Chapter 2

The car pulled up outside a bar, and Charles tugged me out by the arm.

He softened his voice and said, "Babe, let me take you out for a good time. Just do me this one favor."

He was back to his usual gentle act.

I said, "You go in first. I need to use the restroom."

He walked toward the entrance, but then he spotted someone standing in the shadows. His eyes darted, and panic flickered across his face.

He hissed, "Emily, what are you doing here? I told you to stay home and rest."

Emily bit her lip, and her eyes burned with frustration. She said, "Charles, I don't want to be your dirty little secret anymore. I want something real."

Her voice cracked as she added, "And I don't want our baby to be born a bastard."

Her eyes turned red, and she threw her arms around Charles.

I stood in the corner and listened to their entire conversation. My heart nearly stopped, and I struggled to breathe as tears welled up in my eyes.

When we first got married, I had told him the truth that I would never be able to have children.

I said, "I don't belong to this world, so I can never get pregnant."

Charles smiled and reassured me that none of it mattered.

Over the years, the elders in his family had pressured him relentlessly to produce an heir. If nothing else, they said, he could find another woman to carry one for him, as long as the child shared his blood.

He refused every single time, his expression cold and unmoved. But they punished him for it, forcing him to kneel on shards of broken porcelain through the entire night.

I treated his wounds the next morning, and the sight of his torn, bloodied knees broke me. I sobbed uncontrollably.

I choked out, "Charles, I'm so sorry. You've suffered so much because of me."

Charles pulled me into a tight embrace and whispered, "As long as we're together, nothing else matters."

I dug my nails hard into my palms, forcing myself to stay in the present.

Charles stepped out from around the corner and noticed my reddened eyes.

He smiled and teased, "Were you crying? Can't go a few minutes without your husband before the separation anxiety kicks in?"

He reached over and wiped my tears with a tissue, but I caught a glimpse of Emily walking up behind him.

Charles frowned for a split second, then quickly masked it and shifted his body to block her from my view.

He said casually, "Let me introduce you. This is my secretary, Emmy."

Charles had deliberately left out Emily's full name, probably hoping I wouldn't catch on. But I already knew.

Emily smiled and said, "Mrs. Sutton, your bracelet looks just like my earrings."

Charles had spent tens of millions at an auction a few months ago to buy me this bracelet.

Everyone said I was the luckiest woman alive, but what they didn't know was that it was a fake.

The real one was sitting right there on Emily's wrist.

A bitter taste spread through my chest, and my throat tightened until I could barely speak.

Emily caught the look on my face, and a flicker of satisfaction crossed her eyes.

She kept going. "Mrs. Sutton, you've never even been here before. Every time Mr. Sutton has a business dinner, he brings me along."

She tilted her head like she was sharing a secret. "There were a few times when those clients tried to push drinks on me, and Mr. Sutton stepped in to stop them."

Then she sighed softly, "Mrs. Sutton, you really married a wonderful man."

Her voice was grating, and I couldn't take another second of it. I reached out and brushed my hand against the bracelet on her wrist.

The bracelet slipped off, hit the floor, and shattered. Emily immediately dropped to her knees.

She clasped her hands together and cried, "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Sutton. I don't know what I did to offend you."

Tears streamed down her face as she pressed her forehead to the ground. "Please, I'm begging you. Just let me go. My mother has late-stage cancer, and I need this job."

She sobbed so hard her whole body trembled, and she kept bowing her head to the floor over and over again. Charles' expression darkened.

My heart sank, but before I could say a word, Charles rushed forward and pulled Emily into his arms.

He glared at me and snapped, "What did Emmy ever do to you? It's just a bracelet."

Emily pressed herself against Charles' chest, and over his shoulder, her tear-filled eyes locked onto mine with a look of pure defiance.

I stared right back at him and said, "Charles, I want you to fire her. Give her the severance and get her out of here."

Anger flashed across Charles' face. He turned on his heel and walked away.

He didn't even look back as he said, "Sophia, why do you always have to push things this far? You've really disappointed me.

"Maybe I've been spoiling you too much lately, and now you think the whole world revolves around you."

The moment those words hit me, my legs gave out, and I sank to the floor.

There was a time when all I had to do was frown, and Charles would fire a servant on the spot. I always told him he was overreacting.

But he would wrap his arms around me and murmur, "Baby, I never want you to feel an ounce of pain in this life."

Several people in the bar noticed the scene and started whispering among themselves.

One woman murmured, "Isn't that Mr. Sutton's wife? How did she end up getting pushed around by a secretary?"

Another voice chimed in, "The one who isn't loved is the real mistress. She's about to be tossed aside any day now."

Someone else sneered, "She's had it easy riding his coattails for years. It's about time she stepped aside and let someone else have a turn. She kept clinging to Mr. Sutton, so she deserves to be cast off."

A sharp pain twisted through my stomach, and the taste of iron surged up my throat. I coughed, and blood spattered across my palm.

I fought through the pain, pulled out my phone, and called Charles.

My voice cracked as I begged, "Charles, please, help me."

His voice came through the line, cold and familiar, like a death sentence.

Charles scoffed, "Help you with what? You told me you could be reborn, remember? So you're not gonna die."

The moment those words hit me, another wave of blood rose in my throat. My vision blurred, and everything went black.