Two years into our marriage, the city’s elite still sighed over Julian’s three year battle against his family, all to make me his wife.
But the very day I found out I was pregnant, footage of his ex-girlfriend Sera returning to the city went viral.
In the video, they passed in the airport terminal. Then both turned at the same instant, their eyes meeting across the crowded hall.
The comments painted a unified picture of romantic fantasy:
“Now this is real love.”
“If Sera hadn’t gotten hadn’t gotten a terminal illness and left him, Aria would never have had a chance.”
I tried to dismiss it as meaningless online noise.
But then I saw one comment that made my entire body freeze.
“He didn’t just love Sera for her face. It was her voice. And his new wife sounds just like her.”
Aria POV
Two years after our wedding, the city’s elite circles were still buzzing with the romantic tale of how Julian Thorne had defied his family for three years just to make me his bride.
But the very day I found out I was pregnant, footage of his ex-girlfriend, Sera Vance, returning o the city went viral.
In the video, they brushed past each other in the airport lobby, then turned back, their eyes locking across the distance.
The comment section below the video was almost universally gushing with praise.
“Now this is real love.”
“Sera is even prettier than a Hollywood star!”
“She’s also an independent journalist who’s exposed so many social injustices! A real justice warrior!”
“If Sera hadn’t gotten a terminal illness and broken up with him, Aria Hayes wouldn’t have stood a chance with Julian!”
At first, I told myself not to care about these online rumors.
But then I saw one comment that made my entire body freeze.
“Julian isn’t like other powerful executives. He’s very particular about women’s voices. He liked Miss Vance not just for her looks, but for her voice. His current wife’s voice is almost identical to hers.”
My mind exploded.
Julian had this bizarre habit.
He liked to turn off all the lights during intimate moments, making me whisper his name over and over.
Sometimes, he’d even have me record a news article for him to play on loop in his office.
I’d never thought much of it, even believing it was our own special ritual of intimacy.
My hands trembled as I dug out those recorded news articles, and that’s when I saw it-each one listed “Miss Vance” as the source.
Tears splashed onto the screen, one by one. My heart felt like it had been plunged into a block of ice.
I rushed to his company, desperate for an explanation.
But just as I reached the door, through the slight crack, I heard laughter.
“Julian, Sera’s back and she’s recovered. You still haven’t divorced? You haven’t actually fallen for that substitute, have you?”
His voice was indifferent, yet I couldn’t miss the hint of indulgence hidden beneath. “Don’t be ridiculous. I only married her to fulfill Sera’s last wish, just a charade to ease her mind while she got treatment.”
I stood frozen outside the door, my legs turning to jelly.
The laughter inside the office continued. “Sera was just afraid you’d be all alone if she didn’t make it off the operating table. It just so happened that woman had donated blood to her, so Sera insisted you pursue her.”
“Though, her body is incredible. How about you trick her into a fake divorce, and when she’s heartbroken, I’ll go after her? Of course, if you can’t bear to let her go, just forget it.”
After a brief silence, his familiar yet alien voice replied. “She’s been with me for so many years, after all. If you’re serious, go for it. But if you’re just messing around, forget it. Sera would blame me if things got messy.”
A substitute?
My head felt like it had been violently struck.
I stumbled back, unable to listen anymore.
So, the happiness I thought I had, was nothing more than a play from beginning to end.
And I was the only one who had fallen too deeply into the role.
He had once fought tooth and nail with his parents for me, giving up his inheritance.
He had even moved into a tiny apartment for me, arguing with the landlord for two hours over a trivial amount of rent.
He, who never cooked, had made me breakfast for five years.
But all of it, a performance!
How utterly ridiculous.
Back home, I rushed into the bathroom, sinking into the bathtub, trying to calm myself.
As I dried my hair, I tried to reassure myself, maybe he was just joking with his friends. Men together, aren’t they always bragging?
But that night, he only sent one message.
“Tied up with work. Go to sleep.”
I sat on the sofa all night.
He didn’t return until dawn.
He looked relaxed. A grin touched his lips when he saw me. “There’s my sleepyhead. Couldn’t sleep without me? Look, I brought your favorite tarts.”
I didn’t move, didn’t speak.
He seemed completely oblivious, casually pulled out a document, and handed it to me. “Aria, the company is under federal investigation. I don’t want to drag you into this, so how about we get divorced first, then remarry once the investigation is over?”
I stared at him silently, catching the strong scent of roses on him.
I never wore rose-scented perfume.
How he managed, spending a night with another woman and still conjuring up such a ridiculous excuse to trick me into a divorce.
Aria POV
I smiled, incredibly calmly, took the divorce papers, and signed my name.
Julian pulled away the signed document, reassuring me.
“In a month, after we get our divorce certificate, we’ll go get our marriage certificate.”
I stared at him, trying to find a trace of deceit in his eyes. But those eyes, instead, were filled with tenderness and love.
My frozen heart, against all odds, thawed slightly.
Clinging to that last, irrational bit of hope, I clutched his hand and whispered, “There’s some trouble. How about we just don’t divorce for now?”
A flicker of unnatural light crossed his eyes, quickly masked by an air of indifference.
“It’s no trouble at all. I’m doing this for your own good.”
I lowered my head, my voice hoarse. “Alright. Go take a shower.”
A month from now, we’d go our separate ways. We’d be done with each other.
“Such a good girl.”
He chuckled softly, popped a tart into my mouth, then turned and went into the bathroom.
I reflexively took a bite, and the rich cheese flavor exploded in my mouth.
I froze, then quickly spit it out.
How could he forget I was allergic to cheese?
When we first started dating, I accidentally ate some cheese and ended up in the emergency room.
When I woke up, the doctor half-jokingly said. “Go comfort your boyfriend. He was practically in tears outside, almost on his knees begging me to save you.”
From then on, whenever we ate out, Julian would repeatedly remind the server. “Absolutely no cheese in the dishes.”
The memory was still sweet, but now my hands and feet were turning red, hives spreading everywhere, itching intolerably.
I let out a self-deprecating laugh, picked up my medicine, and was about to swallow it, when I suddenly remembered I was pregnant.
My fingers trembled, and I slowly put the pill bottle back down.
Just then, the bathroom door opened.
“What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”
He looked at me with concern.
Before I could even speak, his phone suddenly rang.
He answered it, and the relaxed look on his face instantly vanished, his tone tightening.
“Protect her. I’m on my way now.”
He hurriedly changed, walked to the door, then seemed to remember something, turning back to glance at me.
“A journalist friend of mine got into some trouble while investigating a shady factory. I need to go check on her.”
He then reminded me. “Remember to eat breakfast before you go to work.”
I nonchalantly pulled down my sleeve, and asked blandly, “What flavor were those tarts?”
“Cheese, of course. It’s been really popular lately. I waited in line for ages.”
His voice held a hint of irritation, as if he found my questions bothersome.
I nodded, only softly saying, “Understood. Drive safe.”
He clutched his phone, a flicker of suspicion in his eyes.
But before he could figure it out, his phone rang again, and he left without a backward glance.
I watched his retreating back, my fingertips trembling slightly.
Then, I grabbed a face mask, went outside, hailed a cab, and followed him.
The car stopped outside a secluded alley.
I watched him from a distance, following him to the very end.
That’s when a delicate figure in a red dress rushed into his arms.
He immediately wrapped his arm around her waist, his voice cold. “I told you, if you keep risking your life like this, I’ll lock you up.”
The woman, Sera, stood on tiptoe and gently kissed his lips.
“Julian, how can a journalist be afraid of trouble? Besides, I have you, so I’m not afraid of bad guys.”
I watched him push her into the car, locking the door.
Then he grabbed her by the back of the head and kissed her fiercely.
That kiss was brutal and deep, as if he wanted to devour her.
Afterward, she shyly scurried out of the car, and he chased after her, his eyes full of indulgence.
Leaning against the wall, I felt utterly disgusted.
I stood there stunned for a long time, until my fingers grew numb.
I pulled off my silver ring, ripped it off, and threw it into the gutter. Then I turned and walked away, strides long and deliberate.
Aria POV
That afternoon, I started running a fever. Drifting in and out of consciousness, my head throbbed with a dull ache.
In my dream, I saw Julian, alone, working construction. A privileged rich kid, yet he was ordered around by workers, covered in dirt. But he seemed utterly oblivious, using his hard-earned wages to buy a silver ring, just to come see me.
Before coming to find me, he’d even taken a shower and changed into clean clothes.
“Aria, I have no money, no power right now. I’m not asking you to accept me. But could you please not date anyone for three years? Just three years, that’s all I need.”
I put on the ring without hesitation.
“Julian, I’m willing to work with you to earn your family’s approval. But if one day you get tired, just tell me, and I’ll walk away without a second thought.”
I woke up from the dream. The high fever made the allergic spots hot and itchy, like a thousand ants crawling all over me.
Suddenly, a burning sensation below, and a terrifying realization hit me-the baby…
I instinctively dialed Julian’s number.
It rang a few times, and then a woman’s voice answered.
I knew it was Sera.
“Hello? Make it quick. I just saw a kitten hit by a car, and I’m rushing to film it to find the culprit. I don’t have time to chat.”
A sharp pain shot through my abdomen. I couldn’t care less about anything else and quickly said.
“Please tell Julian I might be having a miscarriage. Tell him to come back immediately and take me to the hospital.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end, then her nonchalant voice spoke again.
“If it can’t be saved, it wasn’t meant to be. It’s people like you, making a fuss over nothing, that give doctors such a heavy workload.”
I clutched my stomach, wondering if I was hallucinating.
“Aren’t you a woman? What kind of nonsense are you spouting? Give the phone to Julian, I need to talk to him!”
Sera on the other end answered casually.
“Miss Hayes, reincarnation is a two-way street. If the fetus wants to leave, you should respect its wishes.”
Just as she was about to hang up, I heard Julian’s voice on the other end.
Enraged, I shouted, “Julian!”
But Julian didn’t respond to me. I only heard Julian and Sera’s conversation.
“Sera, what’s wrong? Is your heart bothering you again?” Julian asked anxiously.
“My heart hurts so much! Julian, maybe you should go back and talk to Aria. What if something really happened to her baby…”
He listened quietly, then picked up the phone, his voice calm but sharp.
“Aria, you’re infertile. How could you be pregnant? Stop acting.”
“And stop being so dramatic. Sera has a heart condition; you’ll cause her serious trouble like this…”
I couldn’t speak. The woman on the other end kept babbling, finally just saying.
“I’m too busy these past couple of days, so I won’t be coming back. Don’t call me for such trivial matters.”
The phone clicked, and my heart sank deeper and deeper.
I had to call emergency services myself, then ask my best friend, Brianna, to rush to the hospital to sign the papers.
After the surgery, I was unconscious for three days and three nights before I finally woke up.
Brianna said she’d rushed to the hospital after my call, but it was too late. The doctor said if she’d signed just ten minutes earlier, they could have saved the baby.
Then, Brianna sat by my bed, cursing that scumbag for half an hour straight before finally calming down enough to buy food.
I pulled out my phone to scroll through Ins. Less than a minute later, I saw a video Julian had re-posted.
The two-minute clip showed Sera advocating for animal welfare, urging people to cherish life.
Below the video, Julian commented, expressing his full support for her philanthropic work.
I gently touched my abdomen. My heart was numb with pain, leaving only a bitter irony.
At Brianna’s insistence, I rested for two more days before being discharged.
When I got home, Julian wasn’t back yet. I didn’t care. I went about my routine of work and home.
It wasn’t until the evening of the second weekend that he returned home.
When he walked in, I was looking for my lawyer’s license.
Julian said mockingly, “Well, look at you. Perfectly fine, aren’t you?”
Before I could explain, he grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom.
A short while later, his phone rang in the bathroom.
Even though he kept his voice low, I still heard his conversation with Sera.
“Mm, don’t worry, she wasn’t pregnant. Probably just being petty.”
“Okay, whatever you say. I’ll stay home tonight. Don’t kick off your blanket in your sleep while I’m gone!”
I chuckled softly, pretending not to hear, and went about my business.
We were divorced anyway. He could think whatever he wanted; there was no point in explaining.
It just meant he was staying home tonight, and I’d have to find an excuse to sleep in separate rooms later. The thought of sharing a bed with him now felt utterly repulsive.
Lost in thought, he walked into the bedroom and told me, “Sera’s interview ran into a bit of a problem…”
I cut him off, saying, “Go check on her.”
A flicker of unease crossed his face, but he ultimately just said, “I’ll be back soon.”
That night, he didn’t return, and I slept soundly.
Aria POV
The next morning, Julian, uncharacteristically, rushed back and insisted on driving me to work.
I found it a bit odd, but didn’t refuse.
Just as the car turned a corner, we saw a small car hit an elderly man, then speed away.
Julian instinctively slammed on the brakes and was about to open the door when I reached out to stop him. “Call emergency services first.”
It was a professional reflex. I immediately checked that the dashcam was recording, then pushed open my door and got out.
I hadn’t taken two steps when Julian suddenly called out to me. “Sera’s health monitor is alarming; she might be having heart problems. I need to go check on her. You wait here for the ambulance.”
Both were life-and-death situations. I didn’t stop him, only reminded him to save the video evidence.
The old man’s condition was critical; he was rushed to the hospital and immediately given a critical care notice.
I dialed the number saved as “granddaughter” in his phone countless times, but no one answered.
By the time the police arrived and needed me to sign special procedures, the old man was gone.
The doctors wheeled the body out of the operating room. I stayed behind to handle the follow-up, an ominous feeling suddenly creeping into my heart.
By some strange impulse, I logged into the system on my phone and copied the accident footage. Just as I was about to upload it to the cloud, the elevator doors chimed open-
Sera burst out, saw the old man, and immediately collapsed, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Grandpa! What happened to you? Sera’s here, please wake up!”
I froze for a few seconds, a ridiculous thought flashing through my mind-could this really be such a bizarre coincidence?
But before I could even speak, she had already risen, rushed to me, and slapped me hard across the face.
“Aria, it’s you, isn’t it? You hate me, you can come for me, but what kind of guts does it take to get revenge on an old man!”
Fire blazed in my eyes, yet I remained calm. “I’ve already told the police what happened. If you have questions, you can ask them.”
She glared at me, her voice trembling and hysterical. “If it wasn’t you, why didn’t you let the hit-and-run driver come forward? If it wasn’t you, how could you be so ‘kind’ as to bring my grandpa to the hospital?”
Her logic was so infuriating, it made me laugh. Just as I was about to show her the evidence on my phone, she suddenly lunged at me to snatch it.
In the chaos, she pulled too hard, falling over, phone and all.
Julian arrived at that very moment, just as he saw Sera and me on the ground.
He didn’t hesitate, rushing over and shoving me hard against the wall.
“Are you insane!”
My back and the back of my head hit the wall almost simultaneously. The intense pain made my vision swim.
Before I could recover, Sera had already collapsed into his arms, crying as if her world was ending.
“Julian, Grandpa’s dead! I don’t have a grandpa anymore! She’s the one who hit him… Make her kneel before Grandpa and apologize!”
I watched him. Watched him remain silent. Watched the hesitation in his eyes.
My heart grew colder, bit by bit.
I suddenly remembered that year, right after I graduated, when a defendant, unhappy with the verdict, ambushed me in an alley, forcing me to my knees to apologize.
It was him. He rushed in bare-handed, fighting them until he was covered in blood.
When the police arrived, he forced himself to stand before me and coldly told that group of people-
“This fool, to be a good lawyer, she’s read her criminal code thousands of times, can recite all fifty-six thousand six hundred eighty-one words by heart.
You think you can use dirty tricks to shatter her dream? Forget it.”
At that moment, he was the brightest light in my world.
But now, that light stood before me, cold as ice.
“Aria,” he said, “go kneel and say goodbye to Grandpa, so the old man can rest in peace.”
Sera, still in his arms, looked up at me, a defiant smile on her face.
“Not ‘say goodbye’, but ‘apologize’.”
I closed my eyes, letting out a cold laugh. “Whether I’m wrong or not, the police will tell you. But, Sera, you’re crying so hard, are you afraid your grandpa’s ghost will come looking for you tonight, asking why you didn’t answer his-”
Before I could finish, a sharp slap landed across my face.
Then, Julian ordered his bodyguards to drag me, forcibly, to the bedside, kicking my knee.
With a sickening thud, I fell to my knees.
A tearing pain shot through my knee. I stared at him, my voice hoarse. “Julian, you clearly saw the real culprit.”
He froze for a moment, a flicker of guilt in his eyes.
Then he bent down, whispering in my ear. “Sera is frail. Grandpa’s death is a huge blow to her. If I don’t let her vent, she’ll get sick. Anyway, you’re always dealing with criminals, you’ve spent plenty of time at the detention center. Consider this a new experience.”
I could barely believe my ears.
Rage instantly flared to its peak. I shoved him away.
“Do you know what it means for a lawyer to have been in a detention center? Disbarment, a lifetime ban from practicing law! Julian, how can you say that so casually-”
Before I could finish, he pinned me back to the ground.
The bodyguards tore my blazer, bound my hands behind my back, and shoved a wad of fabric into my mouth.
Julian bent over, looking at me, his smile gentle yet cruel.
“Be good. Your job is dangerous and doesn’t pay well, you’re better off without it. From now on, I’ll take care of you.”
With that, he turned and walked to Sera’s side.
She was sobbing inconsolably into the camera, repeatedly crying out “hit-and-run” and “murderer.”
The crowd gathered, whispering amongst themselves.
“How shameless, killing someone and being so cold-blooded.”
“Dressed so prim and proper, probably a mistress.”
People pointed and cursed at me, but I couldn’t utter a single word.
Sera continued to incite the crowd. A family member of a drunk-driving victim nearby completely lost control and rushed over, raining punches and kicks on me.
Fists rained down on my face and body, my bones creaking with each blow.
I wanted to protect my head, but my hands were tied.
I could only curl into a ball, letting the punches and kicks fall upon me.
Through the crowd, I vaguely saw Julian’s face. Those eyes, which had once given me such peace, now held only indifference.
He was led away by Sera, to “arrange for Sera’s grandpa’s body.”
I slowly closed my eyes.
Those fists and feet, bit by bit, shattered what little memory I had left.
The man who would get flustered by a mere glance from me.
The man who couldn’t handle spice but would eat Mexican food with me.
The man who rode a train for over ten hours just to bring me breakfast.
All of it was brutally ripped from my mind.
The pain was so intense I couldn’t catch my breath, and I completely lost consciousness.
Julian, it turns out your compassion also had an expiration date.
Falling in love with you truly hurt.
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