Chapter 1

During a visit to my in-laws with my husband, Simon Sader, my mother-in-law, Tiffany Moran, stealthily tugged me into the kitchen, where she asked if I had been taking supplements regularly lately.

I forced an awkward smile, allowing her to rake her gaze across me.

Tiffany sighed loudly. "Then, why aren't you pregnant yet?"

Whenever she pestered me about having a baby, I would simply tell her that I had difficulty getting pregnant.

The truth, however, was that Simon was asexual. The most intimate thing we had ever done in our ten years of marriage was kiss.

After the meal was over, the sound of someone retching suddenly rang out in the living room. It had come from Simon's phone.

However, before he could do anything, Tiffany was already zooming toward me. Shooting me a delighted look, she asked, "Are you pregnant?"

I was certain she would be disappointed at the answer, but to my surprise, Simon nodded calmly in response to her question.

"Simon, what are you still doing over there? Quickly come and support your wife. Or have you lost your wits from being too happy?"

Suppressing my shock, I kept assuring myself that this must all be a misunderstanding. After all, Simon should know better than anyone that there was no way I was pregnant.

The moment we returned to our own home, the smile on Simon's face vanished, replaced by an indifferent expression. He informed me coolly, "Melanie, we're going to have a baby."

He then handed me a pregnancy test report.

My hands shook when I read the report, which showed that the woman had been pregnant for six weeks.

Six weeks ago coincided with the period he had been away on a work trip.

After crumpling the report, I looked up at him.

"Simon Sader, what have I ever done to you in all these years? How could you do this to me?"

However, Simon simply responded self-righteously, "Melanie, haven't you always wanted a child? Well, you have one now."

What I wanted was a child with both our blood running through its veins, not a bastard from an unknown woman!

Dissatisfied with the frown furrowing my brow, he habitually reached out to smooth the lines.

I took a half-step back, unwilling to let him touch me.

"Simon, were you lying to me all along about being asexual?"

So this was what people meant when they said that it felt as though their heart was being stabbed by a knife.

For ten years, we had been married, and I had been played for a fool all that time.

An annoyed and bored look appeared on Simon's face. He didn't seem inclined to explain anything; instead, all he said was, "There's no point in talking about all this now. I'm keeping that child no matter what."

Pinning me with a sharp stare, he then added, "I also plan on having it be born legitimately, so you have to be that child's mother!"

With that, Simon left me alone in the room to calm down while he called my parents to tell them about the good news.

I unballed the crumpled test report and stared at it. I found this entire situation ridiculous.

How could I have believed Simon's nonsense all these years? He claimed not to have any sexual interest in me, disliking even something as chaste as a kiss, yet he had been willing to impregnate another woman.

Fury raged through me, eating away at my logic, and I decided to disclose this incident in the family group chat.

Simon stopped me. "Think about your mom's medical fees and your younger sister's job."

My head snapped up so I could level him with an astonished look.

How could he be using them as blackmail material?

All these years, I had been working for his company, but not once had I ever asked for a salary. Now, he was using this as leverage against me?

He gripped my hand tightly in his and attempted to persuade me. "Melanie, this child won't affect our relationship. As long as you're willing to accept it, I can compensate you in any way you want. I can even give you a baby, if that's your wish."

Having a child, the fruit of our love, was something I had always dreamed of, yet here he was, using it as "compensation".