When the power went out on our wedding night, my heavily intoxicated husband wandered into my best friend's room. The next morning, a piercing scream erupted from my best friend's bedroom. Still groggy, my family and I rushed over, only to find my husband and my best friend, both completely naked, tangled up under the same duvet. Everyone was shocked. It was painfully obvious what had happened between them. My mother, terrified of a public scandal, pressured me to swallow the humiliation and keep quiet. "Chloe, the damage is done. The rice is already cooked. What you need to do now is accept it and deal with it." I couldn't just forget about it. I started avoiding both of them, hiding from the reality. Arthur tried everything to make it up to me, but I rejected every attempt. It wasn't until he got into a car accident that my concern overrode my anger, and I rushed to the hospital. But as I stood outside his hospital room door, I heard a voice: "Artie, you're a genius, man." "You intentionally got Chloe drunk that night, flipped the breaker switch yourself, and used the blackout as an excuse to mess around with Mia until morning." "Even this car accident is fake." "If I didn't do it this way, Chloe would never forgive me." "Besides, her mom was the one who flipped the breaker." "She did it to help Mia out. And honestly, I've been wanting a piece of Mia for a long time, so we came to an understanding." ... "Holy shit! Chloe is getting screwed over so hard." "Being betrayed by your best friend and your husband is bad enough, but her own mother was in on it too?" "What we don't get is... why?" Arthur's friends looked at him with sheer confusion. Sitting on the hospital bed, Arthur's face was flushed and glowing, looking like a wild animal that hadn't quite had its fill. Was his usual guilt-ridden, apologetic act all fake? If he hadn't just been intimately satisfied by a woman, he wouldn't be glowing like that. "Didn't I already tell you guys?" "Mia is the daughter of Chloe's mother's brother. Her uncle passed away recently, and his dying wish was for Mia to marry the man she loves." "Chloe's mother loves her brother, so that love transferred to Mia. She helped set it up." "And you guys know I've always had a thing for Mia. Even if I couldn't officially be with her, at least I got to taste her. I could die happy now." Outside the door, I felt like my soul had been ripped out of my body. My mind went completely blank. So that night, I didn't just get drunk; I was intentionally intoxicated by him. Because the power was out and I couldn't see his face, I had felt safe enough to fall asleep in the master bedroom. But it turned out, the entire thing was a meticulously orchestrated setup. A sharp, agonizing pain seized my chest, making it harder and harder to breathe. I reached out and gripped the doorframe just to keep myself from collapsing. "Hearing you say all that, man, we don't even know what to say." "This is insane, like something out of a soap opera." "Before we got here, did your precious Mia come pay you another 'visit'?" Arthur just smiled smugly, a blush creeping up his neck, but he didn't answer. His silence was an admission. No wonder he looked so radiant. I felt like I had been slapped across the face, but I didn't know who to hit back. "Arthur!" One of his friends finally spoke up, offering a word of caution. "What?" "Your situation right now is a total mess." "You are Chloe's husband, but you're fooling around with her best friend. If this gets out..." "You're going to destroy your reputation and lose all your standing." "Especially if Mia is actually pregnant with your kid. Chloe is never going to accept you back after that." "So your best bet is to just let Chloe go, and officially marry Mia. At least then it's legitimate." His friends' words made Arthur pause and think. Then, he looked up at them, his tone more resolute than ever. "I am not letting Chloe go, because she is the only person who truly, unconditionally loves me." "I can just sign the divorce papers with her for now. Once Mia gives birth to the kid, I'll go back and win Chloe over again." Chapter 2 "No way." "I seriously doubt Chloe is going to agree to that." "She won't agree to me, but she will absolutely agree to her mother." "Because blood ties will force her to submit." "As for me, when I start courting her again, Chloe will be so moved she'll have no choice but to take me back." "Chloe is so obsessed with me, she deserves to be the backup plan." "Wrong." "She's only like that with me. If it were anyone else, she wouldn't tolerate it." Arthur spoke with absolute, unwavering confidence, completely unaware that I had just overheard his entire sickening secret. I quietly slipped my wedding ring off my finger and dropped it straight into the trash can as I walked by. Mia, carrying a bag of fresh fruit, brushed past me in the hallway and suddenly stopped. "Cousin Chloe, are you here to see Artie?" That sickly-sweet, intimate nickname. If I hadn't just uncovered their secret, it would have made my skin crawl even more. "Something came up at work, so I can't stay. Just let him know I stopped by." "Oh! So does that mean you've forgiven us?!" "That's wonderful! Artie is going to be so happy when he hears that." I let out a cold, cynical smirk and kept walking without another word. As soon as I walked out of the hospital doors, I pulled out my phone and called my boss. "Mr. Sterling, you mentioned an overseas project recently, right?" "I've changed my mind. I'll take it." "Are you sure?" "It's a three-year assignment. Didn't you say you couldn't be away from home for that long?" In the past, I genuinely felt that being too far away was a bad idea. I worried there would be no one to take care of my mother, and I was terrified Arthur would be angry. But now, knowing the two of them had conspired to destroy me, my mental state was on the verge of total collapse. I had to make a decision. From now on, my career would be my only focus. Everything else could be left behind. "My home is suffocating me." My voice cracked as I said it, and Liam Sterling picked up on the emotion immediately. He was a perceptive man; he knew exactly what to ask and what to leave alone. "Just put my name on the list. I have to go." "Alright. Take care of yourself." After hanging up, I finally noticed a string of transaction alerts flooding my phone screen. My life savings totaled exactly three million dollars. Suddenly, two and a half million had been withdrawn. I frantically called my mother. She was the only one who could have stolen my debit card. "What exactly did you buy to drain two and a half million dollars from my account?!" Knowing the truth about her betrayal, my tone was completely stripped of any warmth. My mother sensed my anger but didn't seem to think she had done anything wrong. "I have my uses for it." "Do you really need to be this furious? Didn't you promise me when you were a little girl..." "That when you grew up, you'd make lots of money for me to spend?" "I only spent two and a half million, and you're already throwing a fit?" She said it so casually. Only two and a half million? For ordinary people like us, two and a half million was a lifetime of grueling labor and savings. "I bought a house. Mia said she wanted to buy a property to rent out for passive income." "Isn't this what you wanted, too?" "I bought the house, but we still needed some furniture, so I was just helping her pick some out." Before I could say another word, she hung up the phone in a huff. I rushed to the nearest bank branch, immediately canceled the compromised card, and withdrew the remaining five hundred thousand in cash before permanently closing the account. I am a dutiful daughter, but I am not an idiot. Why should Mia get to buy a house using my credit card? My money didn't just fall from the sky. She already stole Arthur from me, and now she wants my money to set herself up? Less than an hour later, my phone rang. It was my mother. "Chloe, you've really got a lot of nerve now." "Why did you freeze my card?! Mia and I just ate at a restaurant and we have no way to pay the bill!" Chapter 3 "Transfer the money right now." "I have zero obligation to transfer you another cent. You're the ones who ate the food, not me." "Besides, isn't Mia right there with you? A thirty-year-old woman shouldn't be too cheap to pay for a single meal!" "You ungrateful little brat..." There was no point in continuing this toxic conversation. I hung up the phone directly. A bitter, acidic ache rose in my chest. Despite my best efforts, my mood was completely derailed. The ugly memories of my past began to surface. My mother, obsessed with bailing out her younger brother, recklessly squandered all the money my father had worked so hard to save. When they fought about it, my mother packed her bags and left. Her family showed up at our door, harassing and blaming my father, leaving him frustrated and completely helpless. Later, my father overworked himself and died of a heart attack on his way home from his shift. I was young back then. I didn't understand why my dad, who was perfectly healthy, would just drop dead. I only found out the truth after I became an adult. Later, when my uncle died, my mother brought Mia to live with us. She forced me to constantly yield to Mia. During the holidays, Mia got brand-new clothes, while I was forced to wear faded, washed-out hand-me-downs. When it was time for college, she only paid Mia's tuition and told me to drop out and get a job. Thankfully, my grades were excellent, and I managed to secure enough scholarships and grants to finish my degree. Looking back on it now, I should have cut ties with my mother a long, long time ago. When I got back to the apartment, three people were waiting for me in the living room. Not out of concern, but to interrogate me. My mother grabbed a ceramic teacup from the coffee table and hurled it at my head. "So you finally decided to show your face?!" "Do you have any idea how humiliated I was today?!" "My friends from my Zumba class were sitting right at the next table! You froze my card and made me look like a broke beggar in front of them!" I didn't bother using a polite tone with them anymore. I pointed straight at Mia. "Let me ask you something. Is she a legal adult or not?" Mia instantly jumped up from the sofa. "Chloe, what is that supposed to mean?" I turned and stared her down. "You are a grown adult, and you expect an elderly woman to foot the bill when you take her out to eat? And you actually feel justified in being angry about it?" "I'm not wasting my breath arguing with you. I'm only going to say this once." "From this moment forward, I will not give you another dime, and I will not help you with a single thing." I turned to my mother, her face dark with anger. "If you have a problem with that, we can legally sever our relationship right now." Arthur and Mia froze in shock. They never expected me to bring up something as severe as legal emancipation. "Chloe, it was just the cost of one meal. Do you really need to go as far as threatening to disown your own mother?" "Hurry up and apologize to Mom..." "Do you think I'm angry about the cost of a meal?" I was angry about her decades of blatant favoritism, and the fact that she nearly maxed out my life savings today to buy Mia a house. Mia quickly stepped between me and my mother, her face a mask of practiced guilt. "Auntie, Cousin Chloe, please don't fight." "I think Chloe is right. I'll be more careful from now on." My mother looked at Mia with absolute admiration. It was always like this. Regardless of whether Mia was right or wrong, as long as she lowered her head and apologized, my mother would shower her with praise for being so "mature." But my "maturity" was entirely dependent on how much money I provided. I finally understood. No matter how hard I tried or how much I achieved, it would never equal a single, sweet sentence from Mia. "You ungrateful wretch. I'll forgive you today, but only because Mia asked me to." "Get back to your room." "I'll gladly go to my room. But first, I want the two and a half million you stole from me returned." "If you don't return it, I am calling the police." With that, I didn't say another word. I gripped the heavy black trash bag filled with cash and walked silently back to my room. Chapter 4 My mother completely exploded. She charged at my bedroom door, kicking and screaming at the top of her lungs. "You ungrateful bitch! I am your flesh-and-blood mother!" "If you call the cops on me, you'll be struck by lightning!" I felt absolutely nothing. I methodically placed all the cash from the black bag into my personal safe. Suddenly, Arthur pushed the door open and walked in. "Chloe, what is going on with you today?" "You used to be so dutiful and caring." "Look at me, I was in a car accident and hurt my leg, and you didn't even bother to come to the hospital to check on me." His tone was dripping with manufactured grievance. "Were you really injured in a car accident?" I stared at him with a chilling, dead-eyed smile. When he saw the utter lack of emotion in my eyes, he visibly panicked. "Why... why would you ask me that? Of course I was injured." "Arthur." I raised my voice, making him flinch. "I did go to the hospital to see you that day. But I didn't walk into your room. Do you know why?" He didn't answer. He just started trembling slightly, realizing my gaze had already completely pierced through his lies. When he remained silent, I spoke, my voice like ice. "Because I was standing outside the door, and I heard your little secret." "On our wedding night, you intentionally got me drunk. My mother pulled the breaker switch to kill the power, giving you and Mia the perfect excuse to sleep together in the dark." "And now, her belly is carrying your bastard child." "Am I right?" Arthur was stunned into absolute paralysis. The two people standing in the hallway behind him also froze in terror. He stared at me, his eyes wide, completely unable to formulate an excuse. Mia was the first to speak. "Cousin Chloe, it... it's not what you think..." She trailed off. Even she didn't know what kind of lie could possibly cover this up. My mother, however, suddenly went quiet. She turned and walked away. This gave me a terrible, sinking feeling. Arthur reached out to grab my arm. I violently shook him off. "Don't touch me!" "Chloe, please, just listen to me..." Before he could finish, I heard the sound of shattering glass coming from the living room. "Auntie, stop! That's Uncle's memorial portrait... Oh my god, don't burn it!" "Mia, move out of the way! This old man died taking it easy, leaving me to raise this ungrateful bitch of a daughter by myself." "And now she refuses to obey me." I sprinted out of the bedroom. When I saw my mother standing on the balcony, actively trying to set fire to the very last keepsake I had of my father, panic finally seized me. "What the hell are you doing?!" "Stop it right now!" She was holding the only surviving photograph of my father. If she let go, it would drop straight into the flaming brazier below. "Seeing you panic like this just proves that a dead man is always more useful than the living." My face flushed dark red with fury, but I didn't dare rush her to snatch it back, terrified she would actually drop the photo into the flames. "Tell me, why are you trying to burn my dad's things?" "Because you are disobedient and disrespectful to your mother." What exactly did I have to do to be considered "obedient" and "respectful"? Did I have to act like a mindless, emotionless robot and comply with her every demand? Suddenly, I remembered what Arthur had said in his hospital room. My eyes instantly turned glacial. "Tell me. What exactly do you want me to do?" "I want you to go to the courthouse with Arthur immediately and file for divorce. That way, the child in Mia's belly will be legitimate." "I don't want people talking behind my back." So this was it. She was holding my father's memory hostage just to force me to step aside? I turned to look at Arthur, who was standing there in silence. "And you? Is this what you want, too?" "Chloe, just agree to these terms for now. Once she gives birth to the baby, we can..." "Save it."
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