Chapter 1

Before we got married, Ethan confessed to me that he had an ex-wife and a daughter.

"I promised Olivia that I would go on a vacation with her and Lily once a year."

"But don't worry, the rest of the time, I'm all yours."

I understood that a little girl needs her father's presence growing up, so I agreed.

But I didn't expect that the time he spent traveling with his ex-wife and daughter would get longer and longer.

The first year, their trip lasted a week.

The second year, it was two weeks.

The third year, it was an entire month.

I tried calling him, but his daughter picked up and screamed at me:

"You bitch! You ruined my family!"

Shortly after, I received a package from his daughter containing a dead cat.

I was so terrified that I tumbled down the stairs.

I suffered a severe hemorrhage and miscarried on the spot.

I called Ethan to tell him what happened, but he only blamed me over the phone:

"Summer, how could you accuse Lily like that?"

"Go get your tubes tied tomorrow. I promised Lily that she would be my only child in this lifetime."

It turned out that even after three years of marriage, he had never planned to have a child with me.

Since that was the case, I decided to give him back to his daughter.

On the third night after my surgery, Ethan and the others unexpectedly returned early.

I was sitting at the dining table, sipping the nutritious soup Maria, our housekeeper, had brewed for me.

His ex-wife, Olivia, gave him a sarcastic smirk.

"I told you she was lying. Look at her, she's perfectly fine."

"She totally ruined our trip."

"You have to make it up to me. Let's go to Switzerland for skiing next Wednesday."

Ethan replied casually, "Alright."

I instinctively glanced at the calendar on the wall.

That day was our fourth wedding anniversary. Ethan had promised he would spend it with me this time.

It seemed he was going to break his promise again.

Olivia gave Ethan a look, as if urging him to do something.

Ethan sighed and turned to me, his voice flat.

"Summer, did you get the tubal ligation done?"

That was the very first thing he said to me after stepping through the door. Even the way he addressed me had changed.

Once, Olivia had come to pick up Lily and overheard him calling me "baby." She threw a massive tantrum on the spot.

With a hurt and angry expression, she had screamed:

"Ethan, if you want to show off your love with your little trophy wife, could you do it at a better time?"

"Being so intimate in front of my daughter, are you trying to make her feel like her mother is a failure?! Have you ever considered my feelings?!"

From then on, as long as she was around, Ethan only called me by my name.

I spoke calmly:

"No, and there's no need for it anymore."

That hemorrhage surgery hadn't just taken away my two-month-old fetus.

It had also cost me my uterus.

Olivia's face fell instantly, and Ethan frowned.

His eyes caught a box sitting on the chair.

Inside was a hyper-realistic 3D doll with a bloody, horrific face.

"Why did you bring something like this into the house? Weren't you always terrified of these things?"

I looked at Lily, who had been dead silent since entering the door, constantly stealing anxious glances at my stomach.

I said expressionless, "You should ask your daughter."

Lily nervously looked up at Olivia.

Olivia immediately pointed a finger at my face and snapped:

"Summer, have you no shame? A grown woman throwing dirt on a child?!"

"My daughter is only six years old. Where would she even get something like this? Don't think I don't know what you're planning!"

She suddenly grabbed my bag, dumping everything onto the table with a loud clatter.

Olivia picked up a bottle of folic acid and hurled it at my feet.

Then she turned to interrogate Ethan:

"Is this the 'sweet, sensible girl' you talked about, who is so good to Lily?"

"She frames Lily for making her miscarry, pretends to obey you about the sterilization, but has actually been secretly taking folic acid to prepare for pregnancy!"

"She just wants to give birth to a son, kick my daughter out of the house, and steal her inheritance! If you dare let her bastard child compete with Lily, I will kill myself right in front of you!"

Ethan pinched his brows in frustration.

"I never thought about it that way. Just talk normally. What kind of example are you setting, yelling like this in front of the kid?"

He didn't blame her for violating my boundaries.

He didn't blame her for insulting me.

Instead, he habitually patted her back to soothe her.

"Go home first. I will handle this."

Olivia snorted coldly.

"Of course I'm leaving, and I'm taking Lily with me."

"Lest someone bullies my daughter while I'm not around. Karma will get her!"

She angrily grabbed Lily, who kept looking back at me as they went to pack their bags.

The living room fell into a dead silence.

Ethan rubbed his temples wearily.

"Summer, you went too far this time. Lily is Olivia's whole world. Even if you're jealous, you shouldn't target a child."

"I need an explanation about the folic acid."