Chapter 1

"Sorry, honey. Please don't be mad. I'll bring you a gift when I get back."

I stared at the text on my phone and let out a long sigh.

After five years of marriage, Rupert Hensley and I had finally been blessed with a child. Today was supposed to be the first prenatal checkup, but he was away on a business trip and couldn't make it.

Every other expectant mother outside the doctor's office had her husband by her side. I couldn't help but feel the sting of being alone.

"Are you here by yourself, too?" asked the woman beside me.

Before I could respond, she continued, "My husband's on a business trip and couldn't make it. But he promised to make it up to me with a Hermès bag when he gets back."

She flicked her long hair over her shoulder, and I saw her profile. Her words might've sounded like complaining, but the smile on her face said otherwise.

She went on and on about how great her husband was to her while I listened in silence. When she mentioned her husband was the CEO of a pharmaceutical company—Rupert Hensley—I froze.

My husband was also the CEO of a pharmaceutical company, and his name was also Rupert Hensley. A sense of unease washed over me.

Tentatively, I asked, "When did your husband… leave for his trip?"

"On the 8th. He went to Harborview City. He wanted me to join him, but I'm too far along, so flying's a hassle. Otherwise…"

She kept talking, but I couldn't hear a word. My ears were ringing.

Rupert also went to Harborview City on the 8th. Were we married to the same person?

I forced myself to stay calm and gave her a strained smile. "Do you mind showing me a picture of your husband?"

The woman seemed thrown off but smiled proudly as she pulled out her phone. She scrolled through her pictures and showed them to me. "This one's from our six-year anniversary."

Six years? Rupert and I had only been married for five years. What did that even mean? Was I the other woman?

In the photo, Rupert stood behind her, smiling as he wrapped his arms around her.

She kept scrolling through more pictures—some of just the two of them, others with their family.

"Oh, and here's one from when we went horseback riding," she said.

As she carried on, a chill ran down my spine, and my chest tightened with a sharp ache.

"I'm not feeling well… I'll head out for now," I said.

That photo took me by surprise. I shoved her phone aside, and before I knew it, tears clouded my eyes.

I tried to keep my cool and got up to leave when her phone rang with a video call. The name "Darling" popped up on the screen.

She picked it up, and the voice on the other end sounded excited. "Hey, honey! Did you finish your checkup? How's the baby? Is everything going okay?"

Rupert's face appeared on the screen. His familiar, tender gaze still held the same warmth and devotion I knew so well.

We'd been married for five years, but now he called someone else "honey". It hit me hard, and I could barely hold it together. For the first time, it felt like my life was just one big, cruel joke.