Chapter 1Five years married to the Blackwell heir, he forced me to share my husband with another woman!
Dominic Blackwell threw me a schedule on our wedding night.
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays—he'd come home.
Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays—Vanessa got him.
Sundays? Threesome.
Vanessa Sterling—his dead best buddy's baby sister, his untouchable first love.
But guess what?
Not once in five damn years did I get him alone.
He never showed on MY nights—always "emergencies" with Vanessa.
Until that night, I overheard him laughing on the phone.
"Sophie? Just feed her some excuse. Fuck her—she'll spread her legs whenever I whistle."
"Vanessa's struggling right now. She comes first."
Something inside me finally snapped.
No tears. No begging.
Screw you, asshole. I don't do time-shares anymore!
I grabbed my backup phone and sent a single text:
"You promised if I was unhappy, you'd come get me. Still offering?"
...
The phone died the second I hit send.
I collapsed onto the bedroom carpet—the scene from the study looping in my mind.
Dominic, leaning against his desk all casual, telling his assistant.
"Just make up whatever. Sophie never asks questions anyway."
"Marcus died young. Vanessa's all alone in this world. I owe him my life—gotta make it right."
Every lonely night I'd spent waiting.
Every dinner I'd reheated until it went cold.
All of it stabbed through my chest like ice picks.
Staring at this empty bedroom, I couldn't breathe.
Five years married. He'd never spent a single night here.
Every time he came back from HER place, he'd bring me guilt gifts.
Perfume. Designer bags. Once, some jade bracelet from a charity auction.
I actually thought it was his way of showing he cared.
Now I knew—every gift was just guilt wrapped in a bow.
I started smashing them. One by one.
The door slammed open. Dominic stormed in.
He froze when he saw the wreckage.
"What the hell are you doing?"
I didn't turn around, kept my voice steady even though I was shaking.
"It's Monday. You staying tonight?"
Silence.
Dominic's eyes flickered. He grabbed my hand.
"Something came up. I swear, next time I'll stay."
I looked at his face, so close to mine. Pain ripped through my chest.
"Dominic, I'M your wife! But for five years, Vanessa's been the one living like your real wife."
Five years of swallowing everything came pouring out.
He dropped to one knee in front of me, wiping my tears.
"Marcus died for me. Vanessa's depression is serious—if I'm not there, she'll hurt herself."
"I love YOU. But you don't want another death on my conscience, right?"
He sounded so sincere. I just felt cold.
I was about to shove him away when my phone buzzed. Voice message from his mother Margaret:
"Dinner at the estate tonight. We need to talk about you having a baby."
My heart sank.
Margaret had been on my case for years about not getting pregnant.
Called me a "barren bitch" in front of everyone. Even went on a hunger strike to force Dominic to divorce me.
Three days and three nights on his knees outside her door—that's what finally stopped her.
Now he squeezed my hand, voice soft.
"Don't worry. I'll go with you."
Vanessa's call came through before he finished his sentence.
"Dom? My stomach's killing me. Can you come over?"
He let go of my hand instantly.
"Sophie, Vanessa's not doing well. You go to dinner—I'll pick you up later."
Then he was gone.
Tears blurred everything. My face was already soaked.
Midnight came and went. No Dominic.
I took Margaret's insults alone, catching whispers from the maids in the hallway:
"Miss Sterling's entryway was full ofempty condom boxes! Really wild."
"Bet you anything SHE gets knocked up before the wife does."
"Five years, no baby—better off divorcing now."
I bit my lip till it hurt, letting every word stab me.
When Dominic proposed, he knelt in front of both our families and swore he'd cherish me forever.
Everyone said I married for love.
But on our wedding night, his friends stopped me outside the weeding room.
"Dom! Vanessa tried to kill herself—go now!"
That night he knelt in front of me, eyes red, apologizing over and over.
"Sophie, I'm so sorry. But I owe them—I can't abandon her."
"Just trust me. Once she moves on and starts fresh, we'll have our life together."
Looking at his bloodshot eyes, I caved.
For five years, I guarded an empty marriage.
Turns out every "work emergency" night, he was wrapped up in another woman's arms.
I dried my tears and signed the divorce papers.
The second I finished, the doorbell rang.
Vanessa shoved past me and walked in.
She looked around, all fake drama.
"Wow, this place is tiny. I mean, makes sense—just you here. Dominic never comes home anyway."
I capped my pen. "What do you want?"
She laughed, flashing the fresh hickeys on her neck.
"Look what YOUR husband did to me. He kept me up all night—wouldn't stop no matter how much I begged."
Then she covered her mouth like she just remembered something.
"Oh right. You've probably never even had a real man, huh? Poor thing."
My fists clenched.
When I didn't react, her fake smile dropped.
"Sophia, even when I'm on my period, Dominic would rather jerk off at MY place than come back to you. Get a clue!"
"Do yourself a favor. Leave him. Now."
I stood up slowly and opened the door.
"Done talking? Get out."
Chapter 2
The second I finished, something vicious flashed in Vanessa's eyes.
Then she screamed and collapsed to the floor.
"My baby! Oh God, it hurts!"
The door exploded open. Dominic stormed in and kicked me aside without a second thought.
He rushed to Vanessa, holding her tight, panic all over his face.
"Vanessa! Are you okay?"
She collapsed against him, sobbing.
"Dom... the baby... what if something happens to our baby..."
When Dominic turned back to me, his eyes were pure rage.
Before I could even get my balance, his hand cracked across my face.
"Sophia! How could you be this evil!"
"Marcus took a bullet for me! Vanessa's got nobody in this world, I swallowed your cold looks before!"
"But NOW? You KNOW she's pregnant, and you pull this shit?"
"That baby is EVERYTHING to her! The last of the Sterling bloodline!"
My cheek burned, but I barely felt it.
Just stared at him, voice shaking.
"She's pregnant? With your baby?"
The way he shielded her belly felt like a knife straight through my heart.
Dominic's voice went ice cold.
"If anything happens to Vanessa or this baby, I will NEVER forgive you!"
He paused, seemed to realize how harsh that sounded.
Then his eyes dropped to the necklace around my neck.
"Take off that necklace." An order.
"Give it to Vanessa. Call it an apology."
The necklace?
I stumbled backward, hands flying up to protect it.
"This was my mother's! She traded her LIFE for this bless charm!"
"Dominic! You made promises at her deathbed—you forgot already?!"
He paused for half a second, then his face hardened.
"You married me. Everything you have is MINE."
"It's just some old necklace—you think that's worth more than a life?"
Then he grabbed my throat and ripped the necklace off my neck.
I hit the floor hard from the force, crawling toward him to take it back—but he shoved me away again.
"Give it back!"
When my mom was dying, she'd begged me not to marry Dominic.
But Dominic stayed by her bed for three months straight, took care of everything. Then knelt in front of her and swore:
"Ma'am, I'll treasure Sophia more than my own life."
"As long as I'm breathing, she'll never suffer. Not once."
Mom finally gave in.
With trembling hands, she'd placed that necklace in Dominic's palm and watched him tie it around my neck.
He knew better than anyone what it meant to me.
Vanessa barely glanced my way as she took the necklace from him, played with it for a second.
Then casually tossed it out the window.
The wind caught it. It disappeared into the distance.
"NO!"
I threw myself at the window, half my body hanging out.
Dominic looked stunned for a moment. Then his face hardened:
"Sophia, it's just a necklace. Let it go."
"Acting crazy like this—what if you scare Vanessa and the baby?"
He ignored my breakdown and wrapped an arm around Vanessa.
"Don't worry. I'll take you home. We can't risk the baby."
The necklace drifted farther and farther away.
The wind burned my eyes, but no tears came out.
"Dominic. I want a divorce."
The air went dead silent.
He spun around, staring at me like I'd lost my mind.
"Over a stupid necklace? You want a DIVORCE?"
I stood up slowly, straightened my clothes, picked up the signed divorce papers from the table.
I looked him in the eyes.
"Yes."
His shock twisted into pure rage in an instant.
"Sophia, when did you become this damn ridiculous?"
"Don't forget—without the Blackwells, without ME, you'd be homeless!"
"Five years and you couldn't even get pregnant. Everyone in our circle knows you're my leftovers. What man would want you now?"
He snatched the divorce papers and ripped them to shreds.
"Divorce? In your dreams!"
Then he shoved me hard and carefully helped Vanessa out.
I slammed into the coffee table edge, pain tearing through my ribs.
Without even looking back, Dominic said gently to Vanessa.
"When the baby's born, we'll give him the Sterling name."
"I'll take care of him—honor Marcus's memory properly."
"And if Sophia ever messes with you again, tell me. I won't go easy on her."
I stared at my own miserable reflection in the window and suddenly laughed.
Three days.
Whether he signed or not, I was gone.
But that night, I was jolted awake by a splash of boiling water.
I opened my eyes to find Dominic's hands around my throat, eyes wild.
"Sophia! I warned you to behave!"
"You bribed the housekeeper! Poisoned Vanessa's pregnancy meds! She's hemorrhaging at the hospital right now—almost lost our baby!"
I could barely breathe, kicking and struggling.
"Poison? I didn't—I don't know anything about—"
He threw me into the car, sped to the hospital, and dumped me at Vanessa's ward.
Before I could stand, he kicked the back of my knee, forcing me down onto the freezing marble floor.
"Kneel. You apologize when Vanessa wakes up!"
Everything hurt. My vision kept going dark.
Then the hospital door burst open.
Vanessa came at me with a knife.
"You murderer! Give me back my baby!"
I tried to dodge, but the blade sank deep into my side anyway.
Pain exploded. I clutched my bleeding waist and looked at Dominic.
Once, when I'd cut my finger cooking, he'd rushed me to the ER in the middle of the night for stitches.
Now I was bleeding out, and he just calmly adjusted his cuffs.
"Sophia. You owe her this. Relax. You won't die."
I couldn't speak through the pain. Just stared at him.
Vanessa's eyes were bloodshot. She pulled the knife out and came at me again.
Once. Twice.
Warm blood kept spilling out. I coughed up red and collapsed in the spreading pool.
Only then did Dominic step forward to stop her.
"Vanessa, that's enough."
"She's been punished. Don't actually kill her—bad karma for the baby."
She leaned into him, sobbing.
"But she almost killed OUR baby!"
"Dominic, if you protect her one more time, I'm taking this baby and go die with Marcus right now!"
Then she turned the knife around.
Pointed it at her own belly.
Chapter 3
"Vanessa! Stop! Put the knife down!"
Dominic's buddies burst into the room and ripped the blade from her hand.
The biggest one backhanded me across the face.
"Poison bitch! Can't get knocked up yourself so you gotta kill someone else's baby!"
"Boys, time to teach her a lesson. We owe Marcus that much!"
"Make her slap herself! Don't stop till she bleeds!"
My ears rang from the hit. I caught Dominic's eyes—saw him waver for half a second.
Then his face went cold again.
"Sophia. Take your punishment. Vanessa's a war hero's family. You crossed the line."
"Get her the brass knuckles. Let's wake her up."
Dominic grabbed my hand roughly and forced the too-small knuckles onto my fingers.
I clutched at his pant leg, voice shaking.
"I swear—it wasn't me! please believe me!"
"Still lying?!"
He kicked my hand away.
Two guys grabbed my arms and slammed me against the wall.
One grabbed my hair, forced my hand up, and made me slap myself.
Vanessa snuggled into Dominic's side, shrieking.
"Harder! Don't stop till you hit a thousand!"
My face swelled and split open. Blood mixed with tears.
I bit my tongue just to stay awake.
The pain on my face was nothing compared to my heart.
After the thousandth slap, they kicked me into the corner like trash.
My body went cold. Half my soul already felt gone.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the villa.
Dominic sat by the bed, gently cleaning the cut on my forehead.
He set the cotton swab down, voice flat.
"Vanessa's baby is fine. She's calmed down."
"Once the kid's born, I won't need to be with her anymore. I'll come home on time."
My heart dropped like a stone.
I pushed his hand away weakly. Smiled—bitter, broken:
"Five years, Dominic. Five fucking whole years."
"One call from her and you'd drop everything. Always said it was because Marcus took a bullet for you."
"But does that debt really cost your entire life? Even giving her your baby?"
His eyes flickered. Looked away.
He put the medicine down, calm but final.
"Sophie, I know you're hurt."
"But when Marcus was dying, he grabbed my hand and said 'Take care of my family and my sister.' He's gone. Someone has to carry on the Sterling line."
"Starting tomorrow, stay home and rest. I already quit your job for you. Vanessa will take over."
Fighting back the burning in my eyes, I finally asked the question that had haunted me for years.
"Dominic. These past five years."
"Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday—you never actually had work, did you?"
"You just didn't want to come home. You never loved me at all. Right?"
Dominic went quiet.
The silence stretched.
Then I heard the word I expected—the one that still shattered me anyway.
"Right."
