Chapter 1

In the fifth year of my marriage to Hudson Hope, I was still commuting two hours to save a few dollars.

Until the day I transferred to Mary Hospital in New York, I received a VIP patient, the wife of billionaire heir Hudson.

The nurse smiled and showed me their wedding photo.

"Mr. Hope is famous for doting on his wife."

I gripped my stethoscope, my knuckles turning white.

That woman had personally slashed my right hand three years ago.

And that man was supposed to be my husband.

I stared at the woman's pregnant belly.

Just then, Hudson's call came through on speakerphone, his voice filled with a tenderness he'd never shown me. "Cecilia, I bought you a mansion to make it up to you."

It turned out I was the other woman all along.

Sylvia's POV

In the fifth year of my marriage to Hudson, I was still pinching pennies, saving every cent.

On my first day at the new hospital, I was assigned a VIP patient.

The nurse said it was the wife of Hudson Hope, the richest man in the city.

Hudson Hope?

That was my husband's name.

After transferring to New York, my very first patient was Cecilia, who'd been entangled with my husband for five years.

I double-checked the medical records, even questioning the intake nurse.

"Are you sure there's no mistake? The patient's name is Cecilia, and her husband is Hudson?"

The nurse laughed.

"Dr. Winters, I could mix up anyone but not Mr. Hope. He's the billionaire heir of New York, famous for how much he spoils his wife. To make sure she has a safe delivery, he specifically reserved our hospital's best VIP suite for her."

The nurse pulled up photos of Hudson and Cecilia's wedding on her phone to show me.

The cruel truth was right there in front of me.

I felt like I'd been plunged into ice water.

Another doctor said enviously,

"Dr. Winters, you're new to New York so you don't know. Mr. Hope and Miss Cecilia have broken up and gotten back together countless times over these five years. It's more dramatic than a TV show! In the end, Mr. Hope swallowed his pride and chased her for ages before they finally got their happy ending!"

My ears were buzzing.

The nurse gently nudged me.

"What's wrong? Do you know Mr. Hope and Miss Cecilia?"

I snapped back to reality, forcibly suppressing the tidal wave of emotions in my chest.

Know them?

I knew them all too well.

The name Cecilia was like a poisoned needle, stabbing straight into my heart.

Five years ago at my wedding with Hudson, Cecilia had stormed the stage like a madwoman, screaming that Hudson was hers.

Four years ago, I got anonymous photos of Cecilia standing naked in front of Hudson. Hudson had immediately called the police, saying she was harassing him.

And three years ago...

I unconsciously touched the hideous, ugly scar on my right arm.

That day, Cecilia had rushed into the hospital where I worked with a knife and, in front of everyone, slashed at my right hand like a maniac.

She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"That's what you get for stealing my Hudson! I'll ruin your hand so you can never be a doctor and seduce him again!"

The top hospital had used all their best resources and barely managed to save my arm.

But this scar would remain on my skin forever.

At the time, Hudson had roared that he would kill Cecilia. I'd desperately held him back to prevent him from making a terrible mistake.

Later, Hudson said he'd sent Cecilia to a psychiatric hospital.

He would torment her daily, make her wish she were dead, make her spend the rest of her life atoning for what she did to my hand.

But now, Cecilia was sitting there perfectly fine, and she'd become Hudson's wife in New York, pregnant with his child.

I closed my eyes.

Absurd.

It was too absurd.

My husband of five years, who made twenty thousand dollars a month, was actually New York's wealthiest man-and someone else's husband.

I forced myself to look at Cecilia in the hospital room, dressed head to toe in designer clothes, clutching her belly with a blissful expression on her face.

Then I looked down at my own cheap clothes worth only a few dozen dollars that I wore to save money.

I felt like a complete and utter fool.

For five years, I'd thought I was happy enough.

My husband was considerate and gentle. Apart from him working in New York and us being apart often, our marriage had virtually no conflicts.

Last month, to have a baby soon and to surprise Hudson, I'd quietly submitted my application to transfer to Mary Hospital in New York as an obstetrician.

I never imagined that on my first day, fate would play such a cruel joke on me.