Chapter 3

Melissa glanced back. It was dessert from a shop she had casually mentioned to Hayden two weeks ago.

That was the exact day Lydia had returned to Cavareth. From that day on, Hayden didn't come home for ten straight days.

Hayden looked at Melissa. His eyes were brimming with expectation.

In the past, she would have thrown her arms around him and thanked him wholeheartedly.

Now, looking at the exquisitely packaged pastry, she merely offered a faint smile. "I've been watching my weight lately. I've gone off sweets."

The things she once wanted to eat lost their appeal once enough time had passed.

That applied to Hayden, too. After three years, she simply didn't want to love him anymore.

A shadow of disappointment flickered across his face. He swept Melissa up into his arms, carrying her toward the bedroom.

"You're the most beautiful woman in the world to me, no matter what."

That night, as Melissa lay in bed with a hand over her belly, Hayden wrapped his arms around her from behind.

He buried his face into the crook of her neck, but she pushed him away in resistance.

Hayden seemed flustered. His voice carried a trace of anxiety as he asked, "Melissa, are you mad because I didn't spend the last ten days with you? Things were just crazy at the office. I—"

Even now, he was still lying to her.

Melissa cut him off, "I know you were busy. I'm not blaming you."

Hayden smiled, relieved. "I knew you were the most understanding wife."

She stayed silent. After a long moment, she spoke quietly. "Hayden, if there's someone else you truly love, I'm willing to step aside. We can get a divorce—"

She was ready to let them be together.

His expression instantly turned cold. Frowning, he interrupted sharply, saying, "Melissa, are you still throwing a fit over me looking after Lydia?

"I told you, she's my employee. It's my job to look after her. Stop overthinking everything. Don't take it out on Lydia either. I only view her as a younger sister."

With that, he walked out of the room, visibly irritated.

Hayden couldn't understand why Melissa was suddenly bringing up divorce.

With Lydia back, he simply wanted to make up for the regrets of his youth.

Lying in bed, Melissa couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her face.

He still wouldn't admit it. If he really only saw Lydia as a sister, why would he plan to give her child away to her?

If Hayden had just been honest with her, she never would have clung to him.

After a sleepless night, Melissa went to see her lawyer first thing the next morning.

"Our marriage was kept secret, and I am choosing to leave with nothing. Please draft the agreement as soon as possible."

Just as the consultation wrapped up, her phone buzzed incessantly with text messages from Lydia.

"Melissa, should I treat you as my sister or Hayden's wife?

"Your mom was no match for mine, and you're no match for me either. Be smart and hand over the title of Mrs. Davies.

"Hayden loves me. I'm sure you know that by now. You're nothing more than my stand-in."

As Melissa closed her eyes, painful memories surged to the surface.

No one knew that she and Lydia were actually half-sisters.

Years ago, her parents, Kyle Webb and Aimee Smith, lived as an ordinary couple in a small fishing village. Aimee had endured years of hardship alongside Kyle, destroying her health in the process.

Later, Kyle built his business from scratch, eventually making it big as a CEO.

Yet, only a year after Melissa was born, Kyle brought home another daughter just one year younger than her—Lydia.

Aimee didn't make a scene and raised no fuss. She divorced Kyle the very next day and took Melissa back to the fishing village. Those years were the happiest of Melissa's life.

When Aimee later collapsed from overwork and was diagnosed with stomach cancer, Melissa begged Kyle to help pay for her treatment.

He never once visited. Instead, he flaunted Lydia at high-profile galas, turning her into an envied heiress.

As Aimee slipped into critical condition, Melissa dropped to her knees in the hospital hallway, begging the doctor to save Aimee.

Hayden, who happened to be passing by, caught sight of Melissa's eyes and stepped in on a whim. He had Aimee transferred to the best ward, which was fully staffed with top specialists.

Three months later, Aimee passed away. Hayden helped Melissa handle the funeral arrangements.

Melissa was profoundly grateful to him. So, when Hayden's father, Rowan Davies, pressed him to marry, Hayden asked for her hand, and she gladly accepted.

The day after their wedding, she stood before Aimee's grave and told her not to worry because she had found the best man in the world.

She never imagined that the person he loved was never her.

The constant vibration of her phone snapped her back to reality. It was another wave of messages from Lydia.

First came a screenshot, followed by a video.

In the photo, Lydia was wearing a pair of lace cat ears, revealing an expanse of fair skin as she gazed hazily into the camera.

"Hayden, the little kitty misses her master. If you come over, I'm all yours to play with."

Below it, Hayden's black profile avatar had sent a brief five-word reply. "Be there in 20 minutes."

In the video, Lydia wrapped her legs tightly around Hayden's waist while their intimate sounds mingled.

Melissa locked her screen and closed her eyes, trying desperately to suppress the sharp pain in her chest.

She thought seeing so many photos would make her numb to it all. Yet an uncontrollable wave of agony still hit her, chilling her straight to the bone.

Hayden didn't come home that night, but Melissa knew of his every move through Lydia's messages.

Clothes were strewn everywhere from the foyer to the living room, all the way into the bedroom.

He was a completely different man with Lydia. With Melissa, he had always been gentle and reserved. However, with Lydia, he unleashed his most primal desires.

Lydia sent her a photo of 30 used condoms alongside pictures of her body covered in dark hickeys.

"Has Hayden ever been like this with you? He told me you just lay there like a block of wood in bed, that you couldn't satisfy him at all."

Melissa didn't reply. She simply saved the chat logs in silence.

Later that night, as she drifted into a restless sleep, she was jolted awake by the ringing of her phone.

Hayden's voice came through, urgent and sharp, "Melissa, bring a box of stomach medicine to Celestine Club."

Thinking his stomach ulcers were acting up again, she threw on a coat and hailed a cab straight to the venue.

Before she even entered the private room, a chorus of jeers and laughter echoed from inside the room. "Hayden, is that lapdog of yours really going to show up?"