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I Ruined My Husband's Reputation

I Ruined My Husband's Reputation

短編ストーリー · Emotional Realism
作家:  Thai Ginger完了
言語: English
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概要

Marriage

Face Slapping

Girl Power

Bias

Plot Twists

In the seventh year of running my jewelry store, a woman came in to order a set of gold jewelry for her future mother-in-law. As I introduced the designs, I noticed the gold bracelet on her wrist. It was identical to the one my husband had crafted for me. Just as I was about to take a closer look, her phone lit up. The wallpaper was a photo of a couple, and the man in it was Julian Holt, my husband of seven years. My expression froze. I walked to the far end of the counter and placed a call. “Honey, do you remember the gold bracelet I asked you to keep when we got engaged? Can you take a photo of it and send it to me?” There was a brief pause on the other end. When he spoke, his tone of voice was tense. “Why are you suddenly asking about the bracelet? I stored it in a bank safe deposit box. It’s probably too late to go get it now. Tomorrow, I’ll bring it to you.” I smiled and agreed. After hanging up, I returned to the female customer.

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第1話

Chapter 1

She appeared to be in her early twenties, with delicate features and a touch of youthful charm.

As I approached, she pointed at a set displayed on the tablet. “I’ll go with this one.”

I smiled and asked her to leave her contact information behind so we could reach her. The name she wrote down was Tessa Zander.

“Miss Zander, right?”

Tessa nodded with a smile.

I asked casually as I entered her details. “The workmanship on your bracelet is remarkable. I’ve hardly seen anything so finely made since opening my shop. Was it… a gift from your husband?”

At my compliment, Tessa’s smile widened.

“For now, he’s still my fiance but not for long. He said he’ll take me home to meet his parents this New Year’s Eve. After that, I’ll be part of the family.”

It all seemed perfect, if only she were not with my husband.

“Is that him on your lock screen? He really looks at you with so much love.”

I looked down and recorded the design details, letting just the right amount of envy slip into my tone.

Tessa nodded with pride.

“Right? Even you can tell! He treats me… pretty well. He always gives me whatever I want. He’s just a little too clingy sometimes, which is a bit annoying.”

She spoke as if she were complaining, but her words were almost overflowing with self-satisfaction.

I gave her a faint smile, though my eyes held no warmth.

“Can I ask how you two met? I could learn a thing or two myself about finding someone so caring and attentive.”

She seemed very receptive to my flattery.

Tessa said while stroking her chin thoughtfully, “Around three years ago, during a business trip, he clung to me from the very first meeting. I just couldn’t get rid of him…”

The phrase “three years ago” pierced my ears like a shard of ice, and all her sweet, boastful words that followed faded into indistinct noise.

Three years ago, I suffered a miscarriage while helping Julian Holt, my husband, secure a crucial deal.

The doctor informed me that my uterus had to be removed due to severe blood loss, and I would never be able to conceive again.

Julian flew back that same night. He knelt by my hospital bed and slapped himself repeatedly. His eyes were bloodshot.

“It’s all my fault! If it weren’t for me and that business deal, you wouldn’t be in this state, and we wouldn’t have lost the child… It’s all my fault!”

Over the next month, he went back and forth between the company and the hospital, visibly growing thinner by the day.

I lay in the hospital bed. Beyond the physical pain, I was consumed by fear.

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10 チャプター
Chapter 1
She appeared to be in her early twenties, with delicate features and a touch of youthful charm.As I approached, she pointed at a set displayed on the tablet. “I’ll go with this one.”I smiled and asked her to leave her contact information behind so we could reach her. The name she wrote down was Tessa Zander.“Miss Zander, right?”Tessa nodded with a smile.I asked casually as I entered her details. “The workmanship on your bracelet is remarkable. I’ve hardly seen anything so finely made since opening my shop. Was it… a gift from your husband?”At my compliment, Tessa’s smile widened.“For now, he’s still my fiance but not for long. He said he’ll take me home to meet his parents this New Year’s Eve. After that, I’ll be part of the family.”It all seemed perfect, if only she were not with my husband.“Is that him on your lock screen? He really looks at you with so much love.”I looked down and recorded the design details, letting just the right amount of envy slip into my ton
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Chapter 2
Knowing how much Julian wanted children, I did not even dare ask whether he would come to resent me.I finally understood that he would never deprive himself of what he wanted.“Ma’am…”Tessa’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.When I looked up, she was extending her phone toward me.On the screen was a close-up of a gold-and-emerald amulet.“You have a good eye. Could you take a look at the workmanship on this piece? He said… once the baby is born, he’ll put it on them.”She rested a hand on her still-flat belly, but her face glowed with happiness.I was momentarily taken aback.Was she pregnant?Also, that amulet looked painfully familiar.Three years ago, when I had just conceived, my father had it blessed to protect the child I was carrying.Unfortunately, the child was never born.I had kept the amulet safely tucked away all these years. Whenever I missed the child I would never meet, I would take it out and look at it.What was this? Had he used it to win another
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Chapter 3
He said gently, “Be safe on your way. Spend some time with your dad.”Back home, I went straight to Dad’s study.His tone was grave. He sounded frustrated and utterly disappointed.“I told you from the start that man couldn’t be trusted, yet you foolishly insisted on marrying beneath yourself. Just look at what he’s done!”I pressed my lips into a thin line and picked up the stack of documents on his desk. I flipped them open.It stretched to one hundred and twenty pages. Each one documented Julian’s infidelity in detail.In 2023, a month after my miscarriage and the removal of my uterus, he went on a so-called business trip and met Tessa. Within two hours of meeting her, he slept with her. He could not even wait until I was out of postpartum recovery.In 2024, after I lost my child, I fell into depression. I was hospitalized for treatment and had to take strong meds in large doses. Julian used company training as an excuse, but in truth, he was traveling the world with Tessa.
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Chapter 4
I looked down and sent the photo I had prepared in advance with a reply. [Yes.]Julian seemed relieved. He replied within seconds. [Good. I’ll head over once I’m done. Love you, darling.]What a hypocrite!My lips curled faintly, but there was no warmth in my face.All this time, he had played the role of a devoted husband and a considerate son-in-law perfectly. Every word and every gesture had seemed full of care.Had I not noticed the gold bracelet and the couple photos, I would never have known how much deception hid behind that face.At 6 p.m., relatives of the Holt family began arriving one after another. Nancy Holt was all smiles. She moved briskly through the crowd as she handled everything.Her attentive and considerate demeanor gave the impression of an ideal mother-in-law.Once, she had shown me the same careful attentiveness as a way of expressing the Holt family’s regard.She remembered the fruits I liked and prepared them in advance each season.When Dad’s bl
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Chapter 5
Amid the noise of celebration, I heard Julian’s uncle—the same man who had borrowed more than two million dollars from us over time—raise his glass and laugh loudly.“Jule is truly reliable. That’s what a real Holt family man looks like.”His third aunt, whom I had once gone to great lengths and used my connections to help send her daughter overseas, clapped while wiping away her tears.“This is wonderful! I’ve always liked Tessa. She’s such a reliable girl.”Meanwhile, Julian’s younger brother, whose repeated business failures I had helped smooth over each time through my family’s resources, stood up excitedly to toast them.“Jule, and Tessa, my soon-to-be sister-in-law, I wish you a long and happy marriage and a safe delivery for the baby.”Each of them had once benefited from my help, received my kindness, and taken what I had offered.Yet, at this moment, none of them remembered I existed. Not one of them mentioned my name.Just then, a five-year-old cousin of Julian’s sudd
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Chapter 6
The air in the private room stilled.Laughter and conversation ceased, and left an uneasy silence.Smiles of satisfaction lingered on every face for a moment before turning into shock, panic, and disbelief.The color drained from Julian’s face at once, and his arm around Tessa stiffened.Meanwhile, Tessa looked like she had seen a ghost.“W-What are you doing here? Aren’t you the owner of the jewelry store?”“Enough!” Julian pulled Tessa back, and she looked at me in sheer panic.Then, realization hit her, and she instinctively covered her still-flat stomach.“A-Annie?”Julian snapped back to his senses first.He let go of Tessa and tried to approach me. He forced out a smile that looked more like a grimace.“What are you doing here? Weren’t you at your dad’s—”I cut him off calmly. “You expect me to be at my dad’s so you can continue your little celebration of the Holt family’s ‘future hope,’ in peace?”My eyes swept over the diamond ring on the table and the gold brace
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Chapter 7
Tessa staggered back under my intense gaze. Her complexion shifted between pale and flushed. She instinctively shielded her stomach. Her gaze drifted toward Julian in alarm and suspicion.A murmur spread among the relatives. Their expressions turned complicated as they looked at him.Julian finally snapped. He seized my arm. His grip was so tight that it sent a jolt of pain through me. His voice took on a hard edge. “That’s enough, Annabeth Quinnell! Whatever this is about, we’ll settle it at home. Stop making a scene! Tessa’s pregnant. She can’t take this kind of stress!”“Home?”I wrenched my arm free. My breathing grew unsteady from the effort.“Which home? The one you bought with my family’s money and now plan to leave to Tessa and your son? Julian, the moment you orchestrated my child’s death and had my uterus removed, we stopped having a home!”“What are you talking about?”Julian’s eyes flashed with panic, and he shouted to drown me out.“What do you mean, I orchestr
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Chapter 8
I scanned the faces of the Holt family’s relatives. All of them were utterly silent. My gaze landed on Owen and Nancy, whose faces had gone ashen.“I’m only here to announce two things. First, I’ve initiated divorce proceedings against Julian. My lawyer will be in touch soon. Everything that belongs to the Quinnell family, I’ll reclaim in full. This includes, but is not limited to, the properties, vehicles, and jewelry you bought for Miss Zander using marital assets, as well as shares and resources in your company that originally belonged to my family.”Julian’s pupils shrank. He tried to speak, but my icy stare stopped him short.“Second, it concerns the child Miss Zander is carrying.”I paused, looking at Tessa and the hand she pressed protectively over her stomach.“Julian’s infidelity during marriage is backed by undeniable evidence. This child is illegitimate. Of course, the child is innocent and has every right to be born. But in the future, what he will inherit will likely
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Chapter 9
I did not seek out news of Julian.It was at a charity gala three months later that one of Dad’s acquaintances approached me.After a few polite exchanges, the conversation somehow shifted to Julian.The man lowered his voice. “Annie, I heard… Julian isn’t doing well. Something’s wrong with his liver, and it sounds quite serious. He’s now in a modest public hospital on the west side of the city, and I heard he can’t even come up with the deposit.”He observed me. His tone was cautious and probing.“Do you want to visit him? Or maybe, out of goodwill, help him a little? It would at least bring closure to whatever is left between you.”Several friends who knew the situation frowned in disapproval. They clearly wanted to speak but were hesitating.I looked at the amber liquid gently swirling in my glass. Outside the window, the city unfolded in a brilliant nightscape, neon lights flashing as traffic flowed like woven threads.I smiled faintly. The smile did not reach my eyes.“Th
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Chapter 10
The writing was vile, full of excuses and deflection. There was no trace of remorse. It was the frantic begging of a man at the end of his rope.He even had the nerve to mention the child whose death he had caused knowingly.After reading it impassively, I tore the paper and fed it into the shredder.I learned of Tessa’s fate by chance while out shopping one day.She had suffered a mental breakdown and lost the child.Traumatized in both body and mind, she never recovered after returning to her hometown.As her hometown was conservative in its values, she was met with harsh judgment once word spread that she had been pregnant out of wedlock and abandoned by a wealthy man. Even her family treated her as a disgrace.She later married a local widower with a violent temper. Their life was turbulent, and she was often seen with bruises.The once bright and lively woman was gone. Though still in her twenties, she looked a decade older. She was worn down by hardship.It was said she
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