Chapter 2

From the moment Ryan said he wanted a child, I exhausted myself trying to conceive. From endless appointments to painful shots, I went through it all alone.

Every time the nurse asked why I was by myself, I made excuses for him.

"The baby's father is too busy. He really can't make it."

But I never imagined he had malicious intent from the start.

Not only did he pay off the clinic to put another man's sperm inside me for a house, he actually turned the tables on me!

He didn't just treat me like a wife. He didn't even treat me like a human being!

The man he was now was a completely different man from the one I married.

My hands trembled with rage.

I couldn't understand how he could have become like this.

He used to take off his jacket and drape it over me on rainy days.

He'd wait downstairs when I worked late.

Once, when I was hospitalized, he even stayed by my bedside all night.

Watching his tired, red eyes back then, I truly believed he was the one I was meant to spend the rest of my life with.

So, I defied my family's opposition and resolutely married him.

Who knew that on the very first day, his family would put me in my place.

The significant cash gift of eighteen thousand dollars we'd agreed upon turned into a mere 1,888 dollars.

Ryan even smiled and told me, "The decimal point isn't important. I'll give you all my future earnings anyway, so what does the gift amount matter?"

The promised "wedding jewelry" also turned into cheap trinkets from a hardware store.

My parents were furious and wanted to confront them.

But Brenda, my mother-in-law, scoffed, "Are these trinkets not 'jewelry'? What law says wedding gifts have to be gold?"

Ryan pulled me aside and said, "It wasn't easy for my parents to raise me; I can't bear to let them subsidize me further for the wedding."

"So I took the liberty to change it. The weight is the same anyway, and the box is closed during the wedding, so you can't tell. When I have money later, I'll definitely make it up to you."

At the time, I was naive enough to comfort myself.

I thought he'd surely keep his promises, that he was just temporarily short on cash, and that now that we were married, he'd surely work harder for our home.

But I later found out.

He wasn't short on cash.

His money was for show, never for my use.

He was so lavish with his family, he acted like he owned a gold mine.

He bought Chloe, my sister-in-law, a handbag for thirty thousand dollars, and his mother health supplements for twenty thousand. When his father lost tens of thousands gambling, Ryan immediately pulled out his card to pay the bill.

But when I mentioned baby formula or supplements for our child, he'd frown.

"No need for those extravagant items, we need to be practical with expenses. Don't waste money."

Now, for the sake of a high-value property, he didn't hesitate to exploit my body and make me carry another man's baby!

Having once genuinely loved him, when I heard these words from him and his family, my head spun with rage, and my heart bled with pain.