After my husband, Liam, had an affair and came crawling back, my entire family turned into his personal surveillance network. When he went out to take out the trash, my dad trailed him and sent me a video: "He's behaving. Didn't even glance at his phone." When he had meetings at his law firm, my mom dressed up as a janitor to sneak in: "No women within a ten-mile radius." When he flew back from an international deposition, my best friend literally scanned him with a blacklight wand at the airport. "No stray hairs, no lipstick stains. Everything is crystal clear." Everyone promised me that Liam’s heart belonged to me again. Even Liam himself knelt by my side of the bed every single night, swearing that for the rest of his life, he would only love me and our unborn child. Until my seventh month of pregnancy. Liam was supposedly on a business trip, so I went to my OB/GYN appointment alone. As I walked past the maternity ward, I accidentally spotted him. He was holding a newborn baby, passionately kissing the woman lying in the hospital bed. And standing right there, teary-eyed and circling the bed, were my parents and my best friend. I recognized the woman instantly. It was his former mistress, Chloe. When they saw me standing in the doorway, everyone panicked like they had just seen a ghost, instinctively moving to shield the baby. But I just calmly walked up to Liam and smoothed out his wrinkled collar. "The baby is cute. Looks like you." "I'll let you guys get back to it. I need to go home and do the laundry." ... Liam froze, pure panic flashing across his face. "Clara, listen to me..." "Do you have any clothes you need me to wash?" I interrupted, pointing at a pile of his pants and shirts on the sofa. His face turned deathly pale. He grabbed my hand desperately. "Clara, don't do this. Just listen to me, let me explain." "Do what?" I looked at him, a faint smile on my lips. "Isn't it better if I don't disturb you?" He shook his head, his voice trembling with cautious disbelief. "You're... you're not angry?" I knew exactly why he was so shocked. Six months ago, the day I caught him cheating with Chloe, I completely lost my mind. I printed out a thousand copies of their bed photos and plastered them all over the glass doors of his law firm. When he asked for a divorce, I stabbed him three times with a kitchen knife and then climbed up to the roof of our apartment building. That day, my parents and my best friend dragged a bleeding Liam up to the roof. They forced him to his knees, holding up my blood test results. "Clara, you're pregnant! Please, just for the sake of the baby, forgive him this one time!" Back then, everyone thought I was a psycho. But now, I just stood there in silence, prying his fingers off my hand one by one. "There's no need to be." Suddenly, the baby in his arms started fussing, its sharp cries piercing my eardrums. My best friend, Sarah—the same girl who, just yesterday, had pressed her ear to my belly and squealed about being a godmother—rushed forward and shoved me hard. "If you have something to say, take it in the hall! Stop acting crazy, you're going to scare the baby!" "Chloe didn't even dare to book a private VIP suite because she was afraid of hurting your feelings! Do you have any idea how much she's sacrificed?!" My parents, whose hair had supposedly turned gray overnight from worrying about my marriage, stepped in front of Chloe like bodyguards. "Clara, Chloe is a good girl. She doesn't have any family here. She just gave birth, we had to be here for her." Heavily pregnant, I was forced backward step by step by the people I loved most. I slammed into the doorframe, breaking out in a cold sweat from the sharp pain in my back. It took me a few seconds to catch my breath. "This is your business. I don't care." I gripped my lower back and turned to leave. But Chloe suddenly stumbled out of bed, her eyes red, and dropped to her knees right in front of me. "Clara, please don't blame them! This is all my fault!" "My dad was trying to force me to move back to my hometown and marry some guy. Everyone was just trying to help me out. They suggested I have the baby and pretend I was already married to get him off my back..." "You were the one who helped me get out of that town. You sponsored my college tuition. I've never forgotten what I owe you. I swear, I would never try to steal your husband!" She was sobbing, but deep in her eyes, I could see a hidden, victorious smirk. A wave of intense nausea hit me. I instinctively yanked my arm away from her and leaned against the wall, dry heaving. "Chloe!" "Clara, you pushed her?! She just had a baby!" Sarah’s eyes went completely feral. She wound up and slapped me hard across the face. My cheek went numb instantly. Clutching my stomach, I opened my mouth to defend myself, but my parents aggressively shoved me out the door. "Just go home! Stop causing a scene!" SLAM. The heavy door was shut in my face. From inside, I could hear a chorus of soft, gentle voices coaxing and comforting Chloe. I was completely shut out. A crack of thunder echoed through the hospital corridor. The cold wind sweeping in through the open windows made me shiver. The door clicked open, and Liam chased after me, holding an umbrella. "Clara, it's raining outside. I'll drive you." I didn't reject the offer, and he visibly let out a sigh of relief. "The doctor said Chloe has medical issues. If she had aborted this baby, she would never be able to get pregnant again. I just couldn't bring myself to do it." "But I swear to God, you are the only woman I love." "As soon as she's discharged, I'm sending her and the baby to Seattle. You will never have to see them again." "I don't care." I turned around, pulled the wedding band off my ring finger, and dropped it at his feet. "Take it. Give it to her." "Once my baby is born, we're getting a divorce." Liam tried to grab my arm to stop me. But Sarah called out from the room. "Liam, get back here! Chloe's crying!" In the end, he left me standing there, dumping the umbrella into my hands. "I am not getting a divorce. Just take a cab home for now." I opened the umbrella. There was a tear in the fabric, exactly like the massive, unfixable crack in our relationship. The cold rain leaked right through it. It wouldn't kill me, but it was enough to freeze my heart completely. Once I got into a cab, I absentmindedly opened Instagram and saw Chloe had posted a new Reel. "The baby is finally here! It's a little girl. My husband named her Lily." My hand crushed the fabric of my dress. A tidal wave of grief flooded my chest, threatening to drown me. Lily. That was the exact name I had picked out for the baby I lost. Years ago, Liam's law firm was targeted by some shady individuals who hired thugs to trash the office. I threw myself in front of him to protect him, and the beating I took caused me to miscarry. And now, he had taken that name and handed it over to his mistress. My trauma, the death of our first child—he had completely forgotten all of it. Tears blurred my vision as my trembling thumb scrolled further down her page. The day I was in a massive car accident and shattered my tibia, they sent me hundreds of "Get well soon!" texts... while they spent the entire night setting off fireworks with Chloe on the beach. The weeks I was violently ill from morning sickness, they ordered UberEats to send me soup... while they took Chloe on a seven-day European vacation to see the Northern Lights. The people who claimed they were "too busy with work" to come to my birthday dinner were actually having a romantic picnic under the stars with Chloe. There were over six hundred posts. I tortured myself by watching them over and over, until I was so numb I couldn't shed a single tear. I had suspected it before, but I always held onto a tiny shred of delusional hope. Now, the truth was laid out right in front of my face. I had to accept the fact that they had been treating me like an absolute idiot. I reeled my thoughts back in, gently resting my hand on my stomach, taking a deep breath. "Don't worry, baby. Mommy's going to take you far away from here soon." I took the cab straight to my parents' house to grab my passport and birth certificate. I unlocked the front door. But what I saw was completely unfamiliar. All of my belongings had been cleared out. My old room had been completely renovated into a cozy, pastel-pink princess room. I reached out to touch a decorative seashell lamp on the desk, but a sharp, panicked voice stopped me. "Don't touch that!" My parents were standing in the entryway holding grocery bags, glaring at me with open resentment. "Chloe doesn't like people touching her things. She'll be upset." I looked at them. "Where is all my stuff?" "We put it in the storage unit." "This is my bedroom." My mom rolled her eyes and walked toward the kitchen. "Chloe is practically our adopted daughter. Are you seriously going to fight her over a room?" I was squished against the doorframe, my clothes sticking uncomfortably to my skin from the rain. Neither of them even asked if I was cold. A sharp sting hit the back of my nose, and my eyes filled with tears. "And what about me? Am I not your daughter anymore?" My mom didn't even look up from unpacking the groceries. "How can you even compare yourself to Chloe? She is so sweet and considerate. Having her around me and your dad is like having a little ray of sunshine. Just looking at her makes me happy." "Unlike you. You constantly walk around looking miserable, acting like the whole world owes you something." She sighed heavily. "If you weren't standing in the way, Chloe and Liam would have been married ages ago." "They genuinely love each other. They've been hiding it for years just to spare your feelings, and you can't even show a little understanding?" My own biological mother. Telling me to be understanding of my cheating husband and his mistress. I wiped my tears and let out a broken laugh. "Fine. Then from now on, she can be the one to take care of you." "What are you throwing a fit about now? Where are you going?" my dad asked impatiently. "I'm moving to Chicago for work. I won't be coming back." After saying that, I pulled out my phone to check my final job offer from Chicago Memorial Hospital. Instead, I saw a rejection email sitting in my inbox: [Following a formal complaint, an internal investigation has concluded that you fabricated portions of your resume and have a history of accepting bribes and violating medical ethics. You have failed the background check and are permanently blacklisted from our hospital network.] My blood ran cold. I immediately dialed the hospital director. His voice was ice-cold on the other end. "I actually thought you were a promising candidate. I never expected you to forge your own medical publications." "If Attorney Vance hadn't personally brought us the evidence of your violations, we would have hired a fraud." It was Liam... A blinding rage consumed me. Ignoring my parents' protests, I stormed out of the house and drove straight back to the hospital. In the VIP suite, Liam was softly singing a lullaby to coax Chloe to sleep. I threw the door open so hard it banged against the wall, startling the baby in the bassinet into a loud wail. "Liam! How dare you maliciously report me to the hospital?!" "Being a surgeon has been my dream my entire life! You know exactly how much I sacrificed for that career!" He instinctively covered Chloe's ears, glaring at me with intense annoyance. "Chicago Memorial only had one open slot this year. Chloe wanted it. It's a good resume builder for her." My fury, my devastation—it all meant absolutely nothing to him. I was so angry I couldn't even breathe properly. I grabbed his shirt sleeve. "You need to call the hospital and clear this up right now, or I swear to God I will sue you for defamation!" "Try it." He smiled faintly. "I guarantee you, there isn't a single lawyer in this city who will take your case." "We have plenty of money. You don't need to work. Just stay home and focus on raising the baby." I stared at him in utter shock as tears slid down my face. "I am going to hate you for the rest of my life..." Seeing the absolute heartbreak in my eyes, Liam's expression finally softened. He reached out to wipe my tears. But Chloe suddenly slid out of bed and walked over. "Liam, let me talk to Clara." She grabbed my arm, her manicured nails digging painfully into my skin. She leaned in and whispered in my ear: "Clara. Your parents, your best friend, your husband, and now your job. Every single thing you had belongs to me now." "Did you really think it was just bad luck when those patients filed false malpractice reports and got you fired from your last hospital? Liam paid them to do it. He didn't want you working at the same hospital where I was getting my prenatal care, in case you bumped into us." "Just accept your reality. You will never, ever beat me." "Shut your mouth!" My eyes went feral. I raised my hand to slap her, but my wrist was violently snatched mid-air. Liam gripped my arm, his jaw clenched in a furious warning. "Don't you dare touch her." He pulled Chloe behind him, shielding her with his body, and looked at me with eyes as cold as ice. "Get out." I lifted my chin and aggressively wiped my tears away. "I'm going to show you today that there is absolutely nothing I'm afraid to do." I went home, booted up my laptop, and compiled every single text message, hotel receipt, and explicit bed photo of Liam and Chloe into a 128-page PDF presentation. I posted the entire file into the comments section of all her viral social media videos. The internet exploded instantly. The file was shared thousands of times across every platform. Major news outlets started DMing me, asking for exclusive interviews. Before I could even reply to a single message, Liam burst through the front door. He ground his teeth together, practically lifting me off the ground by my shoulders. "Clara, are you trying to destroy Chloe?! There are reporters swarming the hospital!" "You are going to come with me right now and issue a public apology to clear her name!" "Why the hell should I apologize?!" I fought desperately to break his grip, but his fingers only dug in harder. His face was terrifyingly dark. "If you don't do this, I promise you, when you go into labor, there won't be a single doctor willing to deliver your baby." I stared at him in pure disbelief, my heart cramping in agonizing pain. To protect Chloe, Liam was actually threatening my life and the life of our unborn child. I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood. "Fine. I'll go." At the hospital, a massive crowd of journalists had swarmed the lobby, camera flashes going off like strobe lights. Chloe was huddled against Liam's chest, playing the part of a terrified, fragile victim. I let out a cold laugh, grabbed a microphone from one of the reporters, and spoke clearly into it. "What made you think I was ever going to let a parasite off the hook?" "The rumors are completely true. Chloe is a homewrecker." "I brought her out of a rural, dead-end town. I paid for her entire education. And in return, she slept with my husband and gave birth to his illegitimate child." The entire lobby erupted in gasps. Chloe's eyes instantly filled with tears. "Clara! You've been stalking my husband for years, and I put up with it! You drugged him, climbed into his bed, and got pregnant with his baby, and I still didn't say anything! What more do you want from me?!" As she spoke, she pulled a marriage certificate out of her purse. It clearly displayed both her and Liam's names. "I am Liam's legal wife." I looked up in utter shock, locking eyes with Liam, who immediately looked away, refusing to meet my gaze. Sarah stepped in front of Chloe, glaring at me defensively. "Clara, get your facts straight. You are the mistress trying to destroy their marriage!" My mom pulled a stack of medical records out of her bag and held them up for the cameras. "I'm so sorry, everyone. My daughter has severe psychiatric issues. She's been obsessively stalking Liam for years. She drugged him to get pregnant and has caused Chloe so much emotional distress. As her mother, I sincerely apologize." I stared at my mother in complete horror. The tears broke instantly. "Mom?! Are you crazy?! She's the one who..." Before I could finish, Liam gestured to a group of doctors in white coats rushing over. They took the fake psychiatric evaluation from my mother, and without giving me a single second to defend myself, they jammed a needle full of sedatives into the side of my neck. As my vision faded to black, the last thing I saw was Liam and Chloe, their fingers tightly intertwined, leaning against each other. Neither of them even spared me a second glance.