Chapter 1

Everyone was stunned to see the armed man storm into the hospital.

No one expected him to head straight for my hospital room as if he had a clear target.

The hallway outside was packed with doctors and police officers. They were all desperately trying to persuade the armed man.

I was held tightly, unable to move.

Through the crowd, I saw my husband, who was supposed to be on a business trip. A woman was in his arms.

The attacker followed my gaze. He smiled sinisterly and asked, "Why don't you guess who your husband will choose?"

Before I could even process it, I was shoved and stumbled forward.

My pregnant belly slammed onto the ground, and I started bleeding heavily.

The crowd instantly erupted into a frenzy.

I reached out to my husband, Julian Burton. However, I saw him cover Tiffany Cooper's eyes, stepping back in fear.

It was chaotic, and some people rushed toward me.

"She's pregnant and bleeding heavily. Get the blood bags!"

"There's only one bag left!"

"Give it to the pregnant woman first!"

"No! This person is anemic and has heart disease. Give it to her first! I'll take responsibility if anything happens."

The hospital's last blood bag had been set aside for me.

However, Julian was a renowned expert in obstetrics and gynecology. So, everyone trusted his professional judgment and gave the blood bag that should have been mine to Tiffany.

My hand was forcefully pushed away. Julian didn't even spare me a glance as he held Tiffany tightly.

"Tiffany, don't be afraid. It's just a blood transfusion. If it hurts, just bite me hard," he said gently.

It felt as though my heart had been torn open. The pain was almost too much to bear.

Most patients around me hadn't fully recovered from the earlier chaos. They were being comforted by their families, surrounded by reassuring words. All of them wore a smile that seemed to say they had narrowly escaped disaster.

My husband, however, was protecting another woman. I was left all alone.

Julian had a tender expression as he guided Tiffany along. As he passed by me, he frowned and murmured something barely audible.

"I'm a doctor. You need to trust my judgment. Don't be petty and jealous when lives are on the line."

Then, I felt a kick in my stomach. At least I still had my baby.

Chapter 2

I processed what they'd just told me when I was wheeled out of the operating room.

"Ms. Wilkins, I'm sorry. We did everything we could, but we could only save you. Please accept our condolences for your child."

The blinding surgical lights left me dazed and disoriented.

What was she saying?

My baby had been six months along. She had been perfectly healthy, kicking actively inside me. We were supposed to meet soon.

I was shocked when I touched my stomach. It was flat now. A hollow space where life had been.

I came back to my senses and felt suffocated. I tried to cry out, but my voice seemed stuck in my throat.

"Don't worry. No one will ever come before you while I'm here."

My nails dug into my palms as I stared at the two in front of me. Julian wrapped one arm around Tiffany while the other gently brushed the hair away from her face.

The tenderness and love in his eyes made me fume. He's my husband.

My husband.

Even the nurse, Kelly Reed, who was pushing my stretcher, came to a stop. "Dr. Burton is so sweet to his wife. I've never seen him this gentle with anyone else."

I lifted my head and glared at her.

She seemed startled. Maybe she recalled that I had just lost my baby and was alone through it all.

Julian looked up, and our gaze met. For a brief moment, I saw the guilt in his eyes. Then, he turned away, pulling Tiffany close. He walked briskly like he was afraid of being caught.

I felt like laughing as I watched him flee so clumsily, so desperately.

So I did.

I laughed and laughed. And then, the tears came.

Kelly let out a startled gasp. "Hey! You just got out of surgery. Please don't get too worked up, or your stitches may tear."

Unfortunately, the tears wouldn't stop.

Kelly let out a sigh and handed me a tissue. Without another word, she quietly began pushing my stretcher back to the room.

"Give me your phone. I'm calling your husband. His wife just went through something this serious, and he doesn't even show up? What kind of man does that?"

Before I could respond, Kelly took the phone from my hand and tapped the contact labeled "Husband".

The dial tone rang for a long time, but no one picked up.

Kelly glanced at me uneasily. She tried again, and the call connected this time. She quickly put the phone on speaker.

Julian said in frustration, "Chloe, can you stop being so jealous over every little thing? Tiffany has a heart condition. She would die without the bag of blood."

Chapter 3

Kelly furrowed her brows. Perhaps she hadn't expected my husband to be so heartless.

She shouted into the phone, "Are you even her husband? Who's more important to you? Your wife or some other woman? Do you even know what your wife has just—"

"Who the hell are you? I'm a doctor. Do you think I can't tell whose condition is more critical?" Julian interrupted.

The line went dead.

Kelly stood still, staring at the phone in stunned silence. Then, she murmured, "That's Dr. Burton."

She turned to look at me, her expression a mix of shock and confusion.

I replied calmly, "Yeah. I'm Dr. Julian Burton's wife."

Her face twisted with indignation. "And to think I believed he was a good man who loved his wife. Turns out he's just another scumbag chasing after his mistress."

For some reason, that almost made me laugh.

Kelly looked away, then mumbled, "I'm sorry."

I gripped the bedsheet beneath me as I held back my tears. My fingers twisted it so tightly the fabric was nearly torn.

I wanted to smile and tell Kelly that it was all right. After all, my husband didn't care about me.

However, I couldn't. My face wouldn't move. It felt stiff and distorted, frozen in place. Maybe the situation was too much to bear.

Soon after, the room emptied, and I was alone.

Finally, my strength gave out. I collapsed onto the bed, sobbing uncontrollably. The doctor had said it was a girl. The daughter I'd waited for so long.

I'm sorry. Mommy wasn't strong enough to protect you.

A soft knock came at the door. It was the maternity nurse I had hired before all this happened.

I looked at Wendy Mitchell wearily and asked her to help me get some water.

Her expression was awkward as if she'd been battling with herself. Then she finally spoke, "Mrs. Burton, Mr. Burton asked me to take care of Ms. Cooper first. I don't have a choice."

Chapter 4

Just as I was about to respond to Wendy, I heard Julian's voice outside the door.

"Wendy, hurry! Tiffany isn't feeling well again."

The door swung open. Julian froze for a second when he saw me.

Our eyes met. Then, he said indifferently, "The baby is just born, and there's nothing urgent for Wendy to handle right now. Since Tiffany needs someone to care for her, Wendy can help her out.

"You don't mind, do you? Also, I'll be looking after Tiffany during this period. You should probably hire someone else. I don't have the energy to manage everything."

Just then, a nurse opened the door and said nervously, "Dr. Burton, Mrs. Burton is looking for you. You should come quickly."

"What's wrong with Tiffany?" Julian asked with a worried expression. And just like that, he rushed off without any explanation.

The nurse shot me a look of pure contempt—no doubt branding me as the mistress in this scenario.

I bit my lip hard. A wave of grief and fury threatened to drown me whole.

Suddenly, Wendy shrieked, "Mrs. Burton!"

The pain finally registered. I didn't even realize I'd bitten through the skin on my lip.

Seeing Wendy's worried expression, I tried to smile to assure her.

Wendy sighed, and her voice filled with pity. "Men always want what they don't have. You're his wife, yet he allows others to think it's someone else? And here I thought Dr. Burton was different."

However, I'd known that Julian loved someone else even before we were married.

The three of us went to the same university. During all those years, he liked Tiffany, and I was secretly in love with him.

Unlike Tiffany, I was just a nobody, the kind of girl no one noticed. Julian thought I was an embarrassment and never once took my feelings seriously.

For years, I watched Julian get hurt again and again. Every time he confessed to Tiffany and got rejected, I was being rejected, too.

Then, Tiffany went abroad with her then-boyfriend. After we graduated, pressure from his family piled on, and Julian finally gave in and agreed to "give us a try".

I thought I had finally made it and that, after everything, I'd waited long enough to win his heart.

Even when I heard his friends laughing outside our wedding suite—calling me a pathetic girl who'd begged her way into a marriage—I ignored it.

On our wedding day, Julian told me frankly, "I'll only ever love Tiffany. Don't get your hopes up."

However, I still believed that he'd come to love me with time.

Eventually, Tiffany came back.

Then, I realized that while it hurts to love someone stuck on their true love, it feels worse when that true love walks away, gets divorced, and comes back even more radiant than before.