Chapter 2

During that time, they focused all their energy on us.

They took away our bank cards and phones, and stationed bodyguards outside our doors. Their only job was to watch Julian and me.

I had no choice but to break up with my boyfriend, fulfilling my parents' wishes.

Before we got our marriage license, Julian had said coolly, "We're practically comrades in arms. Just satisfy them, don't take anything else seriously."

I knew he only had eyes for Serena, but I never imagined he would openly cheat like this.

And, to prevent me from getting pregnant, he'd fed me birth control for three years.

Even though it was a fake marriage from the start, five years is still five years. To say I wasn't heartbroken would be a lie.

To say I wasn't disgusted would also be a lie.

I asked him, "So you want to keep this child?"

As the words left my mouth, I already knew the answer.

If Julian hadn't given his permission, Serena wouldn't have accepted all those gifts.

She wouldn't dig a pit for herself to fall into.

Julian gritted his teeth. "Audrey, I want a child."

I couldn't hold back. I slapped him across the face.

Everything became so ridiculous, my laughter and tears bursting forth simultaneously.

I walked into the bedroom. The medicine test report lay on the table.

So did the hospital's diagnostic report.

Furious, I snatched them up and flung the reports at Julian's face.

"Julian Sterling, look at this yourself."

"The folic acid you gave me... it was birth control, wasn't it?"

He suddenly looked panicked, clutching the two reports, his eyes darting back and forth.

His voice trembled. "Audrey..."

"You fed me birth control for three years, and now you tell me you want a child?"

"If you absolutely had to have a child with Serena, you could have just told me directly. I would have helped you keep it from our parents."

"But instead, you disguised birth control as folic acid and tricked me into taking it."

"I can accept anything, Julian, except you hurting me."

Looking back at the five years I'd been married to Julian, it felt somewhat unreal.

Aside from most of our time being spent maintaining a polite distance, like respectful acquaintances, there were moments of genuine connection, even passion.

Sometimes, after a few drinks, he'd cling to me, calling out "Wife" again and again.

"Do you feel happy with our life? I feel very happy."

Then he'd hold me even tighter.

When I'd go to make him a hangover cure, he'd pull me back, refusing to let me go. "Nothing works better than you being right here with me, a better cure than any soup."

"Just stay with me."

At first, I wondered if he was mistaking me for someone else.

But as time went on, I accepted it, willingly immersing myself in the scent of alcohol on his skin.

He'd surprise me with little romantic gestures now and then.

On holidays and festivals, he'd charm both sets of parents effortlessly.

He'd often be at my parents' house, his arm around my waist, saying, "Don't worry, Mom and Dad, Audrey is truly wonderful."

"Marrying her was the best decision I ever made."

Even though I always felt he was just putting on an act.

But in those moments, I'd always have this illusion, that Julian and I were truly destined to spend our lives together.

Even if not as lovers, then as family.

How could he be so cruel, so heartless, to silently watch me take birth control for three years?

If Chloe hadn't discovered it, I would have kept taking them indefinitely.

His hand, holding the reports, trembled slightly, his gaze unfocused.

The words were barely squeezed from his throat: "I was afraid you'd be upset."

"You won't have to take them anymore."

Two short sentences. No apology, no concern.

Just the evasion of a man caught in the act.

I let out a cold snort. Afraid I'd be upset? Or afraid that if he told me the truth, his desires wouldn't be met?

Julian's selfishness and hypocrisy oozed out of him.

I felt nothing but disgust.

"Julian Sterling, you say it so lightly. Do you have any idea how much agony I went through, thinking it was *my* problem, anxious to the point of insomnia?"

I slowly took the hospital diagnostic report from his hand, pointing to the results.

"The doctor said I've taken too much birth control. My hormones are completely out of whack, and it might even lead to infertility."

"You only want a child with the woman you love. Did it ever occur to you that I, too, should have the right to be a mother?"