After the ninety-ninth IVF attempt, Christina Oliver was finally pregnant.
That day, as she braved the rain to share the good news with her husband, Hervey Dinklage, she happened to overhear his true feelings right at the doorway.
Inside the private room, he raised an eyebrow, holding and smiling at another woman’s photo.
“I got a tattoo over my heart with the family name Oliver—but it’s not for Christina. It’s for Keala.
“Every time I’m in bed with Christina and call her ‘babe,’ I’m actually calling out to Keala.
“I only married Christina for revenge. From beginning to end, the only woman I’ve ever loved is Keala.”
Each word from him hit her like a sharp knife, stabbing straight into her chest.
They were childhood sweethearts in three years of marriage, and in his mouth, it had all been nothing but revenge.
From start to finish, the only one he cared for was Keala.
But the voices inside continued. Someone asked in confusion.
“Dude, if you don’t like Christina, then why make her go through ninety-nine rounds of IVF? Why insist she carry your child?”
Hervey replied casually, “It was Keala’s request. Her body’s not in the best condition. She can’t bear children. She said she’d only be with me if Christina gave birth and passed the child to her.”
Christina’s face turned pale as paper. Tears splattered onto her pregnancy test report. Clutching her belly, she turned and walked away from the private room.
She didn’t go home. She didn’t go to the hospital. She went straight to a law firm.
“Attorney, please help me draft a divorce agreement… and an asset transfer agreement.”
Hervey had forgotten one thing: before their wedding, they signed a prenuptial agreement.
Every time he hurt her, one percent of his shares in the Dinklage Group would be transferred to her.
After three years of marriage, this was the fifty-second time he had hurt her—meaning every single share he owned in the Dinklage Group had already been transferred to her name.
‘Hervey, I love you… but I love myself more. Since you’ve been cruel, don’t be surprised when I leave… and take our baby with me.’
…
“Ma’am, once both parties sign the divorce papers, there’s no going back. Are you sure about this?”
Without a moment of hesitation, Christina signed her name. “I am. This marriage is over.”
The only reason Hervey could toy with her so easily was because he knew she loved him.
But what he didn’t know was that after three long years, every ounce of her love had already been worn away.
Holding the divorce papers, Christina walked home through the rain.
As soon as she stepped inside, Hervey’s eyes filled with worry. “Why are you still acting like a kid? You didn’t even bring an umbrella. If you get sick, it’s going to break my heart.”
He picked up a dry towel and gently wiped the rain from her face.
Over their three years of marriage, he had done things like this countless times. That was why even after being hurt fifty-one times, she still told herself that he loved her.
But after hearing the truth from his own mouth, she finally realized everything he did was just an act.
Her fingers curled tightly. She brushed his hand away and pulled the divorce papers from her bag.
“Hervey, let’s get a divorce.”
But her voice was drowned out by a sudden clap of thunder, followed by a sharp scream from upstairs.
In an instant, her face turned pale. She would never forget that voice even in her dreams—Keala.
When they were kids, every time Christina needed their parents the most, Keala would intentionally scream to steal all their attention.
When they grew up, she did the exact same thing to Hervey—forcing him to choose her every single time.
Even Christina’s marriage to him only happened because Keala didn’t want him, giving Christina a chance.
Christina’s body trembled as she demanded, “Wasn’t she supposed to be overseas, married? Why is she in our house?”
She clutched Hervey’s arm, waiting for an explanation.
But there was no guilt on his face—only concern for Keala.
“Keala got divorced. Her husband abused her, so I brought her back.
“Let go, Christina. Keala is terrified of thunder. I need to go up and stay with her.”
The love and panic in his eyes stabbed Christina straight through the heart.
She was his wife—yet every word out of his mouth was about another woman.
That woman, who once abandoned him and made him the laughingstock of the entire city.
Holding back the ache in her chest, Christina forced her words out. “Hervey, I’m your wife. I’m scared of thunder, too. I—”
But he cut her off impatiently. “Christina, she’s your sister. She’s been through hell out there. She just wants to come home and feel loved. Do you really have to fight her for that?
“When you were kids, snatching back her identity wasn’t enough. Now, you want to push her to death?
“You’ve changed, Christina. You’re so cruel I don’t even recognize you.”
Christina stared at him in disbelief.
She didn’t understand. She was the real daughter of the Olivers; Keala was only adopted.
She simply came home. How was that wrong?
Hervey’s eyes grew cold as he looked at her hand. “Let go.”
Her eyes burned red, her heart freezing inch by inch. She stubbornly replied, “You can go. But sign this first.”
For the first time, Hervey, who was always cautious, didn’t even read the document. He signed his name immediately, disgust flashing in his eyes.
“There. You satisfied? Now, let go.”
Seeing his signature on the divorce papers sent sharp, needling pain through Christina’s chest.
More than twenty years of affection, three years of marriage—ended in a single moment.
Silently, she nodded and released him.
Hervey rushed upstairs without looking back.
Her palm felt suddenly empty, the cold air seeping in until she was chilled to the bone.
She raised her eyes toward the guest room. Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.
“Hervey… this time, I’m setting you free. We’re even now.”
All these years, he insisted Keala suffered because Christina returned to the Olivers.
But he forgot—it was him who personally found Christina after she was abducted. He was the one who brought her home.
When she was eight, she was kidnapped deep into the mountains. Just when she thought she’d never escape, her parents managed to track her down.
But she was locked in a basement. All she could do was make noise—whatever noise she could manage—to let them know she was there.
But she had been starved for three or four days; she could barely stand. The sounds she made were too faint for anyone aboveground to hear.
Fortunately, the little girl locked up with her had been kidnapped only recently. Christina told her about a hidden passageway, urging her to escape and alert her parents.
The girl agreed. But Christina waited all night… and no one came for her.
That night, the traffickers came back and beat her half to death.
“You stupid brat. Trying to run? That girl you let go didn’t bring help; instead she was taken in by your parents as their goddaughter. Since you let her go, you’ll work twice as hard from now on.”
That was the first time Christina realized just how cruel people could be.
For the next fifteen years, she lived in shackles, doing the heaviest work, never getting enough to eat—living worse than a dog.
Just when she thought she’d die like that, her childhood sweetheart, Hervey, personally came to rescue her and helped her get revenge.
But when she returned home, she found out that the girl who betrayed her had become the Olivers’s heiress—Keala.
Christina cried as she told everyone the truth. But nobody believed her.
Keala claimed Christina was insane, mentally damaged from years of abuse.
After fifteen years, her parents had long treated Keala as their real daughter and believed everything she said.
Eventually, under Keala’s manipulation, they sent Christina to a psychiatric hospital.
While she was there, Hervey visited her every day but repeated the same words as her parents.
“Christina, I know you feel resentful after everything you’ve suffered, but Keala is a good girl. Stop targeting her.”
At that moment, Christina realized she had lost more than ten years of freedom; she’d also lost her parents’ and her childhood sweetheart’s love and trust.
Later, she gave in. She was finally released.
But that same day, the Dinklages and Olivers announced an engagement—between Hervey and Keala.
Christina sobbed as she asked them what about her? She was the one who had the childhood engagement with him.
But her parents said, “Christina, you’re our real daughter. You can stay with us forever. Everything in the family will belong to you. But Keala is different; she only wants to marry Hervey. And they love each other.”
Watching Hervey and Keala so blissfully in love, Christina cried until she could barely breathe.
Keala had everything—status, affection, reputation—while Christina endured all the suffering and slander. Why couldn’t they give her even Hervey?
But on their wedding day, for some unknown reason, Keala suddenly backed out and left the country to marry someone else.
While everyone waited to laugh at the Dinklages, it was Christina who stepped forward and said she would marry him.
And from then on, she became Hervey’s wife.
She knew he loved Keala, but she believed sincerity could be returned with sincerity.
Reality proved her painfully wrong.
When she finally collected herself, Christina wiped away her tears one by one. Looking down at the divorce papers, she muttered to herself.
“Hervey… just give me thirty more days. After that, I’ll leave your world forever—with our baby.”
