Chapter 1

After Six Years of Marriage, My Husband Still Cheated

For the sake of our five-year-old daughter, to mend our crumbling family, I sent Olivia, my husband's beloved mistress, back to her hometown. I gave money to Olivia's husband and advised him, "Your son is still young. He can't be without a mother."

Two days later, on our sixth anniversary, I painstakingly prepared a video of our memories. I hoped it would remind him of our happiness together and stop him from destroying everything with his own hands.

Jack arrived as promised. I thought this was the beginning of his change of heart. But to my horror, he brought bodyguards who forced my grandmother to kneel and apologize to Olivia's photo. He announced on the spot that my grandmother's company was bankrupt.

He roughly snatched our crying daughter from my arms and tossed her to the bodyguards.

"Emily, I gave you a good life, and you forgot your place?" he sneered. "You dare to touch my woman? I think you've had it too easy."

Jack's eyes were bloodshot with disgust as he said this.

I stared at him for a long time. Four years of dating, six years of marriage. We had spent the most beautiful decade together, from high school to work, from school uniforms to wedding dresses. We were one of the few campus couples who made it, but now, things had come to this.

I looked at our daughter, her little face turning purple as the bodyguard covered her mouth to stifle her cries. But Jack seemed blind to this, his eyes full of dark storms as he questioned me:

"Tell me, where did you send her?"

My heart was filled with sorrow. I wanted to rush over and take back our daughter, to pull my grandmother away from here. But I didn't dare, I couldn't. My impulsive act of sending Olivia away had already caused my grandmother to lose her peace.

"Let go of our daughter and let my grandmother stand up. Then I'll tell you," I said.

Jack raised an eyebrow. He slapped me hard, knocking me to the ground. He elegantly crouched down, grabbed my hair, and yanked it back, forcing me to look up at him.

"Emily, haven't you realized your situation yet?" He contemptuously patted my face with the back of his hand. It didn't hurt, but it was extremely humiliating.

"You think I can't find out if you don't tell me? I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself. Don't be ungrateful."

He stepped on my knee-length hair, which I had kept long for him, twisting it hard. It felt like my scalp was about to be torn off. I trembled in pain, a great fear dragging me into an abyss.

I couldn't accept this. I tried to break free from his trampling, shouting with all my might:

"How dare you make my grandmother kneel to that homewrecker!"

"That's the grandmother who raised me! How dare you!"

Jack said nothing, just raised his other foot and stepped on my neck, with enough force to seem like he wanted to break it.

My face turned purple, my neck hurt so much I couldn't make a sound, but I still stubbornly stared at Jack. I watched the waves rolling in his eyes, about to lose all reason.

My grandmother and daughter struggled and cried out to save me, but were pinned down by the bodyguards.

Grandma Rose kowtowed to Jack until her head was bleeding, begging him to spare my life.

"Daddy! Daddy! Lily will be good, Daddy, don't hit Mommy!" our daughter cried.

Jack didn't respond or move, just enjoying watching us cry and struggle in his hands.

I finally believed that he would make our family suffer a fate worse than death for the sake of his mistress.

Just as I was about to suffocate and faint, Jack kicked me away.

I clutched my neck, gasping for air, and vomited bile.

The feeling of near-death lingered. I couldn't help but think of our ten years together - the beautiful, youthful, brilliant, happy times. His gentle caresses, his fascinated gazes, all flashed through my mind.

My emotions reached a breaking point, and I couldn't help but burst into tears.

I regretted not seeing through him, regretted that my impulsiveness had cost my grandmother her life's work in an instant.

Even more, I felt sorry for myself.

Jack looked down at me coldly, as if watching a madwoman he didn't know. The impatience in his eyes grew.

He turned and grabbed our daughter's neck, lifting her off the ground, his eyes full of reckless madness.

"Don't test my patience. Where is my Olivia?!"

Jack left, taking our daughter with him.

He finally got the answer he wanted and rushed out the door.

I saw the relaxed and joyful expression on his face.

The man I had loved for ten years had now completely transferred his affections to the point of madness.

I crawled over to my grandmother, and we hugged each other, silently weeping.

"I'm sorry, I should have listened to you. I'm so sorry..." I kept apologizing to her.

Grandma Rose stroked my swollen face, her eyes full of pain:

"Don't cry, Emily. You've been through so much."

"I still have some savings. Once we find Lily, we'll go abroad to live."

My grandmother's aged voice was full of reluctance.

After sending Grandma Rose home in a car, I sat numbly in the messy living room.

The carefully prepared cake was scattered on the floor like garbage. On the screen, the video I had edited with such hope was still playing.

We were two top students who fell in love in our senior year of high school, married in our senior year of college, and I gave birth to our lovely daughter right after graduation.

Jack's family was powerful and wealthy. My family's modest wealth couldn't compare. My grandmother had never imagined I could marry the heir to the Qin family.

She had once stayed up all night worrying, afraid I would be mistreated in Jack's family.

Back then, I had laughed confidently: "Don't worry, Grandma! Jack loves me more than life itself. How could he let anyone bully me!"