Chapter 1

My husband, Adrian Schultz, was an archaeologist. After returning from one of his digs, he brought a woman to see me.

"I was cursed by a stone tablet in an ancient tomb. It only targets men. If I ever sleep with my wife again, my whole body will turn stiff, and I'll die as a statue," Adrian said with a serious expression.

The woman next to him blushed and looked down shyly.

"I'm just a regular guy. I have needs, so I'll have to live with Serena from now on," Adrian added.

Seeing me standing there, stunned, he frowned with impatience.

"Are you just going to stand there and watch me die? How can you be so selfish?" he snapped.

I realized that he wanted to have it both ways, and he actually expected me to just smile and agree with it.

I nodded quietly. "Sure."

Since the curse only targeted men, then I believed I could cure it by turning him into a woman.

*****

Adrian was caught off guard that I agreed so fast, freezing for a moment.

The next second, I cut in, "Then let's get divorced."

Before Adrian could even process what I'd said, Serena Colon darted over to me.

"Maria, please, don't get divorced. I'm just here to help Adrian. I promise I'm not trying to ruin your marriage!" she begged.

Adrian just stood there, his expression icy and indifferent.

He said, "We haven't slept together for a long time. Not like I'd ever touch you again, divorce or not.

"Come on, could you really bear to leave me? You practically cling to me all day every day, and your company would crash without my name backing it. So, think it over."

I froze and fell silent.

I was the one who went after Adrian first, not just for his looks, but for that bookish, gentlemanly charm he had.

Back then, my company was just starting out, mainly working on AI tech. To get Adrian interested, I even set up a special department focused on applying AI to archaeology. That was enough to hook him.

As the company grew, Adrian's reputation soared too. He became a big name in the field.

I funded his team from the very beginning.

When Adrian proposed, I couldn't wait to say yes. The following days were some of the happiest of my life. Then, I had a miscarriage. After that, Adrian started to grow distant from me.

He was right. We hadn't been intimate in ages.

Serena came over with that gentle, understanding look and reached for my hand.

"Maria, you care about Adrian so much. How could you ever go through with a divorce? Let's look after him together, alright?" she said softly.

My eyes instantly welled up with tears.

"Who could just stand by and watch their husband be with another woman?" I choked out.

Adrian said, "With my status, if this were ancient times, I'd have several wives. But I only have Serena. Aren't you satisfied?

"Besides, you can't have children anymore, but Serena can. She's going to give me kids."

Adrian looked at Serena with a gentle expression.

"Didn't you say you never wanted kids?" I said in shock.

"What man doesn't want children? Are you really going to make me go my whole life without kids?" Adrian said angrily.

After I lost the baby, he always promised that as long as we were together, he didn't care about having kids.

I wondered if it was all just a lie.

"Now that Serena's moving in with us, she's basically my wife too. Since you're the official wife, you should give her a gift. Hand over 5% of your company's shares," Adrian said.

He stared at me, absolutely convinced I wouldn't dare say no.

But looking at him now, he felt like a total stranger to me.

He used to gaze at me with such warmth, telling me I was the best thing that ever happened to him.

But now, all that tenderness was gone. he'd poured every bit of it into someone else.

He didn't even bother to make his lies believable. Maybe he never cared what I thought in the first place.

"Adrian, that's enough. Stop pressuring Maria, you..." Serena pleaded.

But before she could finish, Serena's expression froze, and she suddenly collapsed to the floor.

"Serena! Get her to the hospital now," Adrian yelled.

The test results came in. Serena was pregnant.

Adrian, who was always so composed, actually looked thrilled. Serena was grinning from ear to ear, but when her eyes met mine, her face instantly clouded with worry.

"Adrian, is Maria going to stop me from having this baby?" Serena asked.

Adrian stood up and looked straight at me, who was standing by the door.

"Maria, no matter what you say, I'm keeping this baby," he said.

Back when I was pregnant, he wasn't nearly this excited.

He just glanced at the hospital report, nodded, and told me to take care of myself.

I was over the moon back then, thinking he just needed time to adjust to the idea of being a dad.

But now, looking back, maybe he never really cared about our baby or me at all.

Maybe the baby could feel how cold Adrian was, and that was why I lost them in the end.

As that thought hit me, I couldn't hold back anymore. Tears started streaming down my face.