Chapter 1

Madelyn’s pov

“Madelyn, I’m done pretending to be a loving husband with you. Your stepsister Yolanda is the real lady of this house.”

That was the first thing my husband, Carter, said to me when he came home.

He and Yolanda stood there, fingers tightly intertwined, like they weren’t even trying to hide how happy it made them to watch my reaction.

I hadn’t even opened my mouth to ask what was happening when our son Henry came running in, clutching the kids’ smartwatch I’d just bought him, eager to show it to his dad.

But all I noticed was Yolanda’s eyes on my son, studying him the way she would examine a creation she was proud of.

Why would she look at him like that?

Carter gave Henry a half-hearted glance and muttered, “That’s nice. Go to your room and play.”

Henry’s shoulders dropped for a moment, but he still clutched his toy and ran off to his room.

“So this,” I pointed at their still-interlocked fingers, “and everything you just said… is a prank, right?” I forced a strained, disbelieving smile, pulling at my lips.

“That wasn’t a prank,” Carter said flatly.“I mean that the person who should’ve been living here all along is Yolanda.” He held her hand tight and Yolanda smiled at him. 

“Now that she’s back in the country,” Carter said, lifting Yolanda’s hand and pressing a kiss to her palm, “everything can go back to where it belongs.”

“To your rightful place,” he added, his gaze fixed on her as if she were the only person in the room.

My head was swirling, and I had to grab the edge of the table for support.

So all these years of my happy marriage… It was all an illusion.

An awkward chuckle came out of my mouth.

They looked at me and their expression wasn’t changing. No one was blurting in laughter. It finally hit me. He was fucking serious. “Have you lost your mind? What are you talking about--”

“Yolanda is also Henry’s mother, Madelyn.”

Huh?

“What?” I was lost for words.

I get it. Carter and my step-sister have an affair. It’s clear as crystal, and that’s maybe why Carter claimed that Yolanda was the true mistress of this mansion. Of our home. I get it, alright?

But to bring Henry into all of this? They can’t take my son from me!

“Henry is mine! He’s our son! What are you talking about, Carter?!”

Carter shook his head as if he were too tired to talk about this. He got the nerve to act like that while spouting nonsense!

“He’s not yours, Madelyn. Yolanda is Henry’s biological mother, not you.”

“I gave birth to him! You were with me while I went through labor and all the pain of giving birth! Are you high?!”

Yolanda crossed her arms in front of her as her eyes looked at me, dull with irritation.

“That’s because I don’t want to undergo the pain of giving birth.” she said, like that explained shit.

“Wha-”

“Yolanda’s health wouldn’t be able to handle the pain of giving birth. You know your sister--”

“Step-sister.” I corrected it. “And you are not making sense. It's impossible that she is the mother of our son.”

“But I am.” Yolanda arched her brow and smirked.

“She is. The embryo we implanted in you--”

“Implanted? I have never undergone any procedure! Stop making stories just to claim my son as hers!”

Carter sighed. “That time when you fainted during a minor ovarian check-up was the time we implanted the developed embryo--our child--inside you.” He shrugged. “You were the best choice.”

My knees turned weak and I slumped my body in the nearest chair.

Henry was allergic to shrimp and nuts, Yolanda was the same. Slowly, the familiarity between my son and my step-sister became clear. The signs were there. The shape of my son’s eyes was just like Yolanda’s, even the birthmark in Henry’s shoulder was a mirror of hers.

I didn’t think about it before but now…

“No… No, no, no--”

“I know you won’t believe us.” Yolanda said but there was no ounce of empathy in her voice. She grabbed a piece of paper inside her bag and placed it on the table beside me. “This is the result of my paternity test with my son. The result is 99.999%, you can check.”

My eyes were throwing daggers at her, but my hand slowly and shakily reached the piece of paper. Closing my eyes tight, I opened the folded paper and opened my eyes.

Only to see the probability result in bold letters.

She was right.

It was 99.99998% confirmed.

Tears started welling out of my eyes and my chest tightened. To think that Henry wasn’t mine is not where the pain comes from. I love the child. I love my son.

And now, I have no right to be by his side. And his biological parents are hell-bent on taking him from me.

Yolanda comfortably sat on a couch, looking at me like she enjoyed my tears. I looked at Carter who remained standing, eyes on me, but still… no empathy.

“Why are you doing this to me, Carter? How could you treat me like this?”

He sighed. “I’m sorry, Madelyn. I only married you because Mother pressured me to. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be tied to you. And now that she’s gone, I want to be with the woman that I truly love.”

I watched as my husband bent down to kiss Yolanda’s forehead.

It was all in slow motion, and all my memories of him proved he never really loved me. He never did that to me in all our time being married.

“I love your step-sister. It’s always been Yolanda, Madelyn.”