Chapter 1

I damaged my uterus saving my husband, yet he had his mistress bear his child and wanted me to adopt it.

To force my acceptance, he stripped my dress off in public.

I signed the divorce papers and disappeared from his life completely.

Three years later, I won an international award with my new film. When reporters asked him about his ex-wife's success, his eyes reddened on camera.

"The biggest regret of my life was losing her."

And I smiled, arm in arm with my new boyfriend. "Sorry, I don't know this person at all."

Vivian's POV

A year after remarrying Ethan, I received a family photo from Grace at the hospital where I was getting my prenatal checkup.

The man labeled "the child's father" in the photo was none other than my husband, Ethan Carter.

In the examination room, the doctor frowned as she held my test results.

"Miss Rivers, as your doctor I have to tell you responsibly. With your current physical condition, your chance of successfully carrying a baby to term is less than 5%. You need to be mentally prepared."

The doctor looked at me and repeated the words she'd probably said countless times this month.

"Okay, I understand."

My voice was hoarse as I struggled to hold back tears.

After saying those words, all my strength drained away and I collapsed into the chair.

A year of treatment, taking over a hundred different medications, countless needle marks on my belly. None of it mattered anymore in the face of this photo.

I was in a daze as I went downstairs.

I missed a step and tumbled down the stairs.

Blood immediately began pooling beneath me.

The doctors rushed me into the operating room.

I was already half dead from pain, able only to let the doctors move me around: registration, blood draw, changing clothes, and finally lying on the operating table.

My body was pried open by cold instruments, and excruciating pain shot through my lower body. I could clearly feel a sharp tool scraping inside me.

I gripped the operating table hard to keep from making a sound, two streams of tears sliding from the corners of my eyes.

I had to remember this bone-deep pain. Starting today, Ethan and I had nothing to do with each other anymore.

Half an hour later, I shuffled down the hospital corridor with one hand supporting my abdomen and the other braced against the wall. The waves of stabbing pain from my lower abdomen reminded me of what I'd just lost.

Two nurses walked toward me, holding thick stacks of cash with joyful expressions.

"Mr. Carter really is the heir of the city's top family. He gave each of us a hundred thousand dollar bonus!"

"I know, but that woman didn't seem to be Mrs. Carter..."

The nurses walked away, but I stood frozen in place.

So Ethan and Grace's child was also born in this hospital.

The same hospital where that woman's child was born with everyone's anticipation, while my child had already become nothing more than a bloody mess in the trash.

I followed the direction the nurses came from. It didn't take long to find Grace's delivery room.

I looked through the window. Ethan, who had always been cold, aloof, and had a cleanliness obsession, was actually helping Grace clean up the waste her body had expelled.

Seeing the care and patience in his eyes, I felt like I'd fallen into an ice cellar.

In the four years Ethan and I had been together, even when I accidentally stained the sheets during my period, he would replace the entire bed.

But facing Grace, his almost pathological obsession with cleanliness had completely vanished.

Tears fell from my eyes. I leaned weakly against the wall, my abdomen and heart both sending waves of excruciating pain.

Ethan's tender expression made me think of when we first met.

It was at a speech Ethan gave at his alma mater. He fell for me at first sight and pursued me intensely.

The whole city knew that the Carter heir had someone in his heart, and he would pluck the stars from the sky for me if I asked.

To marry me, Ethan didn't hesitate to go against the entire Carter family, even willing to give up his position as heir.

In the end, his mother couldn't resist his persistence and agreed.

But I never expected that the man who promised me forever at our wedding would cheat on me just one year later.

I went crazy, bursting into company meetings, making scenes at banquets, even threatening suicide. Nothing worked.

Ethan would apologize for less than two days before reverting to his old ways.

Finally, I was exhausted. I decided to let both Ethan and myself go, and divorced him.

But after the divorce, Ethan pursued me back like a man possessed.

That proud man humbled himself, begging frantically for me to come back.

I couldn't let go of our relationship either, and eventually remarried Ethan.

But this time, I'd lost the bet again.

His mother's words still echoed in my ears.

"Ethan has never lacked women. But you're the first one who voluntarily left him. He begged you back this time, but there will never be only you by his side in the future."

I laughed bitterly at myself. I'd overestimated myself, thinking love could make a playboy settle down.

I took out my phone and sent a message to Ethan's mother.

"I lost. I accept my loss. I'm willing to leave Ethan. I hope you'll keep your promise too."

I'd just put my phone away when the doctor came to check on patients and saw me outside the door, looking pained.

"Miss, are you alright?"

Hearing the voice outside, Ethan opened the hospital room door and froze when he saw me.

"Vivian, what are you doing here?"