Chapter 3

By the time the bathroom door opened, I had printed out the statements and arranged them neatly across the dining table.

Ethan walked into the kitchen, rubbing his hair with a towel. The moment he saw the first receipt, his expression changed.

"You went through the credit card statements?"

"I checked the statements for the credit card I've been paying off."

I pushed the receipts for the dress, the hotel, and the jewelry store toward him.

"Who is Rachel on these receipts? And who are Noah and Lily?"

"I already explained that."

"I don't want the explanation you prepared." I pointed at the family portrait. "I want the truth. Are they your children?"

Ethan stared at the photograph without answering.

I picked up my phone.

"If you won't tell me, I'll ask Rachel."

"Yes."

The word was so quiet I almost didn't hear it.

My hand froze over the screen.

"They're my children," he said.

I'd thought I would cry, but all I felt was numbness in my chest.

"When?"

"Not long after we got engaged."

Ethan had proposed to me fourteen years ago.

After that, he repeatedly postponed the wedding, blaming his father's failing health and financial pressure.

We didn't officially marry until eight years ago.

During those six years, I cared for his parents, helped him pay off his debts, and sold my apartment to cover the down payment on our marital home.

And that was when Rachel became pregnant with his children.

"When did you find out?"

"When she was two months pregnant."

"So you knew she was carrying your children, and you still let me wait for you for six years?"

"It wasn't that simple. My parents couldn't lose their grandchildren, and I couldn't abandon my own children."

"Then why did you marry me?"

Ethan looked up at me, genuine pain in his eyes.

"Because I love you. You're stable and rational, and you get along with my family. We could have a normal life together."

Stable and rational.

Those weren't qualities he admired in me. They were requirements he'd used to choose a wife.

The tablet on the table suddenly lit up.

It was the device Ethan normally used to handle family matters. A group chat notification appeared on the screen.

Margaret: Has she seen the statements?

Ethan reached for it, but I grabbed the tablet first.

The group chat was named "Hale Family." Its members included Margaret, Ethan's sister Lauren, Rachel, the twins, and Ethan.

I wasn't in it.

I scrolled up.

Last Christmas, Lauren had posted a picture of me preparing dinner in the kitchen.

Lauren: She's trying so hard to play Mrs. Hale again.

Rachel: At least it gives her something to do.

Margaret: Don't let her see the children's gifts. It'll only remind her that she can't have any of her own.

A string of laughing emojis followed.

Lily had even posted an old picture of me trying on the family brooch.

Lily: Did she actually think Grandma would give this to her?

Noah: When she dies, her house should go to us. It's not like she has any kids.

I kept scrolling.

Ethan rarely joined in when they mocked me, but every message was marked as read.

Whenever someone asked what time dinner was, he replied immediately.

But whenever the previous message humiliated me, he remained silent.

"You saw all of this," I said.

"I didn't want to make things worse."

"Worse for whom?"

Ethan had no answer.

I placed the tablet back on the table.

For fourteen years, they hadn't been hiding another family behind my back.

They had been sitting inside that family, laughing together at the woman who paid their bills.