Semua Bab My Family Traded My Marriage Away: Bab 1 - Bab 10

The door to the stairwell swung open with a soft click. I hurried back up half a flight of stairs and pressed my back against the cold wall.It wasn't until Hector Greene's and Giselle Lloyd's footsteps gradually faded into the distance that I realized I was trembling all over.By the time I returned to the private dining room in the restaurant, Giselle was already seated beside our mother. She beckoned me with a smile and said, "Oh, I got caught up talking to Mom that I forgot you were waiting downstairs, Evelina. Well, since you're here, let's just stick around a little longer, okay?"She reached out to straighten the turned-up collar of my coat for me. When her fingers brushed my neck, I instinctively flinched.Startled, Giselle asked, "Why are you so cold?"The concern in her eyes was so genuine that I almost convinced myself everything I'd witnessed in the stairwell had been a figment of my imagination. She raised a hand to feel my forehead. As she did, her sleeve slipped dow

After Giselle moved in, Hector started coming home much earlier, but he only ever brought back pastries and desserts that she liked.I was so sickened by the two of them that I could barely eat for days. It wasn't until I was doubled over in the bathroom, vomiting so violently I couldn't stand that I finally went to the hospital alone.When the test results came out, I stared at the report for a very long time.I was pregnant.By the time Hector arrived at the hospital, his forehead was covered in sweat. He stared at the report, reading it over and over. Then, he abruptly crouched down and pulled me into his arms."Evelina, we're having a baby!"In that moment, my resolve wavered.Hector canceled his meetings to accompany me to my prenatal appointment. On the drive home, he started making plans for the nursery and asked whether I wanted a boy or a girl.Watching his side profile, I briefly wondered if I could give this family one more chance for the sake of our child.When Gis

The anesthesia hadn't fully worn off when Mom's call came through."Where have you run off to? Giselle was just discharged from the hospital. Everyone's waiting for you at your home."She didn't ask how I was feeling. She only warned me not to disappear again and make Giselle feel guilty.My passport and important documents were all at the house. Bracing myself against the cold hospital wall, I slowly made my way outside.When I got home, my abdomen was still cramping.Hector was sitting beside Giselle, while my parents fussed over her.Duncan glanced at me with undisguised disgust. "Finally showing up, huh? You made the entire family wait around for you. You really think you're something special, don't you?"No one noticed how pale I was. No one asked why I smelled of disinfectant.Hector gestured for me to sit down, as though he were about to announce some great act of generosity."I've made my decision. We'll stay married, and we'll keep the baby. You get to continue being

At 6:00 am the next day, the post I'd scheduled was uploaded online.It wasn't filled with tearful accusations or vicious insults. I simply shared screenshots of the messages from Giselle and Hector, sent three seconds apart, chat records that showed how the Lloyds helped to cover their tracks when they snuck around, and an audio recording of the last things they said to me."I've made my decision. We'll stay married, and we'll keep the baby. You get to continue being Mrs. Greene, but I refuse to live apart from Giselle."Every word I posted had come straight from their own mouths.Before long, the post went viral. Hector's business partners began calling him, while relatives of the Lloyd family flooded them with questions.The financing deal Duncan had been negotiating was abruptly put on hold. Ronald was so furious that he smashed a glass. His immediate reaction wasn't to ask where I was but to demand that I take the post down.Janice sent me dozens of voice messages. "Giselle

Staring at the figures on the financial statements, I couldn't speak for the longest time. Isaac slid another document over to me."Before the late Mr. Lloyd Senior passed away, he established a dual oversight arrangement for the trust. Ronald was only appointed as a temporary trustee. He had no authority to dispose of the trust's principal. But over the years, he's used affiliated companies to fabricate projects and siphon off the returns."The records showed where all the money went.The trust paid for Giselle's tuition and living expenses while she studied abroad. The sports car Duncan got as his 18th birthday present also came from the trust.Even when Lloyd Corporation suffered several cash flow crises, the family used the returns from my trust to bail themselves out.As for the villa the family currently lived in, 70% of the money used to buy it came from the trust as well.Yet when I couldn't afford my college dorm fees, Janice simply threw a bunch of invoices at me and sa