I didn't stay for the so-called breakfast. I went straight to the office and found an intern sitting at my desk. HR told me, "Mr. Cooper adjusted your position. He thinks your mental state isn't suitable for continued work and wants you to rest properly." Even the project I'd worked on for a full year had been handed over to Winnie. I left the company carrying a cardboard box, didn't linger, and went straight to print out the divorce agreement I'd prepared in advance. I went home, walked into the study to find Nathan. He looked up, saw the document in my hand, and didn't even open it to check the contents. "Zoe, I'm glad you're willing to ask me for things. If your health isn't good, just rest at home." "Leave the rest of the project to Winnie." He thought I was asking for the house or money. He picked up a pen, signed decisively, and handed it back to me. His face showed relief. "You finally understand my intentions. As long as you don't make a fuss, I'll give you whatever you want." I didn't say another word to him. I took the signed divorce agreement and left home alone, went to the airport, and bought a ticket to the Maldives. Before the plane took off, Nathan's call came through. I looked at his name flashing on the screen, didn't hesitate for a second, and threw my phone straight into the trash. When I reached my destination, I looked out at the endless sea. Nathan—I never wanted to hear his voice again for the rest of my life.
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