The night before my wedding, Blake’s mom suddenly fell gravely ill, needing a massive amount for surgery.
To earn fast money to save her life, I accepted a new, high-stakes assignment from my boss.
That assignment took me away for three long years.
Through a hail of bullets and life-or-death situations, the only thing that kept me going was the thought of finishing the mission quickly, returning home, and marrying Blake.
But when I rushed back, ignoring the fresh bullet wound in my abdomen, to surprise him, I stumbled upon a horrific scene: him and Chloe, my best friend, being rushed to the hospital, tangled together like… well, like they were one person.
So *this* was his “I miss you so much I can’t sleep” routine.
I immediately bought trending ad space, making sure their scandalous photos shot to #1 on every trending topic.
Blake barely got off the operating table before he desperately called me:
“Baby, I don’t know who I offended, but someone Photoshopped me and Chloe into indecent pictures and put them online!”
“You need to send me two hundred thousand right away so I can get them taken down.”
I told him I was already back home.
But I didn’t tell him that I was the one who made their pictures go viral.
“What? Baby, you’re back?”
“Where are you right now? I’ll come pick you up!”
“The hospital.”
Blake on the other end suddenly went silent. After a long moment, he finally asked:
“The hospital? Which hospital?”
When I told him the name of the hospital, he was speechless:
“Baby, you didn’t actually believe those online rumors, did you?”
“You asked Chloe to look after me. How could she and I ever do anything to betray you?”
“I booked a hotel for you. Go there tonight, just for one night. I’m still working out of town, but I’ll be back to you as soon as I finish up!”
Without waiting for me to hang up, he’d already sent me the room number for a five-star hotel.
Yet, without an ounce of shame, he asked me to reimburse him for the five thousand two hundred dollars.
His low, husky voice, which used to make me melt, now made my stomach churn.
In the past, one sweet talk from him, and I would have given him my life.
But now, the throbbing pain in my abdomen and stomach surged to my heart simultaneously.
For a moment, I couldn’t tell which hurt more!
I glanced down at the bandage, already soaked with blood, took a deep breath, and said calmly:
“Just kidding. I’m not coming back that quickly.”
Blake, who had been on edge moments before, instantly raised his voice:
“Aurora! Are you sick? Is this something to joke about? Do you know how much I’ve missed you…?”
I took a step, wanting to rush to his hospital room and demand to know *how much* he missed me when he was busy hooking up with my best friend.
But in the end, I didn’t ask anything. I just hung up.
He wouldn’t let me come home; instead, he booked me a five-star hotel.
That could only mean there was something in our apartment he didn’t want me to see.
But I’m stubborn by nature. Even if I was betrayed, I still wanted to see just how deeply Blake had betrayed me.
I hailed a cab and quickly returned to our apartment. From inside, I heard the sound of a child crying.
My blood instantly ran cold.
They had even had a child behind my back?
What was three years of risking my life to save his mother for?
Just then, I heard his mother’s voice comforting the child:
“Sweetie, don’t cry. Mommy went to the hospital to have your little sister. If you still want a sister, be a good boy, okay?”
“When your daddy comes home, we can give him a big surprise!”
“When will Daddy come home and play with me? Mommy never plays with me anymore; she just wants to have a sister.”
A thunderbolt struck my mind.
So he had a child (Leo) with her that I unknowingly supported for three years, and now they’re planning a second one, expecting me to be a fool again?
After all, Chloe wasn’t pregnant when I left. Otherwise, she would have used the child to extort money from me ages ago!
Anger made me lose all reason. I instinctively entered the door code.
An alarm blared: “Incorrect password.”
I froze in place, my fingertips turning icy.
When we first set the code, Blake held me close, saying, “Let’s use the day we met, baby. That way, every time I open the door, it’ll feel like meeting you all over again.”
Now, that door locked me out.
Footsteps sounded from inside, followed by the click of the lock.
The door opened.
A little boy, about three years old, looked up at me, his large eyes full of curiosity.
“Who are you?”
Even though I was mentally prepared, my heart still twisted when I saw the boy’s eyes and brows, which chillingly resembled Chloe’s.
The wound in my abdomen throbbed with the surge of emotion, blood seeping through and staining my shirt.
“Leo, who is it?”
His mother’s voice came closer.
When she saw me at the door, the smile on her face instantly froze, all color draining as if she’d seen a ghost.
“You… how are you back?”
Blake’s mom frantically tried to close the door, but I jammed my hand against it, holding it firm.
“Mom, I’m home. Aren’t you going to welcome me?”
Blake’s mom knew she couldn’t keep it a secret any longer. She tried to block my view with her body while shakily pulling out her phone.
“Blake, come back quickly! She’s back!”
She shrieked into the phone.
I pushed the door open forcefully and walked inside.
I looked around the wedding home I had poured all my savings into, the one I’d furnished with such hopeful anticipation.
Aside from a dust-covered wedding photo on the nightstand, there wasn’t a single trace of me left.
Chloe’s dresses, her makeup, scattered everywhere. Children’s toys littered the floor.
The air reeked of a strange scent, one belonging to another woman.
My home had become someone else’s cozy nest.
Memories surged like a tidal wave.
Three years ago, at the airport.
Blake cried bitterly:
“Baby, you *have* to come back safe. I’ll wait for you.”
“I will. Don’t worry. I’ll find a way to get your mom’s surgery money as quickly as possible.”
He pulled me into a hug, his voice choked:
“But being a mercenary is dangerous. What if you didn’t go? I don’t want you risking your life for my mom. If something happened to you, how would I live?”
Back then, I had nothing. Even selling our apartment wouldn’t have been enough for Blake’s mom’s surgery.
There was no other way but to find a job that paid quickly.
Blake’s mom had been kind to me. If she hadn’t given me a home after my parents died, if she hadn’t helped me through college, I might have starved to death on the streets, fighting stray dogs for scraps.
The Millers weren’t wealthy. Blake’s mom raising both of us was incredibly hard.
So, when she fell seriously ill and desperately needed surgery, I accepted the mercenary mission.
Every day on that mission felt like walking through hell. Bullets whizzed past my ears, artillery shells exploded beside me.
Countless times, brushing shoulders with death, I’d been clutching Blake’s smiling photo.
I scrimped and saved, sending every penny I earned risking my life to him.
Each time he received the money, he’d be especially touched:
“Baby, thank goodness for you! When you come back, we’ll get married! I miss you so much I can’t sleep at night…”
Blake returned quickly, still in his hospital gown.
He rushed in, his face a mix of panic and guilt.
“Baby, let me explain!”
Blake stepped forward, trying to grab my hand, but I sidestepped him.
He spoke anxiously:
“Leo’s father died in a car accident shortly after he was born. It wasn’t easy for Chloe raising a child alone. With you gone for three years, she really helped take care of my mom and me…”
He said, his eyes welling up, looking utterly pitiful.
“We felt bad for the kid, so we helped look after him, gave him a home. If you were here, you’d do the same, right?”
Just then, Leo, clutching a toy car, walked up to me, looked up with his little face, and softly asked:
“Auntie, will you play with cars with me?”
That single word, “Auntie,” was like a thunderclap that made my ears ring.
For the past three years, neither Blake nor Chloe had mentioned this child to me.
That made it incredibly hard to believe that Leo had nothing to do with Blake.
Meeting my suspicious gaze, Blake’s face flashed with irritation, then he stroked Leo’s head.
“Leo, be a good boy. Auntie just got home; let her rest for a bit, okay?”
He said, familiarly pinching the soft skin on my waist:
“Baby, look how much Leo likes you, his ‘Auntie.’ Come on, say something!”
I let out a cold laugh:
“I have no interest in being a surrogate parent.”
“Where’s Chloe? Weren’t you two at the hospital together?”
Blake’s eyes darted nervously, and he quickly denied it:
“Baby, did you believe those online rumors? Chloe and I are completely innocent…”
He didn’t know I was standing right there when he and Chloe were crammed onto the ambulance together.
It seemed he was afraid Chloe would show up and get a beating from me, so he told her to hide.
But I’m not interested in supporting someone else’s husband and child. I called Chloe directly:
“Come take your husband and child. As for Mrs. Miller, whether she stays or leaves is her choice.”
If Blake’s mom wanted me to support her, out of gratitude, I wouldn’t refuse.
But I would no longer support Blake or Chloe’s son.
Blake smashed my phone and immediately exploded:
“What do you mean? I’m your fianc! You just got home and you’re already kicking me out?”
“Blake, if you don’t leave, are you trying to stay in my house and make me a fool, supporting your little family of three?”
My gaze, cold as a knife, swept across his pale face.
The chill in my words made him flinch.
“Baby, it’s not what you think! Chloe and I really have nothing going on! She was just helping me…”
“Get out.”
I cut him off sharply, pointing to the door.
Blake froze, as if seeing me for the first time.
“Aurora… you’re telling *me* to get out?”
His eyes instantly welled up, filled with disbelief and hurt:
“We’ve been apart for three years, I missed you day and night, waited so long for you to come back, and this is how you treat me?”
“You missed me?”
I took a step closer to him, the pain in my abdomen making cold sweat bead on my forehead, yet it was a fraction of the pain in my heart.
“Missed me so much you slept with Chloe? Missed me so much you had a child with her? Missed me so much you used my money to support your child?”
“No, it’s not…”
“Shut up!”
I pointed to the main door, using every last ounce of my strength:
“Take your things and get out of my house! Now! Immediately!”
Blake watched my resolute expression, the color slowly draining from his face.
Large tears rolled down his cheeks.
After a long moment, he violently grabbed the bag from the sofa and glared at me fiercely.
“Aurora! I can’t believe you’re such a narrow-minded, heartless person!”
“I’m going! Don’t you dare regret this!”
He pulled Leo and Blake’s mom, stumbling out the door.
The loud bang of the closing door left me in a room full of dead silence.
I couldn’t stand straight, swaying a step and leaning against the wall.
The bloodstain on my abdominal bandage had already spread into a large patch.
Excruciating pain tore at my nerves.
Yet it was nothing compared to my utterly crushed heart and the absurdity of three years wasted.
Ten minutes later, I heard loud, frantic voices outside, then a knock at the door.
“Unit 302, have you no conscience? How could you kick your husband and child out? He’s threatening to jump off the roof with his mom and kid! Go talk him down!”
I opened the door. The unfamiliar neighbor looked at me, his expression freezing.
He quickly checked the apartment number, then yelled back inside:
“Where’s his wife? Did you hear that?”
It turned out that for the three years I was gone, Blake and Chloe had been presenting themselves as a married couple to the neighbors.
No wonder the neighbor didn’t recognize me.
I hadn’t lived in the apartment a single day after it was renovated; Chloe, that bitch, got to enjoy it instead.
Since it involved a life, I wasn’t in the mood to explain the complicated situation to the neighbor. I quickly took the elevator to the rooftop.
Blake saw me and cried even harder.
“Aurora, why won’t you believe me? Kicking me outare you trying to kill me?”
“Chloe helped take care of me and my mom for you, and we helped take care of Leo for her. It was a mutual help situation, but you see a problem with it!”
“You don’t like me helping her raise the child? I’ve already sent Leo away, isn’t that enough?”
He hung his head, tears streaming down his face. That pathetic, groveling display was a stark contrast to the arrogant man I remembered.
I remained silent, not yet speaking, when Blake’s mom suddenly climbed onto the edge of the rooftop:
“Darling, Blake and Chloe really didn’t do anything. I’ll prove their innocence with my life, okay?”
Saying this, she made to jump.
Not wanting to be responsible for a death, I quickly yelled:
“Alright, I believe you.”
Getting my confirmation, Blake quickly exchanged a glance with his mom.
I couldn’t be bothered with their ridiculous drama and turned to go home.
Late that night, the master bedroom door creaked open.
Blake, dressed in new clothes and reeking of cologne, slinked in.
“Baby…”
His voice was sickly sweet, and his hand was already exploring my body.
I grabbed his wrist violently, with such force that he cried out in pain.
“My wound isn’t healed, so I can’t.”
I stared at him, my eyes devoid of any desire.
“Get out.”
His face paled. He tried to say something else, but was interrupted by his phone ringing in his bag.
He jumped as if he’d been burned, rushed back to the guest room to grab his phone, then disappeared into the bathroom.
The shower started running, muffling his words.
I walked to the bathroom door. Through the crack, I heard his broken voice:
“I’ll figure out the money… just wait a bit longer…”
Just then, my phone screen lit up.
A notification: a 500,000 transaction failed.
Blake was still trying to get money from me to give to Chloe!
It seemed he wouldn’t stop until he’d completely drained me!
The next morning, Blake’s friends showed up uninvited, claiming they wanted to catch up after so long.
But every word was really a probe:
“You must have made a fortune these three years, right? I heard the profits over there are huge!”
“Now you two can finally live well; you must be getting a big villa, right?”
I casually brushed them off, sending them away disappointed.
After they left, I walked over to Blake, who was pretending to be busy in the kitchen.
“That five hundred thousand last night, was it for Chloe?”
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