Chapter 2

Sophie froze for a moment, and an unnatural expression flickered across her face.

“We’re not married yet.”

Perhaps she caught the shock that flashed across my face, because she hurriedly added, “Don’t rush to look down on me. He and his wife don’t have any feelings for each other!”

My fingers tightened around my water glass until my knuckles turned white.

“He told me his family pressured him into that marriage. That woman was only interested in his status and forced her way into his family.”

Sophie curled her lips, her eyes filled with contempt.

“He said she was incredibly boring. Every day with her was torture. He was miserable. If he hadn’t met me, he wouldn’t have known how to survive that life.”

As she spoke, her face filled with deep sympathy for Ethan.

It was as if he were the greatest victim in that twisted relationship.

I listened to her words as a storm erupted inside me.

I could barely remain standing.

She had forced her way into my family?

Ethan had actually dared to say that I had pursued him?

So in his version of the story, everything I had done for him had become an act of manipulation and coercion.

A powerful sense of absurdity and disgust surged through me.

I really had been blinded by love.

I still remembered the first time I had brought him home. He had stood awkwardly in my family’s living room in a shirt washed so many times that its color had faded.

His family had been poor, and his parents had been ordinary factory workers.

He had worked with all his strength to get into a decent college.

After graduation, he had spent several years doing ground operations at a hotel before finally becoming a low-level assistant manager.

If he hadn’t used that reasonably handsome face to treat me well in every possible way—and if I hadn’t fallen for him so deeply that I threatened to starve myself—my parents would never have reluctantly agreed to our relationship.

Unable to stand seeing his talent go unrecognized, I begged my father to use his connections and clear a path for Ethan, helping him rise all the way to general manager.

Because I pitied his background, I had never treated him poorly materially. I gave him the life he had once never even dared to imagine.

When his father became seriously ill, I used every medical resource available, hired the best specialists, and paid all the medical expenses.

After that, seeing how hard he worked, I continued giving him support.

Sophie had no idea what was happening inside me and continued with her twisted theory.

“That’s how it works. The one who isn’t loved is the real mistress. So what if his wife occupies the position? She doesn’t understand him, and she doesn’t deserve him. Ethan said that once he found the right opportunity, he would tell her the truth and divorce her.”

It felt as though an invisible hand had seized my heart and squeezed it until I could barely breathe.

I took a deep breath and used every ounce of strength to keep my expression calm.

“How long have you two been together?”

A sweet smile immediately bloomed across Sophie’s face. “It’ll be exactly four years on the fifteenth of next month!”

The fifteenth of next month…

My mind buzzed, and everything went blank.

Four years ago on that exact day, I had given birth to Mia.

My labor had started early, and I had been rushed to the hospital. After seven or eight agonizing hours, I finally gave birth to our daughter.

Ethan hadn’t been by my side for any of it.

When I had finally emerged from the delivery room, exhausted beyond words, I had seen only my anxious parents.

It was a long time before Ethan came running over, drenched in sweat.

He said he had gone to buy the expensive dessert I had always wanted, but the line had been too long and it had taken him forever.

I had felt hurt, but seeing the guilt and concern on his face as he hugged me, my heart had softened immediately, and I had even comforted him instead.

I had stopped my parents when they tried to lecture him.

So while I had been fighting for my life in the delivery room, he had been sweetly confirming his relationship with another woman.

That made sense.

What kind of dessert could possibly take that long to buy?

I looked at Sophie’s smug face, my voice as cold as ice.

“Does his wife know about you?”

Sophie raised her eyebrows proudly, her tone full of contempt.

“That stupid woman? Of course she doesn’t know. Ethan has kept me completely hidden from her. She probably still thinks she has a happy marriage.”

She gave a mocking laugh, as if she had just told the funniest joke in the world.

“But it would be better if she found out. If she has any sense, she’ll leave on her own and save Ethan the trouble.”

“Stupid woman.”

“Leave on her own.”

Those words were poisoned daggers stabbing into my heart.

I had reached my limit.

I suddenly stood up, grabbed the wine from the table beside me, and threw it straight into her face.