Chapter 1

The moment I said that, the entire room went so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Thomas Wilson froze where he stood, staring at me in disbelief. A flicker of panic flashed through his eyes as he grabbed my hand, stopping me from reaching for the divorce papers. "Michelle, that's enough. Stop making a scene."

I pulled my hand back and calmly wiped my fingers with a handkerchief. "A scene? You think I'm joking with you? Thomas, who do you think you are? You make a mistake and then try to twist it around on me? That's not how this works!"

His expression darkened, his gaze locking onto mine. "Michelle, we've been married for seventeen years. You've always been considerate, always understanding. Why are you reacting like this now?

"Lucy's husband can't have children. And her health isn't suitable for IVF. She just wanted a child, that's all.

"She's always been proud, unwilling to bow to anyone. But she knelt to me, threatening to die if she couldn't have a child. Was I supposed to just stand by and watch her throw her life away?"

"I only gave her a child to repay a debt. There's nothing between us anymore, truly. I haven't betrayed you."

Hearing this, I could only laugh.

More than once, I had gently brought up my wish to have a child of my own. Every time, he refused—saying he couldn't bear to see me suffer, that he didn't want me to go through it. Eventually, I stopped asking.

But I never imagined that all it would take was for someone to kneel before him, to threaten her life, and he would willingly have a child with her.

Then what about all the pressure I endured all these years? All the judgment, the sideways glances from others—what did any of that count for?

When I proposed to Thomas, he told me he intended to remain child-free. If I couldn't accept that, he wouldn't marry me.

I loved him, so I compromised.

All these years, no matter how much I longed for a child of my own, no matter how envious I felt watching other families of three, I endured it in silence.

I didn't even bring up adoption.

But I never, ever expected that in the single year I was away on a business assignment, he would have a child with his first love.

I still remember how, in the early years of our marriage, his family constantly pressured us to have children. I shielded him from it all, took on every bit of that pressure myself, offending more than a few relatives in the process.

As his company grew bigger and bigger, my own career became increasingly demanding. Business trips kept me away for months at a time, sometimes even half a year. And yet, our relationship only seemed to grow stronger.

We were known in our circle as the model couple. Except for the fact that we had no children.

With my full support, he built his career from the ground up—rising from a complete novice to a rising force in the business world, firmly establishing himself in the industry and earning the respect of many influential figures.

On his thirty-ninth birthday, he pulled me into his arms, his voice thick with emotion. "Thank you for being with me every step of the way, for all your support. Michelle, marrying you is the greatest fortune of my life. I hope we can stay together forever—always."

I believe that, at the time, he meant every word.

But sincerity is fleeting.

Or perhaps… I was the only one who ever took it seriously. Perhaps he never did.

All these years, his family never stopped urging us to have children. I stood firm against them, and to spare him any pressure, I even went so far as to undergo a tubal ligation.

Yet over time, the story twisted into something else—that I was the one who couldn't bear children, that I was all show and no substance, the reason Thomas's family had gone so many years without an heir.

I had no strength to argue back. I could only endure their accusations, their constant criticism behind my back.

Later, as his career soared, his family gradually stopped bringing up the subject of children in front of him.

Little by little, they accepted our child-free life.

And yet, I never could have imagined it would come to this.