Chapter 3

Realizing this, I quickly created a private group chat and added all my team members.

Being an orphan, I cherished human connections deeply. We shared profits generously, and my chosen team members clicked really well with me. They proudly called themselves my "chosen family."

[If Mark contacts any of you, stick to the same story! The big deal didn't go through! I was fired by the company!]

[All]

I stared at my phone screen, seconds stretching into an eternity, terrified Mark would get a response before me.

Sure enough, after a few 'received' messages, my assistant Sarah replied:

[Ashley, is this a surprise for Mark? Mark just asked me, almost blew your cover! Got it! I'm going to play hard to get with the info!]

After a sigh of relief, I sent another message.

[My marriage is in crisis. More details when I have time, but for now, if Mark contacts any of you, you MUST stick to the same story!]

This time, almost instantly, no one asked any questions. A flood of "Got it" messages appeared.

I deleted the group chat. On the surveillance feed, I saw Mark frowning at his phone, muttering a curse.

"That useless Ashley really screwed up the deal and got fired!"

Brenda also grew anxious.

"Chloe is about to give birth! I promised her a $15,000-a-month luxury post-birth recovery suite!"

When I first got pregnant, I also wanted a postpartum recovery suite, but Brenda refused outright when she heard the $5,000-a-month price.

"Outsiders can't take care of you as well as family! With me here, why waste that money!"

Chloe?

I suddenly remembered once when I'd forgotten some documents at home. When I returned to get them, Brenda was at home, chatting and laughing with a young pregnant woman.

The table was laden with expensive fruits I'd bought, and the two had made a huge mess.

Brenda had said she was a distant niece, Chloe, who came to the city for her prenatal check-ups!

No wonder I'd felt an inexplicable hostility from Chloe back then, and her words had been full of snide remarks. When I'd vented to Mark about it, he'd just said I was being petty.

So, they had boldly brought his mistress into my home!

On the recorded feed, Mark said another word, then turned and left.

Brenda, left alone, rolled her eyes in annoyance, muttering under her breath,

"I gave her so much medicine! Why hasn't that useless burden miscarried yet?!"

"Could the medicine be fake? No, it can't be, I paid a lot of money to Dr. Peterson in the village for it…"

A cold sweat drenched me instantly. Brenda had been drugging me!

Just as I was shaking with fear, the bedroom door was pushed open the next second!

The moment Mark walked in, I frantically exited the surveillance app on my phone.

Looking at the husband before me, my heart hammered against my ribs. Just now, I had clearly heard Mark say on the recording:

"The house is her pre-marital property, so let's wait until we've swapped houses before divorcing."

"If she plays nice, fine. Otherwise, a pregnant woman with no family to back her up... if we don't press charges, who'd care what happens to her?"

A while ago, Mark had said the house would feel small after the baby was born, and he wanted to sell this one to get a bigger house.

Two hours earlier, I'd been daydreaming that with the bonus, we could not only get a bigger house but also take Mark and Brenda on a lavish trip.

But I never imagined that the path to happiness I'd envisioned was actually a trap designed to destroy me!

Mark's once somewhat handsome face now seemed sinister and cruel.

No wonder he'd been so extraordinarily attentive after learning I was an orphan. He'd had this plan all along!