Theater: NovelMaster | Language: English
Synopsis
After five years of marriage, my wife was finally pregnant. Both my mother and I were over the moon, eagerly anticipating our baby's arrival.
Never in my wildest nightmares did I imagine that the moment I went on an overseas business trip, she would secretly get an abortion.
Her reason? To help her childhood crush deal with his family's nagging to get married.
I took the first flight home overnight, furious and heartbroken, only to walk into my own apartment and see him walking out of my bathroom wearing nothing but a towel.
Chloe looked surprised to see me.
"Why are you back? Don't get the wrong idea. His relatives are in town, and Sean just needed to borrow our place for a couple of days."
Hearing that, I smiled faintly. I took her hand and placed it right into his.
"Then why don't I just lend you to him, too?"
Chloe froze.
She stared at me in complete disbelief, gritting her teeth.
"Ethan, what the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm your wife! How could you offer to lend me to another man?"
I let out a bitter scoff.
My recent work assignment had been brutal—six grueling months abroad. But the payout was huge.
Originally, I hadn't wanted to go.
Then Chloe got pregnant.
To give our baby the best life possible, I sucked it up and took the job.
Just as the project was wrapping up, I saw a post on Sean's feed.
Chloe was clinging to his arm, publicly acting as his girlfriend while soaking in congratulations from his entire family. And worse, she had terminated our baby.
Seeing that ripped my world apart. I bought a red-eye ticket and rushed straight back.
And what did I find? Sean, strutting half-naked out of my private bathroom.
In that exact second, every ounce of love I had for her died.
I gave a harsh laugh.
"I'm just giving you and Sean my blessing."
"After all, didn't you proudly announce to the whole world that you're his girlfriend?"
Chloe frowned, her temper flaring.
"Ethan! Do you really not know the truth? Sean's family won't stop harassing him to settle down. He was completely overwhelmed, so I did him a favor."
"Can't you be a man for once? Why do you always have to be so petty and jealous?"
Hearing her defend him, Sean hung his head, looking pitiful and wronged right in front of me.
"Ethan, if you're upset, I can explain everything to my parents. Please, just don't fight with Chloe because of me."
"Even if my mom disowns me or beats me half to death, I'll take it."
Chloe's heart visibly ached for him.
"Sean, ignore him! He's always been small-minded. He never does anything useful, just throws pathetic jealous tantrums all day."
She turned back to glare at me. "Ethan, if you keep making a scene out of this, don't push me to my limit!"
I laughed out loud at her shamelessness.
In the five years we'd been married, I had begged her dozens of times to visit my hometown with me.
She always refused with every excuse in the book, turning her nose up because my family was from a small rural town.
Yet here she was, traveling across the country to visit Sean's parents without a second thought.
It was a sick joke.
My eyes turned dead cold.
"Fine. Forget all that for a second. Answer me one thing: Where is our baby?"
"Chloe! Why did you kill our child behind my back?! You knew how desperately I wanted this baby!"
We had been married for five years without conceiving.
I had gone to fertility clinics countless times, running tests and trying every brutal treatment out there.
I suffered through all of it, but nothing worked.
Whispers and rumors followed me everywhere.
Every holiday, my relatives interrogated me with pity and judgment, until I dreading even visiting my own family.
It wasn't until this year, when Chloe finally got pregnant, that my name was cleared.
I had already spent a fortune enrolling in parenting classes.
I booked the best private postpartum care center and hired top-tier nannies a year in advance.
All I wanted was to give our child the best of everything the world had to offer.
My mother even put her life on hold, packing her bags to come stay and take care of Chloe.
Chloe knew better than anyone how much that baby meant to me.
And she aborted it.
Chloe's face paled slightly. "Ethan, we can always have another baby later. It was just way too much pressure for us right now."
Too much pressure? What a pathetic excuse!
In five years of marriage, I never let her lift a finger.
Every single dime I made went straight to her. No matter how exhausted or broken I was from work, I never once brought my stress home.
She didn't have an ounce of pressure. It was nothing but a blatant lie!
A flicker of mockery flashed through Sean's eyes, though his voice remained meek and apologetic.
"Ethan, don't blame Chloe. It's all my fault."
"My parents were pushing so hard. I begged Chloe to help, and she only did it because she didn't want my parents to get the wrong idea if she showed up pregnant."
Hearing those words made my blood boil. I swung my fist straight into Sean's jaw.
"Didn't want your parents to get the wrong idea?! You killed my baby over a reason that ridiculous?!"
I snapped my head toward Chloe. "Chloe, do you have a soul? You know my mother has a bad heart and her only wish was to meet her grandchild! Even if you didn't want it, you could have at least told me!"
Chloe shoved me back in absolute fury. "It was just a fetus! It's done! Why are you taking it out on Sean?!"
She rushed to Sean's side, checking his face with desperate concern. "Apologize to him right now!"
"Me? Apologize to him?!"
I couldn't believe my ears. I clenched my fists until my knuckles cracked. "He doesn't deserve my breath, let alone an apology!"
"See that? My son bought this luxury penthouse all on his own!"
A middle-aged woman's voice echoed as Sean's mother unlocked the front door, boasting loudly to the relatives behind her.
The moment she stepped inside and saw the bruise on Sean's face, she screeched, "Who did this?! How dare anyone lay a finger on my boy in his own home?!"
I dropped my hands, stunned and baffled. "What are you talking about, his home? This is my penthouse."
Sean's mother scoffed with utter disdain. "This belongs to my son, Sean! My daughter-in-law is standing right here. Who the hell do you think you are?"
"Wait... you're the punk who hit my son, aren't you?!"
Her voice turned sharp and piercing as she jabbed a finger in my face.
I didn't bother responding to her. Instead, I stared hard at Chloe, my voice shaking with rage.
"Chloe. Tell them whose apartment this is."
Chloe froze. Guilt flickered across her face, and she stood there, struck dumb.
Sean purposefully showed off the red mark on his jaw and wrapped an arm around Chloe's waist.
"If it's not mine, could it possibly be yours?"
At that, Chloe looked at me coldly. "Of course this place belongs to Sean."
Sean's mother burst out laughing. "Did you hear that? Straight from my daughter-in-law's mouth!"
The relatives chimed in, showering Sean with praise:
"Sean has really made it big! Living in a penthouse like this, with such a gorgeous wife!"
"Next step is having a baby, right? Don't forget to invite us to the celebration!"
I felt like I was going to explode. My fists were clenched so hard they shook.
Seeing my glare, Sean's mother pointed at my nose and shrieked, "You! You're the one who assaulted my son!"
"Breaking into someone's home and attacking them? There are laws in this country!"
My eyes were bloodshot as I roared, "This is my property! The only ones who need to get the hell out are you!"
She put her hands on her hips, screeching like a banshee.
"He's completely insane!"
"What are you men standing around for? Throw this lunatic out!"
The relatives immediately swarmed in, glaring at me with hostile eyes.
"Get lost! Come near Sean's home again and we'll break your legs!"
"You dare hit Sean? Teach him a lesson and throw him into the street!"Just then, my mother appeared in the doorway. Seeing the chaos, she stopped dead in her tracks.
"What's going on here?"
Sean's mother instantly jumped in her face, scowling. "Who the hell are you? This is my son's apartment. How dare you walk right in?"
My mother looked at me, completely bewildered. "Ethan, isn't this your place? How does it belong to someone else?"
Seeing how aggressive they were, my mother thought I had done something terrible. Her eyes welled with tears.
"Did you... did you gamble the apartment away?"
Swallowing the bitter rage burning in my throat, I gave her a pained smile.
"Mom, you know I'd never gamble. It's complicated. I'll explain everything later."
My mother turned to Chloe instead, pleading, "Chloe, tell me the truth. What's happening? Did Ethan ruin himself gambling?"
Sean's mother barked, "You old hag, who are you calling your daughter-in-law? She's mine!"
"Now I get it. You two came here together to cause trouble!"
"Chloe, sweetie, tell this crazy woman whose family you belong to!"
Furious beyond measure, I locked eyes with Chloe.
"Chloe. Does Sean's pride really mean more to you than me and my mother?!"
Chloe hesitated.
Noticing her pause, Sean whispered under his breath, "Chloe, my mom's heart is weak. She can't handle stress..."
Hearing that, Chloe turned her head away and said coldly, "You two are delusional. I don't even know who you are."
Sean's mother puffed up with smug pride.
"Hear that? That's my girl!"
"A crazy old woman and her lunatic son. Don't pull your crap here. Throw them out!"
At her command, the relatives grabbed my mother and me, shoving us roughly toward the door.
My mother panicked, struggling in their grip. "What is happening?!"
"This is my son's home! And that's my son's wife!"
*Slap!*
Sean's mother struck my mother across the face with brutal force.
"Shameless old lunatic! Someone needs to knock some sense into you!"
The blow sent my mother crashing headfirst into the wall. She slumped to the floor, instantly unconscious."MOM!!!"
I went completely berserk, lunging forward.
The crowd scrambled back in shock.
Sean's mother turned pale, stammering, "That has nothing to do with us! She fainted on her own!"
"Don't you dare try to sue us for this!"
With a hard shove, she pushed my mother and me out into the hallway and slammed the heavy door shut.
My fists trembled, a white-hot fury burning through my veins. But I didn't have time for revenge. I scooped my mother into my arms and sped to the emergency room.
The doctor said her condition was critical. I sat by her bed for three agonizing hours before she finally opened her eyes.
I stepped out for a moment to buy her some soup, but when I returned, Chloe and Sean were walking into the room carrying a basket.
My voice turned ice-cold. "Get out. I don't need your fake sympathy."
Chloe glared at me. "Do you have any shame left?"
"If you hadn't brought your mother into this, would things have escalated like that? I came to apologize. Whether you accept it or not is on you!"
Rage exploded in my chest. "Apologize? By bringing a basket of funeral flowers and expired milk?!"
"Chloe, you don't want to apologize—you want my mother dead!"
Sean immediately put on his trademark puppy-dog face. "Ethan, please don't blame Chloe. We really came to make amends."
"It's all my fault. If Chloe hadn't agreed to help me, she wouldn't have gotten the abortion."
My mother, lying on the bed, froze. It took her several seconds before her voice came out, trembling.
"What... what did you just say? My grandchild is gone?"
"How could this happen? I already bought clothes for all the stages growing up... I had an engraved silver bracelet made... and you... you..."
Before she could finish, my mother clutched her chest in agony, her face turning paper-white.
The heart monitor beside the bed erupted into a shrill, piercing alarm.
Panic hit me like a freight train.
"Mom! Doctor! Someone help!"
With tears blinding my eyes, I shouted and sprinted toward the door.
Mockery danced in Sean's eyes, yet he stepped right in front of me, blocking my path.
"Ethan, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I had no idea your mom would react like this!"
"Move!" I roared, my eyes bloodshot. "If anything happens to my mother, I swear I'll ruin you!"
Chloe frowned, scolding me, "Sean is genuinely trying to apologize. Why do you always have to be so damn petty?!"
My entire body shook with fury.
"Get the hell out of my way! I don't have time for your games!"
Seeing my desperation, a smug smirk crept onto Sean's lips. Suddenly, he dropped to his knees right before me, sobbing theatrically.
"Ethan, if you won't forgive me, I won't get up!"
"I'll just stay on my knees until I die!"
Chloe's heart broke for him, and she rushed to pull him up. "Sean, why are you kneeling to him? Get up!"
Then she turned and glared at me. "Ethan, you forced Sean onto his knees! What more do you want?!"
I gritted my teeth until they nearly cracked. "I don't have time for this circus. My mother is dying!"
I shoved Sean out of the way.
I barely used any force, but Sean dramatically threw himself across the floor, crashing loudly.
Chloe exploded, grabbing my collar to hold me back.
"Ethan, you ungrateful bastard! How dare you hit him?!"
"Apologize to Sean right now, or we're getting a divorce!"
At that moment, the shrill beep on the heart monitor flatlined into a continuous, deafening tone. My mother went completely limp, her breathing vanished.
I froze in shock for half a second before tearing myself away and throwing myself over my mother's bed.
"Chloe! Not only are we getting a divorce, but I am going to make every single one of you pay for what you did to my mother!!"Just then, the medical team burst through the doors, having heard the alarms.
We were shoved out into the corridor.
Only then did Chloe's face turn pale as she stared at me in disbelief.
"What did you just say?"
"You want a divorce?"
Sean's eyes gleamed with malice, but he stepped forward looking like a concerned mediator.
"Ethan, I have to speak up here. You two have been married for five years. This is just a misunderstanding."
"You can't divorce Chloe just because she terminated a pregnancy. Is a baby that doesn't even exist worth more to you than your wife? She's not your personal incubator."
Chloe's temper flared again, and she shoved my shoulder hard.
"Ethan, Sean is right! What divorce? You're just trying to manipulate me into carrying another baby for you! Am I nothing more than a breeding tool to your family?"
"Let me tell you, your threats mean nothing to me. My body, my choice! If I don't want to carry it, I'll abort it whenever I damn well please!"
I let out a hollow, bitter laugh.
For five years, no matter how much pain I endured or how many humiliating rumors were spread about my fertility, I never let her suffer a single second of blame.
My medical results had always been completely normal.
My mother had begged me to have Chloe tested, but to protect her dignity, I took the blame.
I carried the reputation of being "sterile" for half a decade.
I took the judgmental stares and mocking whispers from friends and family.
All to shield my wife.
And now, she turned around and called me a monster who saw her as an incubator.
Everything I had ever done for her made me look like the biggest clown on earth.
"Of course. It's your body. Have a baby, don't have a baby—that's your choice. I don't care anymore."
"After all, you're Sean's girlfriend now, not my wife."
I stared at her with dead eyes.
Chloe's chest heaved with fury, her finger trembling as she pointed at me.
I had thrown her own words right back in her face, leaving her speechless.
Seeing this, Sean chimed in with his usual fake virtue.
"Ethan, haven't we explained this a hundred times? It was just an act for my parents. Please don't be mad."
"Besides, your mom almost died just hearing about the abortion. If she finds out you're getting a divorce, wouldn't that kill her on the spot?"
I couldn't hold it back anymore. I launched a punch squarely into his face.
Sean let out a sharp cry and collapsed onto the tiles.
Chloe rushed over, cupping his bruised cheek, screaming at me like a madwoman.
"Ethan, are you out of your mind?! If you hurt Sean, your life isn't worth enough to pay for it!"
"I don't have time for your childish jealousy. Apologize to him right now! His mother is waiting for us at home!"
She shielded Sean behind her back, her face twisted in rage.
Behind her shoulder, Sean gave me a sly, victorious smirk.
I lowered my gaze and let out a chilling chuckle.
"Thanks for reminding me. That bunch of lowlifes is still in my penthouse."
"I'm calling the police right now and having them arrested for felony trespassing."
Chloe's eyes went wide with fury. "Ethan, don't you dare! If you do that, I will never forgive you!"
Without another word, I pulled out my phone and dialed 911.
Chapters (4)
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Watch & Promotions
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