Chapter 1 Catching the Cheater Red-Handed

Thalia Marquette watched as her husband Alden Crestfall cheated on her on their third wedding anniversary.

Two naked bodies were passionately entwined before the floor-to-ceiling windows in Alden's office.

"Alden… mm… go slower, it hurts…" The woman whimpered, biting on her lip.

Alden drove into her from behind, grunting with each rough thrust. "You're so tight around me, Kiki… You feel so good. God, I could die buried inside you like this…"

The woman's breasts jiggled with each thrust. Alden reached around to grab one of them before squeezing it tightly. The soft sensation made his hips hammer harder into her.

Only the sounds of flesh hitting flesh and the lovers' wanton moans filled the quiet space.

Thalia stood frozen outside the door, having nearly passed out after happening upon the two.

Half an hour ago, Alden had called Thalia to tell her that he wouldn't make it back home in time to celebrate their anniversary. He claimed he needed to work overtime to finish some things.

When Thalia heard what sounded like another woman's voice faintly echoing in the background of the call, she felt that something wasn't right and hurried over to the office right away.

Thalia didn't expect to stumble upon such a scene.

As for the woman writhing beneath Alden? She was none other than Kiera Hollindale, widow of Alden's late elder brother.

Alden still had to address Kiera as his elder sister-in-law, too. What was more absurd was that Kiera was currently six months pregnant!

As Thalia looked through the gap in the door, she saw that Alden and Kiera had switched to different positions.

Alden lay on the floor while Kiera straddled him. She eagerly took his hard manhood in hand and guided it into her own wet heat. Kiera then began riding Alden while moaning in pleasure.

Thalia couldn't stop the nausea churning in her stomach the moment she witnessed this. She pressed a hand to her chest and retched.

Ever since Alden's elder brother, Aaron Crestfall, died half a year ago, Alden had been especially doting on Kiera and tended to her every need. Alden would hurry over to Kiera's side if she called him in the middle of the night, and he even accompanied her to each and every ultrasound scan.

Meanwhile, Alden only ever treated Thalia, his lawfully married wife, with polite formality. Even their sexual activities were limited to once per month.

Thalia used to think that the reason Alden cared for Kiera so much was out of pity, given that Kiera had lost her husband at such a young age. Thalia thought that Alden was just naturally cold and distant, never really interested in sex or the like.

But that didn't seem like the case anymore!

When did these two start fooling around?

The sounds of Alden's rough grunts and Kiera's soft moans pulled Thalia back to the present.

Kiera's delicate and seductive voice rang out from the office suddenly. "Why did you keep the selfie we took together when we were in school?"

From this angle, Thalia could clearly see Kiera beaming happily while holding up a picture frame. Meanwhile, Alden was kneeling on the floor with his face buried between Kiera's thighs.

"If I hadn't been so hotheaded back then, we wouldn't have gotten into a fight and broken up. You wouldn't have married my brother to try and get back at me, either, causing us to miss out on so much time together. But I'm not going to let go of you now, no matter what," Alden murmured.

Selfie? Break-up?

Thalia's face turned bone white as she suddenly recalled something. She frantically turned and left, not having the patience to continue watching the lovebirds fool around.

By the time Thalia returned to the Crestfall residence, everyone had gone to sleep. Even the staff had retired to their rooms.

Thalia marched upstairs and went straight to Alden's study. She then went over to a locked safe in the corner.

Thalia had seen Alden take out a photo album from the safe and browse through it countless times over the years. She used to think it was some kind of family photo album, so she never thought much about it.

But Alden and Kiera's conversation from earlier made Thalia realize that things weren't that simple.

Thalia typed in all the passcodes she could think of, but all of them failed. She then tried using Kiera's birthdate.

With a click, the safe was unlocked.

A bitter smile appeared on Thalia's lips.

The safe was filled with Kiera's photos, just as Thalia had expected.

Thalia thought about all her years of marriage with Alden, finding it to be nothing but an absurd joke.

Simon Marquette, Thalia's grandfather, used to be comrades-in-arms with Alden's grandfather, Ignatius Crestfall. They were very good friends, and consequently, their families had deep ties with one another.

The Marquette family business, Marquette Group, became hugely successful years back. They had branches throughout the entire country. Meanwhile, Crestfall Group had just started out and was facing immense hardships in the field.

It was Marquette Group that offered the latter a helping hand, lending the Crestfall Group 100 million dollars in order to help them get back on track.

The Crestfall family then offered the Marquette family an alliance marriage in thanks.

But no one expected the two families' status to take on a 180-degree shift in a mere few years.

Crestfall Group became more and more successful, while Marquette Group slowly declined due to some issues that occurred.

Thalia still remembered how cold and distant Alden was to her at the start. If Henrietta Blackwell, Alden's grandmother, hadn't pressured him to marry Thalia, he never would've done so.

Even so, this didn't stop Marquette Group from going bankrupt.

When Thalia's father, Stanford Marquette, refused to give up and tried to revive the company, he was met with countless financial setbacks. It was Henrietta who pressured Alden to lend them a helping hand, too.

In truth, Thalia had always known that the reason Alden treated her so coldly was that he didn't love her.

Thalia just never expected Kiera—Thalia's elder sister-in-law for the past three years—to be the woman Alden actually loved. This was simply absurd!

Alden came back home at 11:00 pm that night.

Thalia had just finished her shower and hadn't gone to bed yet when Alden entered their bedroom. As if he were completing a task on some checklist, Alden quietly pulled Thalia into his arms and kissed her.

Before tonight, Thalia would've been overjoyed by his taking initiative. But after what happened earlier tonight, Thalia just felt absolutely disgusted by Alden's gestures.

She pressed a hand against his chest, shoving him away. "No…"

Before Thalia could finish speaking, Alden wrapped an arm around her waist and silenced her with his lips. He then led her to their bed.

"It's the 15th today. Are you sure you don't want this?" Alden asked as he gently pushed Thalia down into the bed. His voice was especially magnetic tonight.

Thalia gripped the bed sheets tightly and turned away to avoid his kisses. "I'm sure. I feel a little unwell tonight, so let's just forget about it."

Alden assumed Thalia was just upset because he hadn't come home in time to celebrate their wedding anniversary together. So, he didn't take her words to heart and pinned her hands to her sides instead.

"What are you acting so chaste for? Weren't you the one who whined to Henrietta about me not having sex with you?" Alden said.

Alden had refused to consummate his marriage with Thalia after they married. He'd even left her alone in their bedroom on their wedding night while he went God-knows-where for the entire night.

Henrietta had then persistently urged Thalia to give her a great-grandchild. Unable to bear the pressure, Thalia had no choice but to come clean.

When Henrietta heard about what was going on, she threw a fit. She then called Alden over and used his successor rights as leverage against him. This was how Alden and Thalia ended up agreeing to have sex once a month.

In the beginning, Alden would penetrate Thalia right away. But when Alden got into the mood later on, he added some foreplay before they got to business. Thalia had been overjoyed then and thought he'd finally started warming up to her.

But who knew Thalia had just been deluding herself all this time?

In the blink of an eye, Alden had torn Thalia's clothes off and pushed her legs apart with his knees. He then prepared to push himself into her.

Chapter 2 Help Me Draft a Divorce Agreement

Thalia struggled against Alden. "Don't do this. I really don't want to tonight."

Alden scoffed before shoving her into the bed and bending her into a humiliating pose.

Thalia panicked. She was about to shove him off when his phone started ringing, stopping him in his tracks.

Alden glanced at the phone screen before getting up. He then grabbed his phone and walked out of the master bedroom.

Thalia didn't need to look at the screen to know who the caller was—Kiera.

Kiera would give Alden a call on this very day every single month. Alden would always answer it in his study and end up spending over 30 minutes on the call.

The reason Thalia had never suspected that they were sleeping together was that Alden would always leave in a hurry after hanging up on Kiera's call.

But tonight was the exception to the rule.

Thalia was surprisingly curious as to what Alden and Kiera might be conversing about on their 30-minute phone call. What had they spoken about that would make Kiera so "gracious" as to let Alden have sex with Thalia tonight?

Once Alden went into his study, Thalia silently went over as well.

Not expecting Thalia to eavesdrop, Alden hadn't shut the door entirely. He'd left a small gap that just so happened to let Thalia listen in on what was going on.

The lights were off in the study, so all Thalia could make out was Alden's figure merging with the darkness around him. She couldn't see his face clearly, though.

Alden was currently on a video call with Kiera. Her face was clear as day on the bright phone screen.

"Did you have sex with Thalia again?" Kiera whined accusingly through the call.

"No. She wasn't feeling well."

"What about next time, then? Hasn't Henrietta been pestering you to give her a great-grandchild? You're still going to sleep with Thalia next time!" Kiera cried. Her pitiful sobs rang out through the call. "I get so jealous whenever I think about you in bed with Thalia and being intimate with her!"

"Kiki, you're the only woman who will ever bear my child. I'll make sure Thalia never does," Alden patiently consoled Kiera.

"I've already swapped Thalia's daily vitamins with oral contraceptives." Alden's voice was so calm it was almost cruel. "I've only been putting up an act in front of Henrietta and Thalia all this time.

"You're the only woman I'll ever want, babe, so please don't be sad anymore. I'll go to you once Thalia falls asleep, okay?"

Thalia felt like all the blood in her veins had frozen over. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard.

Vitamins… Oral contraceptives?

So, the "vitamins" Alden always gave Thalia after they had sex—those gestures that Thalia had assumed were done out of care and affection—had been nothing more than an intricately thought-out scheme!

Thalia sneered. No wonder Alden always said to "go with the flow" whenever children were brought up. He never planned to have any with Thalia at all!

Alden hadn't even once considered the pain and accusations Thalia had to face from his family all these years, just because she couldn't get pregnant!

Thalia didn't want to listen to Alden and Kiera's conversation after that. She turned around and returned to the bedroom, then made a phone call.

"Draft a divorce agreement for me, will you? I'm going to divorce Alden," Thalia instructed.

Alden never returned to their bedroom for the rest of the night.

It was a sleepless night for Thalia. She received a well-drafted divorce agreement from her best friend the very next morning.

After printing the agreement out, Thalia was about to go to the office to get Alden to sign it. But the moment she turned around, she saw him coming into the house.

There was a large bouquet of what seemed like 99 roses in his hand. Based on how some of the petals were slightly wilted, it was clear they'd been left out in the open for some time.

Thalia sneered. If she hadn't happened to see Kiera's latest social media post earlier this morning—where Kiera showed off a million-dollar diamond necklace and a bouquet of roses someone "special" had bought for her—Thalia would've thought that Alden had had a change of heart.

Thalia passed the divorce agreement to Alden. "Alden, let's div—"

Alden shoved the bouquet of roses into her hand before she could finish speaking. "This is for you, as an apology for not doing the deed last night."

Thalia was a little taken aback. Before she could react, Alden had already taken the document from her hands.

"Is Marquette Group facing financial difficulties again?" Alden asked with a snort.

His phone happened to ring all of a sudden.

Alden then flipped to the last page of the agreement without reading through the contents and signed his name at the bottom. He handed the document back to Thalia while answering the call.

"Hey, Kiki…"

Chapter 3 Talking Back

"Alden!" Thalia couldn't help but call out to him. She hadn't expected things to go so smoothly.

Alden looked back, pulling his phone away from his ear. "What is it?"

Thalia was about to say something when she recalled how Alden and Kiera still needed this marriage as a shield for their illicit relationship. He was bound to refuse any notion of divorce right now. Plus, the divorce agreement might even be nullified.

After weighing all the odds, Thalia decided to wait for another opportunity to arise.

"It's nothing. You go on ahead," she said.

Alden didn't waste a single second and marched out of the bedroom right away.

Thalia's expression went cold and hard. She then tossed the roses in the trash bin.

She packed the divorce agreement into her bag and went downstairs, only to hear Alden's mother, Josephine Marwood's, voice.

"Oh, dear. What do we do? The baby won't be able to get its proper nutrients if you're not able to keep your food down."

Thalia didn't want to bother with Josephine, so she marched right out the front door without pause.

"Stop right there," Josephine called out, stopping Thalia in her tracks. "Thalia, Kiera here hasn't had a good appetite lately. But she wants to eat bone broth cooked by you, so go and make some right now."

Josephine had always wanted grandchildren. On the day Thalia married Alden, Josephine had made it clear to Thalia that whichever daughter-in-law of hers gave her a grandchild first would become the family's matriarch.

Now that Kiera was pregnant and her husband, Aaron, had died in an accident, the baby in Kiera's belly became the only offspring Josephine's eldest son would ever sire. Josephine naturally devoted all her time and attention to this baby.

Josephine had carefully tended to Kiera for the past six months, fearful that she might get injured in any way. Josephine was even the one who'd permitted Alden to accompany Kiera to her ultrasound scans.

Meanwhile, Thalia hadn't gotten pregnant even once throughout her three years of marriage to Alden. Additionally, the Marquette family's strength had been waning, too. As a result, Josephine had gotten increasingly dissatisfied with Thalia and was getting harsher with her words.

Ever since her pregnancy, Kiera had started to get more nauseous. She didn't have much of an appetite for anything and only enjoyed the bone broth Thalia made.

Josephine would then have Thalia make this dish for Kiera every few days.

Thalia had naturally become Kiera's caretaker of sorts due to pitying her after Aaron passed away. But now that Kiera and Alden's affair had been revealed to Thalia, Thalia no longer needed to strain herself further.

"I'm busy today." Thalia refused without hesitation.

Josephine hadn't expected that to happen at all. Ever since Thalia married into the family, she'd do all of Josephine's bidding without question. Thalia would never talk back or retaliate in any way.

But now, it seemed like Thalia had grown bold, daring to outright refuse Josephine's instructions.

Josephine's expression darkened as she raised her voice and cried, "You've neither suffered nor lacked anything in the three years since you married into this family. Yet now, you refuse to even cook a simple meal of bone broth?

"I'm warning you, Thalia Marquette—our family doesn't tolerate anyone who doesn't pull their weight. Alden didn't marry you so you could be his trophy wife."

Bitterness swelled in Thalia's heart.

After the Marquette family's downfall, Thalia joined Marquette Group in order to help Stanford revive it. She'd achieved a good amount of success and increased the family's good repute to some extent.

Thalia wouldn't have quit her job in the company to dedicate all her time to Alden and Crestfall Group if it weren't for Josephine. She had hoped that any daughter-in-law of hers would be a loving, caring wife to their husband and devote their attention to nurturing the family.

All Josephine had ever seen Thalia do for all these years was use their family's resources to help the Marquettes. Meanwhile, Josephine had wholly ignored the fact that Thalia had devoted an abundance of time and effort to Alden, his family, and Crestfall Group.

Even today, Josephine was labelling Thalia a trophy wife!

It was time for Thalia to snap out of it. She was going to assume her rightful place and help Stanford build up Marquette Group once again.

Josephine had marched over to Thalia in the blink of an eye. She stood threateningly over Thalia, as if ready to slap the latter at any given moment.

"What are you doing standing there? Hurry up and make the broth. If anything happens to Kiera, I'll have Alden cut up the funding to your family's company!" Josephine snapped.

"Whatever." Thalia turned to leave, not wishing to tolerate her anymore.

Josephine was stunned. How dare Thalia speak to her this way?

Her face contorted angrily. "Alden must've been spoiling you too much! How dare you talk back to me?"

"What's going on?" All of a sudden, a cold voice rang out from upstairs.

Josephine looked up to see Alden walking down the steps. She immediately complained about Thalia to him. "Look at how rude your wife is! She doesn't even respect me anymore—me, her mother-in-law! If you don't discipline her now, she might just violently lash out at me one day!"

After listening to Josephine's complaints, Alden's gaze turned cold as they focused on Thalia.

What disappointed Thalia wasn't Josephine crying wolf—it was this cold, distant look Alden was giving her response.

Alden had instantly assumed Thalia to be at fault.

Chapter 4 Is This How You Care for Your Wife

Kiera happened to rush out from the bathroom just then. "It's all my fault, Aldy. I shouldn't have wanted to eat some bone broth. Don't blame Thalia…"

Kiera's pale face, suggesting she had just thrown up, and her soft voice made for a frail, vulnerable look. It made Thalia look all the more wretched and hateful.

Only now did Thalia understand what a real actor was! No wonder Alden was utterly entranced by Kiera and that Josephine was tending to Kiera's every need like the latter was some regal queen. Even Thalia had been deceived by Kiera's facade all this time!

Josephine's heart ached. "You're too understanding, Kiera. This is why Thalia is getting more and more unruly."

In the past, Thalia would've been upset for days on end after Josephine said such things. But now, she found herself strangely calm and at ease.

Thalia took a deep breath before smiling politely. "If you really want to eat bone broth, Kiera, you can ask Sheila to make you some. Her bone broth is just as good as mine."

Kiera seemed a little exasperated. "I don't know why, but I just can't stomach food that's cooked by the staff. Maybe the baby only likes bone broth that its aunt cooked."

Kiera then added in a considerate tone, "It's alright. It's not like I have to eat bone broth. I'm sure the baby will be fine with missing one meal."

Thalia nearly applauded at her acting skills. Kiera's words only fanned the burning flames harder.

Josephine's expression was extremely dark at this point. She pointed at Thalia and cried, "You just want to see Kiera suffer, don't you? She's pregnant with our family's only grandchild right now, which makes her invaluable. So, you'd better do as you're told!"

Kiera even cupped her stomach and retched a few times, seemingly following Josephine's tune.

Ignoring Thalia's presence, Alden rushed over and held Kiera up.

He then said to Thalia, "It's just some bone broth, Thalia. It won't take too long to make. Be a good girl, won't you?"

As Thalia gazed at this man, whom she used to love with all her heart, she suddenly felt like all the time and effort she'd spent on him in the past three years wasn't worth it at all.

It was true that the Marquette family had sought out financial aid from the Crestfall family many times throughout the years, but the total sum was no more than 20 to 30 million dollars. It was nothing compared to the 100 million the Marquette family lent the Crestfall family all those years ago.

Additionally, Thalia had gone to work for Crestfall Group ever since she married Alden. The amount of profit she'd generated for the company far exceeded the total amount of money the Crestfall family had given the Marquettes.

Besides that, Thalia had also devoted a lot of care and attention to Alden as well as everyone else in the Marquette family.

Neither the Marquette family nor Thalia owed anything to the Crestfall family from the start!

Thalia had just been too understanding thus far. That was why she'd been accused of not being considerate the moment she resisted!

She looked up and said firmly, "A single bowl of bone broth takes me three hours to prepare. I don't feel well, so I'm not going to make it."

"You—" Josephine gasped, clutching her chest in anger.

Alden felt a strange sense of panic as he observed how Thalia's attitude had shifted greatly since last night.

Had she discovered something?

"I've only been away for a few days, and already, the lot of you are ganging up on my granddaughter-in-law! Is this how you care for your wife, Alden Crestfall?" A stern voice suddenly rang out from outside.

Henrietta showed up in the doorway with her walking cane in hand.

Thalia immediately went over to greet her. "Why have you come back, Grandma?"

Henrietta held Thalia's hand and beamed at her. "Because I missed you, dear."

Her expression then changed when she saw that Thalia wasn't looking too good. "You lost some weight there. Haven't you been eating well?"

"Alden gives Thalia such a hefty allowance each month that she still has money to spare after sending some back to her family. She doesn't need to worry about anything and still has cash in her pocket to burn.

"It's a wonder that she isn't gaining any weight—how on Earth could she have lost any?" Josephine commented sarcastically.

"Stop that insinuating tone of yours!" Henrietta snapped, brows knitted together.

Chapter 5 If Anything Happens to Kiera

"But Henrietta…" Josephine began.

"Setting aside the fact that the Marquette family raised Thalia since birth—if it weren't for the Marquette family's help, Crestfall Group would've never become as successful as it is now." Henrietta continued defending Thalia, reminding the others not to be ungrateful.

"We're the ones who benefited now that Thalia has married into our family. So what if Alden helps his in-laws out? He's Thalia's husband, after all. Heck, Thalia could have all of our family's properties if she wanted," Henrietta concluded.

Henrietta was still the family's current matriarch. No matter how displeased with her Josephine was, she still couldn't directly confront Henrietta.

"Kiera is your daughter-in-law, too, Henrietta. She's even pregnant with your great-grandchild right now. Even if you do split up the inheritance, you still have to give some to the baby…" Josephine said weakly.

Henrietta pretended not to hear her. She turned to Thalia and said, "You and Alden have to work a little harder and try to get pregnant by the end of the month. That way, you can give me a darling great-grandbaby by the year's end.

"Once the baby's grown up, they'll become the family's successor. Any child of yours and Alden's is bound to be exceptionally clever."

A wave of bitterness swelled in Thalia's heart. Alden only had sex with her once a month and even gave her contraceptives right afterward. There was no way Thalia could get pregnant, even if she wanted to.

Now that Thalia was preparing to divorce Alden, she wasn't going to be getting pregnant with his child whatsoever!

Kiera knew that Henrietta wasn't fond of her and would dote on Thalia instead. So, Kiera never dared speak loosely in front of Henrietta. But hearing Henrietta mention bequeathing all of the family's assets to Thalia's child made Kiera panic.

Kiera pinched Alden hard when no one was looking, letting him know her displeasure at the situation.

"Don't worry. It'll all go to you and the baby. No one can take it away from the both of you," Alden quietly reassured Kiera.

This made Kiera feel much better.

Henrietta was quite old now and didn't have long to live anymore. Alden and Josephine would be the decision makers in the family once Henrietta passed.

So, even if Henrietta wanted to give all the assets to Thalia, whether or not Thalia would get any was still left unanswered once Henrietta passed away.

Kiera didn't need to worry anymore. So what if Henrietta doted on Thalia? Kiera had Josephine and Alden backing her up, which meant Kiera still had the upper hand over Thalia!

Josephine spoke up for Kiera as well. "How can you be so biased, Henrietta? Kiera is the eldest daughter-in-law and also the one who got pregnant with a baby boy first. Thalia would never be in line for the family inheritance, no matter what."

Henrietta snorted. "What makes you so sure Kiera's baby is a boy?"

"I just am." Josephine was very confident.

Henrietta gave Kiera a stern look. Kiera was a schemeful young woman with a shady past, and now, she was using her pregnancy to cause trouble—she had no right to be the Crestfall family's matriarch.

But Thalia was different. Henrietta had watched Thalia grow up since young, and so she knew Thalia very well.

"That's enough. I have my own plans in that regard." Henrietta didn't want to speak on the matter any longer. She glanced at Alden, who was holding Kiera's hand, then knocked her walking cane on the floor. "Did you forget who your wife is, Alden? Come here and hold Thalia's hand."

Kiera could clearly tell that Henrietta was trying to create an opportunity for Thalia.

The moment Kiera felt Alden's hand loosen around hers, she quickly clutched her belly with a pained expression on her face. "Ow…"

"What is it?" A look of sheer panic appeared on Alden's face as he grabbed Kiera by the shoulders.

"Aldy, my stomach… It hurts…" Kiera said weakly.

Josephine was incredibly anxious as well. "It must be the lack of breakfast that's affecting the baby! Hurry and bring Kiera to the hospital for a check-up, Alden."

Josephine then shot Thalia an evil glare, as if Thalia were the one responsible for harming Kiera's baby.

Alden hurriedly bent down and lifted Kiera into his arms bridal-style. "Don't be scared. We'll head to the hospital right now. You'll be okay."

Alden then shoved Thalia aside and dashed over to the front door.

Meanwhile, Thalia fell over from the shove and hit her tailbone on the floor. The pain was so great that it made her flinch.

Josephine didn't care about Thalia's condition whatsoever. Before she went after Alden and Kiera, she even gave Thalia a warning. "Enough of your little tricks! If anything happens to Kiera, you'll have to answer for it!"