Chapter 1

On the fifth day of my husband Owen's business trip, his cousin Louise suddenly sent me a message.

"Bruna, I saw the obituary Owen posted on Ins.

I'm in postpartum confinement right now, so I can't make it to your father's funeral. Don't be too sad. Take care of yourself and the baby."

My whole body froze.

My dad was perfectly fine. What funeral?

Also, Owen and I were childfree—where did this baby come from?

I suppressed my inner unease and gave her a brief reply.

Then I used a burner account, pretending to be his relative, and added Owen on Ins. Sure enough, I saw that obituary!

I immediately drove three hours to the funeral venue.

In the solemn funeral hall, I met Owen's other "wife" from his Ins.

She looked at me with red-rimmed eyes, her voice choked with emotion:

"You must be Owen's relative, right? Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to attend my father's funeral."

My heart surged with shock as I carefully examined the woman before me.

She wore an expensive black dress and only light makeup, yet it was clear she was extremely well-maintained.

I tried to calm myself down, but my voice still trembled uncontrollably:

"Where's Owen?"

"He's..."

"Mommy!"

Before Emily could finish, a five or six-year-old boy rushed right over to her.

My breath caught.

That face was like a miniature version of Owen.

Counting the time, I'd been married for five years.

That meant Owen had been juggling two women at almost the same time.

So, did she know about my existence?

Between her and me, who was the mistress?

After our marriage, Owen said he was afraid I'd work too hard, so he wanted us to be childfree.

His family never gave me trouble over this even once.

I'd always been touched by his thoughtfulness.

Never did I imagine the truth was that he'd had a son with another woman!

Emily crouched down and ruffled the child's hair.

A smile appeared on her pale face:

"Jimmy, be good. I still have things to do. Go find Grandma."

My heart jolted. Mother-in-law Antonelli actually knew about all this!

The boy nodded obediently and ran to an old lady.

That was none other than Antonelli, who had been "bedridden with chronic illness."

Right now, she was holding her grandson and walking as spryly as could be.

In my memory, from the first time I met Antonelli, she'd been sickly.

Every day she took more pills than she ate food, and year-round she was practically a hospital regular.

The reimbursement receipts Owen submitted piled up like a small mountain.

My expression darkened, my voice trembling as I probed with a remark:

"The old lady seems really healthy."

Emily didn't notice my abnormal reaction. She sighed, her words carrying gratitude:

"Yes, Antonelli loves me like her own daughter. She raised the child."

"I don't work, and she gives me $20,000 in living expenses every month."

My heart clenched violently, and a suffocating feeling instantly enveloped my entire body.

Owen lived with my family.

Shortly after our marriage, he'd had surgery for a severe herniated disc.

Since then, he'd been unemployed at home, responsible for taking care of household meals and chores.

To support the family, I threw myself into business trips and overtime.

I worked my way up from director to CEO, and naturally my salary rose accordingly.

My father-in-law passed away early, and Owen had depended on Antonelli.

To put his mind at ease, I'd suggested several times that we bring Antonelli to live with us, but he'd refused with various excuses.

So I transferred $22,000 to Antonelli every month for medical and living expenses.

It turned out this mother-son pair had been using it all to support his mistress and bastard child!

There were quite a few guests at the wake.

Emily didn't notice my emotional state and brought me over to Owen's relatives.

I looked at these people's faces—each one more unfamiliar than the last.

Yet they all acted very familiar with Emily.

"Emily, you're the apple of Owen's eye."

"For him and the child, you must take care of yourself."

Emily smiled bitterly, her left hand moving to her lower abdomen.

"Don't worry, I will."

They even had a second child on the way! I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms, yet I felt no pain.

Using the excuse that his hometown was too far, Owen had even kept our wedding simple.

After marriage, I'd never heard of him keeping in touch with any relatives.

I'd had my doubts.

But he would sigh heavily and say that after his father died early, those relatives bullied him and his mother.

Naturally, there wasn't much point in keeping in touch.

Only now did I understand—these relatives weren't avoiding contact with him.

They were just avoiding contact with me!

In their eyes, they only recognized Emily as Owen's wife.

Owen, what kind of enormous trap did you set for me?!