Chapter 1

I tried to seduce my fiancé 99 times, but he still preferred my sister.

On our wedding day, he didn't show up. Instead, he married my sister first, making me the laughingstock of the entire city.

In my moment of pain and despair, my fiancé's brother Ethan Foster took me into his arms. He said he had secretly loved me for a long time and asked me to give him a chance.

Moved by Ethan's devotion, I turned around and married him instead.

For five years of marriage, Ethan catered to my every whim and showered me with affection. Until a tragic boating accident took his life.

At the funeral, I was inconsolable, nearly smashing my head against his tombstone in grief.

It wasn't until I unexpectedly discovered I was pregnant that I gave up thoughts of suicide. I spent my days in tears, barely hanging on.

I thought this was how the rest of my life would be. Until one day, I overheard a conversation between my former fiancé and his friend.

"Ethan, it was actually your brother who died in that boating accident. But you've been deceiving everyone by assuming your brother's identity just to be with Zoe. Aren't you afraid the truth will come out one day?"

"I don't care anymore. I've always loved Zoe. I only married Olivia out of duty, to avoid interfering with her happiness. I already stepped aside once before. This time, fate has given me a chance and I don't want to let it go!"

In that moment, I finally understood.

It turns out, everyone had always preferred my sister Zoe Reed.

It turns out, Ethan loved her even more deeply than Aaron did.

Back then, Ethan had been willing to "make the sacrifice" of marrying me for Zoe's happiness.

Now he was even willing to fake his own death and assume his brother's identity just to be with her!

I couldn't accept this reality. I ran out into the pouring rain and cried my heart out until dawn.

Looking at my disheveled state, I finally came to my senses. He didn't love me.

Heartbroken, I accidentally tripped and fell, bleeding profusely.

Soaked to the bone, I stumbled into the hospital.

"Doctor, please save my baby!"

"Ms. Reed, I'm sorry but your baby has stopped developing. We need to perform surgery immediately. What happened to you? We need to contact your family right away."

Hearing the doctor's reproach, my heart shattered. If I hadn't truly lost all hope, how could I have ended up in this state?

Tears streamed down my face as I recalled the past few months. Ever since "Ethan's" death, the entire Foster family had been consumed by grief. So when I found out I was pregnant, I hadn't told anyone.

So Ethan had no idea that while he was playing husband to Zoe, I was already carrying his child.

I touched my belly, heartbroken that the baby could no longer be saved. My hand trembled as I held my phone, but ultimately I released the send button.

Since he was so fixated on pursuing his true love, completely disregarding me and our child, there was no need to tell him this news.

"Don't contact anyone! Doctor, please proceed with the surgery."

After three grueling hours of surgery, I emerged from the operating room looking deathly pale.

I leaned against the wall and sat down on a bench in the hallway, feeling a dull ache in my lower abdomen. Suddenly, there was a commotion up ahead.

A familiar figure rushed past carrying someone in his arms. Not long after, he hurried by again, his gaze finally landing on me.

This time, I clearly saw who it was.

Ethan.

"Quick, come with me!"

He tossed out those words and pulled me along in the direction he came from. Having just undergone surgery and now running, I felt waves of nausea and my face grew even paler. But Ethan's attention clearly wasn't on me, so he didn't notice my condition.

We finally stopped when we reached the blood donation room.

"She has the same blood type as Zoe. Draw her blood!"

I frowned, about to refuse, but Ethan pushed me into a chair without hesitation, directing the nurses to start drawing blood immediately.

From start to finish, Ethan never thought to offer me a word of explanation. Only after seeing the needle pierce my arm did he hurry off again, his face filled with anxiety as he went to check on Zoe.

As they drew my blood, the nurses gossiped about what they had just witnessed.

"What's going on? Why is Mr. Foster in such a panic?"

"What else could it be? His wife was just rushed in from their bedroom with a ruptured corpus luteum and massive bleeding. Things must have gotten pretty wild, if you know what I mean."

"He really loves his wife, huh? Married for three years and still as excited as a high school boy."

Listening to the nurses' knowing looks and whispers, I finally understood what had happened.

So...

He and Zoe had been intimate, and due to their overexcitement, she suffered a ruptured corpus luteum and massive bleeding!

The hospital blood bank was low, so when Ethan frantically spotted me resting in the hallway, he dragged me over to donate blood.

Realizing this, I felt as if my heart had been violently torn apart. The pain radiated through my entire body.

Ethan would never know that while he was passionately entangled with the woman he loved, I had just lost their child.

If Ethan had shown even a moment of concern for me earlier, he would have noticed something was wrong.

But he didn't.

His heart and eyes were filled only with Zoe.

Tears fell uncontrollably from my eyes. Ethan, since you love Zoe so much, I'll step aside completely.

From now on, we'll never meet again!

After leaving the hospital, I touched up my makeup to ensure no trace of distress showed before returning to the Foster family mansion.

Instead of hiding away in my room staring at Ethan's photos and crying like before, I walked straight to the study and knelt before Mr. Foster Sr.

"Grandpa Foster, I've made a decision. I'm ready to let go of Ethan and leave the Foster family!"