I dug my nails into my palms until they ached, my eyes burning red：“Do you even remember why I can't have children?”
Seven years ago, right before our wedding, one of Malcolm's defeated business rivals came looking for revenge. He'd wanted to kill Rosalie to make Malcolm pay.
I'd been having afternoon tea with her at the time. I didn't hesitate. I threw myself in front of her.
The knife meant for her heart plunged into my uterus instead.
That single stab cost me my ability to ever bear children.
I knew a family like the Farleys needed an heir. So I swallowed my pain and offered to break things off.
Malcolm fought to keep me. He stood outside my apartment in a downpour all night long.
Even after he collapsed with pneumonia and slipped into delirium, he kept murmuring that he'd never need children, that all he needed was me.
That same man who'd once sworn the world to me now stood before me, his voice as calm and cold as a stranger's.
“Why bring up the past? Let's talk about the present and the future.”
“The present is that Vivian is carrying my child, and she's keeping it. As for the future, you'll raise the child. That's your duty as Mrs. Farley.”
His tone was flat, unbothered, as though this weren't betrayal at all but a business negotiation.
Something inside my chest tore open, raw and bone-deep.
Then my assistant came hurrying over, her expression conflicted, and placed Vivian's blood work report in my hands.
Positive. Just as I'd suspected.
I drew a long breath and looked Malcolm dead in the eye.
“Fine. Then let's only talk about the present and the future.”
“Right now, I'm telling you that Vivian has an STD. Your grand plans for the future? You might want to rethink those.”
Malcolm snatched the report from my hand. His face went dark.
He strode straight to Vivian, barely contained fury flickering behind his eyes：“Explain.”
“Is it the gender results……”
Vivian's gaze landed on the report. Her breath caught.
A flash of panic crossed her face before she threw herself into Malcolm's arms, her eyes reddening on cue.
“She's framing me! You know I was a virgin when we got together! I'm carrying your baby, and you'd believe her over me?”
Tears spilled down Vivian's cheeks in an unbroken stream, landing on the sharp ridges of Malcolm's knuckles, dousing his anger and suspicion in one stroke.
Malcolm wiped her tears away with his thumb, his voice dropping to a gentle murmur：“Hey, don't be such a crybaby. I believe you. Stop crying, alright?”
“No! No!”
Vivian refused to let it go. One hand pressed protectively over her belly, the other jabbed a finger at me.
“This isn't over! My stomach hurts from the stress. She started this, so she gets on her knees and apologizes!”
Malcolm's gaze faltered for a moment, but in the end, he turned to me and gave the order.
“I know you're upset, and that's why you forged the test results to scare Vivian.”
“But she's carrying my child. She can't handle that kind of shock, and she shouldn't have to suffer.”
“Just apologize.”
A deafening buzz filled my skull, and the murmurs around us erupted all at once.
“Isn't Mr. Farley supposed to be famous for doting on his wife? He actually cheated?”
“And now he wants the wife to kneel to the mistress? The world's gone upside down.”
“So what if she hasn't gotten pregnant in seven years? Dr. Thomas is still young, and she's the Miracle Surgeon. Why couldn't he just wait?”
……
A taste of rust flooded the back of my throat. I'd bitten clean through my lip.
I stretched my mouth into a smile and walked toward Vivian.
“You're right, it is my fault——”
“Slap!”
My palm cracked across her smug face.
“You slept with another woman's husband, got knocked up with a bastard child, and had the nerve to flaunt it in my face. My only mistake was not slapping you sooner. I should've put you in your place the second you walked in.”
