Chapter 2 · He Faked My Infertility, So I Faked His Future

Chapter 2

When I got back to my parents' house, they were already asleep.

I tiptoed into my old room and turned on my laptop.

The live chat had warned me that Dylan had transferred all his assets to Yara.

I tried logging into a few of his online banking accounts, but the passwords had all been changed.

He used to set all his passwords to my birthday, but now, no matter how many times I tried, none of them worked.

A green comment flashed across my vision. [Try that secretary's birthday. I think it's 981120.]

A hunch flared up in my chest. I entered the digits. It actually worked. I was in.

Staring at the pathetic three-digit balance in the account, I couldn't help but laugh.

Tears slid down my cheeks and landed on my lips, salty and bitter.

So Dylan had been guarding against me all along.

I pulled up the transaction history. There was a monthly transfer of 7 thousand to someone named Yara Cooper. The memo line read: [Renovation funds.]

'Renovation? We haven't touched a single brick in years,' Ruth thought.

I followed the money trail and dug into Yara's account. The details were limited, but it was enough to confirm she was that so-called "cousin."

The live chat popped up again.

[Ruth, don't only focus on the transfers. Go dig into Dylan's cloud drive. There's a hidden folder packed with some seriously juicy stuff.]

I followed the lead and, after hours of trial and error, finally cracked Dylan's cloud drive password.

The hidden folder was named Project A.

I clicked it open, and my blood boiled instantly.

It was stuffed with Yara's racy photos and even some intimate videos of her and Dylan together.

The background of the video was, somehow, our bedroom, the very same one I'd left behind during my last business trip.

In the video, Dylan's face, the one I used to be so attached to, was grinning at the camera with a sleazy smirk. "That nag isn't home, so this bed is finally ours."

Yara's voice came through, all sweet and coy. "Dylan, if that woman ever finds out I'm your secretary, won't she lose it?"

"Her? She's an idiot. As long as my mom keeps the pressure on, making her think she can't have kids, even if I throw her out, she'll still thank me for it."

I glared at the screen, my nails digging into my palms so hard I nearly broke the skin.

Idiot? So, to Dylan, I had always been an idiot.

Just then, there was a sudden knock at the door. My mom's voice came from outside. "Ruth? Is that you?"

I snapped the laptop shut, took a deep breath, and pulled myself together. "Mom, it's me."

The door swung open, and my mom stood there in her coat, worry all over her face. "Why are you back so late all of a sudden? Did you and Dylan get into a fight?"

Seeing my mom's face, looking older and more tired than ever, my nose started to burn, and I almost broke down in tears. But I managed to hold it back.

I didn't have the right to cry. I was going to make Dylan and his whole family pay dearly for what they had done.

"No, I missed you and Dad, so I came back to stay the night." I forced a smile.

My mom sighed, came over, and ruffled my hair. "You silly thing. You know you're always welcome home. If Dylan ever dares to mess with you, your dad and I will fight for you with everything we've got."

I hugged her tightly around the waist, buried my face in her embrace, and nodded hard.

The next morning, my phone woke me up with a buzz.

Dylan had called me dozens of times.

I didn't answer. I got up at my own pace, washed up, and had breakfast.

It wasn't until I finished my last bite of breakfast that I finally called Dylan back.

"Ruth, where are you? I'll come pick you up," Dylan said, his voice frantic.

"I'm at my parents' place," I replied, keeping my tone steady.

"I'll head over right now."

"Don't bother. I'll come to your office. There are some things we need to talk about in person."

After hanging up, I purposely grabbed a bright red dress and went all out with my makeup.

Dylan always said I couldn't pull off bold colors, that I should stick to more understated looks. He said that was what made me look like a proper wife.

Thinking back, it was because Yara loved all those white dresses. So Dylan wanted to mold me into his ideal type, nothing more.

When I got to Dylan's office building, I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and walked in like I owned the place.

The receptionist's eyes darted away when she spotted me. "Ruth, what brings you here?"

It looked like word about yesterday had already gotten around.

"Is Dylan in?" I asked with a smile.

"He's in his office, but..." The receptionist looked like she was struggling to get the words out.

"But what? Yara's there, too?" I finished for her.

The receptionist nodded, looking pretty embarrassed.

I didn't bother asking anything else and walked right to the elevator.

Chapter 2

When I got back to my parents' house, they were already asleep.

I tiptoed into my old room and turned on my laptop.

The live chat had warned me that Dylan had transferred all his assets to Yara.

I tried logging into a few of his online banking accounts, but the passwords had all been changed.

He used to set all his passwords to my birthday, but now, no matter how many times I tried, none of them worked.

A green comment flashed across my vision. [Try that secretary's birthday. I think it's 981120.]

A hunch flared up in my chest. I entered the digits. It actually worked. I was in.

Staring at the pathetic three-digit balance in the account, I couldn't help but laugh.

Tears slid down my cheeks and landed on my lips, salty and bitter.

So Dylan had been guarding against me all along.

I pulled up the transaction history. There was a monthly transfer of 7 thousand to someone named Yara Cooper. The memo line read: [Renovation funds.]

'Renovation? We haven't touched a single brick in years,' Ruth thought.

I followed the money trail and dug into Yara's account. The details were limited, but it was enough to confirm she was that so-called "cousin."

The live chat popped up again.

[Ruth, don't only focus on the transfers. Go dig into Dylan's cloud drive. There's a hidden folder packed with some seriously juicy stuff.]

I followed the lead and, after hours of trial and error, finally cracked Dylan's cloud drive password.

The hidden folder was named Project A.

I clicked it open, and my blood boiled instantly.

It was stuffed with Yara's racy photos and even some intimate videos of her and Dylan together.

The background of the video was, somehow, our bedroom, the very same one I'd left behind during my last business trip.

In the video, Dylan's face, the one I used to be so attached to, was grinning at the camera with a sleazy smirk. "That nag isn't home, so this bed is finally ours."

Yara's voice came through, all sweet and coy. "Dylan, if that woman ever finds out I'm your secretary, won't she lose it?"

"Her? She's an idiot. As long as my mom keeps the pressure on, making her think she can't have kids, even if I throw her out, she'll still thank me for it."

I glared at the screen, my nails digging into my palms so hard I nearly broke the skin.

Idiot? So, to Dylan, I had always been an idiot.

Just then, there was a sudden knock at the door. My mom's voice came from outside. "Ruth? Is that you?"

I snapped the laptop shut, took a deep breath, and pulled myself together. "Mom, it's me."

The door swung open, and my mom stood there in her coat, worry all over her face. "Why are you back so late all of a sudden? Did you and Dylan get into a fight?"

Seeing my mom's face, looking older and more tired than ever, my nose started to burn, and I almost broke down in tears. But I managed to hold it back.

I didn't have the right to cry. I was going to make Dylan and his whole family pay dearly for what they had done.

"No, I missed you and Dad, so I came back to stay the night." I forced a smile.

I hugged her tightly around the waist, buried my face in her embrace, and nodded hard.

The next morning, my phone woke me up with a buzz.

Dylan had called me dozens of times.

I didn't answer. I got up at my own pace, washed up, and had breakfast.

It wasn't until I finished my last bite of breakfast that I finally called Dylan back.

"Ruth, where are you? I'll come pick you up," Dylan said, his voice frantic.

"I'm at my parents' place," I replied, keeping my tone steady.

"I'll head over right now."

"Don't bother. I'll come to your office. There are some things we need to talk about in person."

After hanging up, I purposely grabbed a bright red dress and went all out with my makeup.

Dylan always said I couldn't pull off bold colors, that I should stick to more understated looks. He said that was what made me look like a proper wife.

Thinking back, it was because Yara loved all those white dresses. So Dylan wanted to mold me into his ideal type, nothing more.

When I got to Dylan's office building, I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and walked in like I owned the place.

The receptionist's eyes darted away when she spotted me. "Ruth, what brings you here?"

It looked like word about yesterday had already gotten around.

"Is Dylan in?" I asked with a smile.

"He's in his office, but..." The receptionist looked like she was struggling to get the words out.

"But what? Yara's there, too?" I finished for her.

The receptionist nodded, looking pretty embarrassed.

I didn't bother asking anything else and walked right to the elevator.