Chapter 1

By the time Teresa Sutton returned to Willowbrook Garden, it was already 10:00 pm. Today was the 15th—her ovulation day. Their first child was a girl, and her in-laws had been urging them to have another. If it were anyone else, she definitely would've asked if the Langdon family had such great wealth to be inherited. But the Langdon family was the richest family in Riverford. There truly was a fortune of hundreds of billions waiting to be inherited by their heir. When she arrived in the bedroom, Cameron Langdon had already showered and gotten ready. Without a single caring exchange, the two got straight to the point. Three minutes later, Cameron went to the bathroom to wash up. Soon, Cameron came out of the bathroom. He put on his clothes with his back to Teresa and said, "Monitor it regularly. Call me again only if you see two lines!" After five years of marriage, he had always been this sparing with words toward her. Their marriage was one that existed in name only. Cameron had a woman on the side. Teresa had combed through all of his social media accounts to find a trace and finally managed to locate the woman's account. Since then, she had secretly kept tabs on it. The woman frequently posted updates, from daily meals to holidays and birthdays. Before the plan for a second child, Teresa hardly ever saw Cameron. But now, they met once a month. Teresa knew Cameron was in a hurry to leave, so she quickly stood up and said to him, "Let's talk." Cameron turned to look at her, his face expressionless as he asked, "About what?" Teresa lowered her voice and spoke in an almost pleading tone. "I want to live a proper life together." Although Teresa knew this marriage might no longer be worth continuing, she still wanted to try. What if it worked out? She had worked hard to marry the man she wanted to marry and had given birth to their daughter. She didn't want her marriage to fail. But her words seemed to fall on deaf ears. She didn't know if Cameron genuinely hadn't heard or was just pretending not to. He finished dressing up, put on his wristwatch, and headed for the door. A second before Cameron was about to leave, Teresa suddenly broke down and questioned, "Cameron, you only come to Willowbrook Garden once a month. You never take the initiative to call me, and we haven't even had a meal together. Our hearts are divided. What kind of marriage is this?" Cameron paused in his tracks. After a long moment, he turned to look at Teresa. He ignored her tears and resentment, simply replying, "Once you're pregnant with a second child, I'll come back to live at Willowbrook Garden." With that, he left without hesitation. Teresa stood where she was and didn't chase after him. She had liked him for eight years and was married for five. She had given everything during this time. When she gave birth to their daughter, she had suffered an amniotic fluid embolism. The doctor had issued critical condition notices three times because of it. Yet even then, she was still willing to risk walking through the gates of death again for the chance of having a second child. But at this moment, she suddenly felt lost. Was this actually worth it or not? After taking a shower and coming out of the bathroom, Teresa habitually picked up her phone. She logged onto her TikTok account and went to the "Frequently Watched" section. There was only one account with a gentle-looking avatar and the username "Lil Cece". Teresa tapped into the homepage and saw a video posted two minutes ago. The video only showed a photo of two people's shadows under a streetlight, but in the bottom-right corner, their hands were inadvertently shown interlocked. They were also wearing matching couple bracelets. The caption read, "Under the streetlight, there are two shadows. One is mine, and the other is also mine." When she saw this, she felt her heart tighten. Still, her reaction now was calm compared to the earth-shattering collapse she felt at the beginning. Perhaps she had gotten used to it. Every time they met, Cameron was always rushing so that he could quickly go see another woman. But then Teresa calmed down. As long as Cameron was still willing to have a second child, who would inherit the family business, then her title as Mrs. Langdon could never be shaken. It was just that, in this marriage, Teresa made her bed and now had to lie in it. … A month later, Teresa was holding a freshly printed prenatal report as she hurried back to Willowbrook Garden. Just as she was about to step into the living room, Teresa suddenly heard her mother-in-law, Julia Lindt, say, "Cameron, you're 32 now. If Teresa can't give birth to another child, you should just have the woman outside bear one for you." Cameron rebutted the suggestion almost immediately. "How is that the same?" Julia was somewhat annoyed, asking, "How is it not the same?" Teresa retreated to the side. Her heart skipped a tiny beat because Cameron had spoken up for her. Indeed, no matter how Cameron messed around outside, she was his only wife. Cameron spoke up again. "Mom, have you forgotten Teresa's amniotic fluid embolism when she gave birth to Rosalie?" Julia became even angrier when she heard this. "How dare you bring that up? Other women have four or five children without any issues, but it was just Teresa who had to make such a fuss out of it. How unlucky we are!" Cameron didn't hear a single word of Julia's complaints about Teresa. He simply explained, "Childbirth carries great risks. Cece is still very young. I can't bring myself let her bear such risks." When Teresa heard the words from outside, she felt as if she had been struck by lightning. She froze in place. She wanted to cry, but no tears came out. Since he didn't dare to let Cecilia take the risk, did that mean she could? Teresa knew Cameron didn't love her and that he had betrayed her. She knew they couldn't carry on, but she still naively thought she could get his affections with a child. She thought that no matter how wild Cameron was outside, at least his wife would always be her. But the truth turned out to be even crueler than she had imagined. To Cameron, she was nothing but a breeding tool. However, he forgot that after Teresa gave birth to Rosalie, she suffered from depression and developed a fear of blood. The doctors had rescued her from the brink of death. Cameron was afraid of something happening to Cecilia, but he forgot that Teresa's body was in even greater danger. Whatever else her husband and mother-in-law were saying inside the room, Teresa could no longer hear clearly. She had risked her life to continue the Langdon family's bloodline, yet she slept alone every night and was even rewarded with Cameron's infidelity. She clenched the prenatal report, thinking it was about time for all of this to end. Today was supposed to be their monthly attempt for a second child, but now Teresa felt it was meaningless. It turned out that feelings could truly disappear in an instant. The child in her womb probably didn't need to stay either. If others didn't care about her life or death, she should at least care for herself. Just as Teresa was about to turn and leave, the maid, Brenda Miller, spotted her. "Mrs. Langdon, you're back?" Teresa smiled at Brenda, thinking perhaps today was the day to bring up the divorce.