The night before our wedding, Ferdinand Gilbert—the man I'd loved for six years—slid a document across the table toward me.
"Mabel's carrying my child. She'll be moving into this house. You'll relocate to the other villa."
I held my tears back by sheer force of will.
"When did this happen?"
"The night of your birthday party. I'd had too much to drink and stepped out for some air. Found Mabel outside. Someone had slipped something into her drink."
"Her eyes were glazed, half-lidded. She threw herself at me like a little wildcat. I couldn't resist."
Ferdinand's tone was flat. Casual.
"The moment I laid eyes on her, I understood what it meant to find your soulmate."
"Marrying you was always about our families pushing for it. You're presentable enough. I figured we could make it work."
He lifted his gaze to meet mine. There wasn't a shred of guilt in his eyes.
"Of course, if you still want to go through with the wedding, the title of Mrs. Gilbert is yours. She won't fight you for it."
"If you don't, I'll give you both villas and the commercial property downtown. Consider it my apology."
……
He laid it all out like a business negotiation. Calm. Measured. As if he were closing a deal.
I couldn't breathe, let alone speak.
Mabel James was an intern at my company.
She'd insisted on attending my birthday gala, all wide-eyed sincerity, saying she wanted to learn from the experience.
Instead, she'd thrown herself at one of my business partners.
He'd been furious. On his way out, scrubbing lipstick off his collar, he'd pulled me aside.
"That little intern of yours isn't exactly trustworthy. Might want to be more careful about who you hire."
Mabel had overheard.
She'd turned around and dropped to her knees in front of me, sobbing.
"It was that Mr. Zhang. He tried to force himself on me. When I refused, he made up lies to cover his tracks."
She wailed loud enough to draw a crowd of onlookers.
I'd had a splitting headache. I told her to go home.
She'd run off crying.
Straight into a private room next door, where a group of men dragged her inside and drugged her.
That was when Ferdinand found her.
He watched me now, eyes rimmed red, saying nothing.
His patience thinned. He leaned forward, voice low and clipped.
"Have you decided?"
"Are we doing this or not? If you can accept the arrangement, pack your things tonight and move out."
His voice held all the warmth of a memo.
Six years together. A union between two of the most prominent families in the city. A perfect match on paper.
Everyone assumed Ferdinand and I were meant to be.
Our families' businesses were a powerhouse alliance.
I'd believed that walking down the aisle with him was inevitable. A foregone conclusion.
I never imagined anything could derail it.
"Georgette Pruitt?"
Ferdinand frowned and stepped toward me, reaching out to wipe my tears.
I pulled away. Cold. Deliberate.
"Ferdinand, I only want to ask you one thing."
I stared at him. My eyes burned, webbed with red.
"In six years together, did you ever actually love me?"
"I did."
No hesitation.
He settled back onto the sofa, crossing his long legs with practiced ease.
"Before I met Mabel, you were the only one I loved."
"But after I met her, I realized something. No one goes through life loving just one person."
His thumb traced the lock screen of his phone, the gesture impossibly gentle.
On it was a photo of Mabel James. Playful. Adorable. A professional headshot with a coy tilt of her chin.
Ferdinand's face, always so cold, always so guarded, softened into something I had never once seen directed at me.
"I love you. But I love her more."
"And now that she's pregnant..."
"Enough!"
Something inside me snapped. I lunged sideways and shoved the vase off the table.
It shattered against the floor. Hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of antique porcelain, reduced to fragments. Ferdinand's expression darkened, a muscle twitching in his jaw as he looked up at me.
In the end, he exhaled a single, weary sigh.
