ManyWriters

At our engagement dinner, my fiancé Liam publicly announced his secret marriage to socialite Chloe.
Dressed in my wedding gown, I became the laughingstock of the evening.
In that moment, my childhood friend Ethan, a renowned surgeon, slipped a ring onto my finger: "Maya, you're mine now."
I nodded in agreement.
Seven months pregnant, I suffered a terrible car accident.
Ethan arrived like a guardian angel, pulling me from the wreckage moments before it exploded, performing emergency care on the spot.
When I opened my eyes again, he was by my hospital bed, his eyes bloodshot, his voice hoarse: "Maya, I'm so sorry, we lost the baby and your uterus..."
I was devastated beyond words.
Ethan held me tight: "Don't be afraid, I'll always be by your side."
But six years later, I accidentally stumbled upon a surveillance video:
"Chloe's infertile by nature. Am I supposed to watch her lose Liam's love? Maya's child is the perfect 'asset'. That accident must look flawless, ensuring the 'asset's' safety."
"As for Maya, her survival is already my act of mercy. Making her infertile ensures she'll be mine forever."
What I thought was my salvation turned out to be a carefully crafted cage.

Caged By Love

As I turned away, I knew that love could be disguised, and so could hatred.


I secretly added a double dose of sleeping pills to his glass.Ethan drained his drink and quickly fell into a deep sleep in my arms, his breathing steady and strong.


I used his fingerprint to unlock his encrypted personal computer. He always said it contained confidential hospital information and patient privacy.


A hidden folder suddenly caught my eye.


Opening the message, it's a video sent by Chloe. A sweet little girl's voice says, "Daddy Ethan, Mommy Chloe says she absolutely loves the diamond castle you sent!"


Trembling, I continue to scroll through.


The more I see, the colder my heart grows, and the more intense my hatred becomes.


Since that "accident," I cut off all contact with the outside world, living in the ivory tower Ethan built for me.


I only knew that Chloe had "miraculously" gotten pregnant, that Liam was pressured by his family, and eventually divorced her. Chloe then took the child and latched onto some mysterious big shot.


While I suffered day and night from phantom limb pain, believing my daughter was gone, and invested all my emotions in Ethan...


He, under the guise of medical conferences, flew multiple times to a private island in Europe to visit Chloe and Lily.


Ethan is a surgical genius. I always said his hands were the hands of God, and I didn't want him to be bothered with mundane affairs.


But in the photos, he's wearing casual clothes, clumsily yet earnestly braiding Lily's hair, not minding the red marks the hair ties leave on his fingers.


He cooks for Chloe, plays with her and Lily on a private beach.


Chloe's head rests intimately on his shoulder; they look like the perfect family.


These records span five years, with Ethan's replies always swift and gentle.No wonder he always treated his personal computer as more precious than his own life.


It wasn't just to prevent me from discovering anything, but more importantly, to ensure he didn't miss any messages from Chloe.


I had imagined countless times what Lily would look like when she grew up.


Little did I know, she had been in someone else's arms all along, calling someone else "Mom" and my sworn enemy "Dad."


Until I saw Ethan's encrypted message: "Chloe, Maya has been 'taken care of'. Lily will be with you tonight. You can be a mother now."


I've forever lost the chance to be a mother.


I wiped away my silent tears and dialed an encrypted number: "Prepare a 'gift' for Ethan. Also, activate the 'Dark Web Plan'. I want Ethan Thorne and Chloe Bancroft to be completely ruined."


Ethan, since you love playing the devoted husband so much, I'll let you perform for the whole world to see.


The next morning, Ethan woke up and lazily kissed my neck, his voice husky: "Maya, I slept too deeply last night. Sorry, I've been so tired lately."


"I'm going to the hospital for an important experiment. I'll make it up to you when I get back tonight," he suggestively licked my earlobe.


In the past, this would have made me blush and my heart race, coyly resisting yet yielding.


But now, knowing the truth from last night, I only felt nauseated to my core.Ethan left, and I went to that secretive tech company.


Chapter 2