Chapter1 My Husband Cheated on Me on My Birthday

On her birthday, Harper Wilson discovered her husband Evan Morgan was cheating on her.

Instagram was flooded with news about him:

#Morgan Corporation CEO Evan secretly meets with ballet rising star Claire Martinez#

The post included two high-definition photos. One showed a woman in a white cashmere coat stepping out of Evan's black Maybach at the entrance of a five-star luxury hotel.

The other showed Evan with his arm around the woman's slender waist, walking into the presidential suite.

Harper's fingertips began to tremble slightly.

The comment section below had already exploded:

["Mr. Morgan and Claire are such a perfect match! Claire is way prettier than Harper!"][I heard Harper was forced on Mr. Morgan by the Morgan family. Mr. Morgan doesn't love her at all, which is why he never acknowledges her as Mrs. Morgan in public.]

[If I were Mr. Morgan, I'd choose Claire too. How could a woman like Harper, with no background and no looks, possibly be good enough for Mr. Morgan?]

These comments were like sharp blades, piercing through Harper's heart.

She remembered last night, when she carefully asked Evan if he could spend her birthday with her, he had simply replied coldly: "I have an important meeting tomorrow. You can eat by yourself."

So the so-called important meeting was actually going to a hotel with Claire.

At ten o'clock at night, Evan came home.

He took off his black coat and handed it to the servant, his movements elegant and composed, completely unaffected by today's trending topic.

"You're back." Harper walked up to him.

Evan glanced at her, his tone flat: "Yeah."

He walked straight toward the study, not saying another word to her.

"Evan." Harper called out to him.

He stopped, turning slightly, impatience showing between his brows: "What?"

"I saw today's trending topic." Harper lowered her eyes, her fingers clenching slightly.

Evan stared at her, his expression unchanged. After a long pause, he let out a light laugh: "So?"

Harper bit her lip, her voice trembling: "As your wife, aren't you going to explain it to me?"

"There's nothing to explain." Evan said, then turned to continue upstairs.

"Evan, I'm not stupid." Harper said, somewhat agitated. "I just want to know, what do these three years of marriage mean to you?"

As she spoke, her eyes began to redden, and her voice choked up.

"Are you questioning me?"

Evan slowly walked toward her, and a faint rose perfume scent hit Harper.

Claire was called "the rose of the stage" by the media, and her favorite perfume was rose-scented.

Smelling this scent, Harper couldn't help but picture the two of them at the hotel. Tears fell despite her efforts to hold them back.

Seeing her like this, Evan showed no emotion. Instead, his tone grew even colder: "Harper, you should know that this marriage was wrong from the start. If it weren't for Grandpa insisting, I would never have married you."

With that, he turned toward the stairs, as if even looking at her one more time was a waste of time.

Harper's heart felt like it had been struck by a blunt object, aching all over.

How could she not know?

Three years ago, Hank Morgan was seriously ill, and his greatest wish was to see his most beloved grandson Evan get married.

And Harper was just someone the Wilson family pushed forward to curry favor with the Morgan family.

Evan was dating Claire at the time. They were talented and beautiful, very much in love.

But Hank didn't like that girl, thinking she was too calculating and unsuitable to be the lady of the Morgan family.

Harper still remembered the first time she met Evan.

He was standing by the white roses blooming at the Morgan family estate, wearing a white shirt. His sharp profile was outlined with a golden edge in the sunlight.

At that moment, she felt her heart racing wildly.

For this marriage, she gave up her studies, distanced herself from friends, and did everything she could to be a good Mrs. Morgan, trying every way to please Evan.

But all of this was futile in Evan's eyes.

Evan never took her to public events, never introduced her to friends, and even within Morgan Corporation, many employees didn't know the CEO was married.

She was like a forgotten canary, imprisoned in the cold cage of the Morgan family.

Harper returned to her room, lost and dejected.

Since getting married, she and Evan had always slept in separate rooms. Evan never touched her, as if he found her disgusting from the bottom of his heart.

That night, she didn't sleep at all. Tears soaked her pillow until dawn, when she finally dozed off in a daze.

But she hadn't slept long when she heard a commotion downstairs.

Evan should have already gone to the company at this hour. Who could it be?

Harper dragged her exhausted body downstairs and saw a woman in designer clothes sitting elegantly on the sofa, holding a cup of coffee freshly brewed by the servant.

Harper recognized the woman immediately as Claire.

Claire's gaze fell on Harper standing at the staircase, and a hint of provocation flashed in her beautiful eyes.

"You must be Miss Wilson?" Claire walked up to her, a smile on her face. "I came specially to apologize. Yesterday's incident must have made Miss Wilson very angry."

Her apology sounded completely insincere, more like showing off.

Harper closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them again, they were filled with emptiness: "No need. This is my home. Please leave."

Claire took out an envelope from her handbag and handed it to her: "Miss Wilson, I know yesterday was your birthday. I specially prepared a birthday gift for you. I hope you'll accept it."

Harper opened the envelope. Inside was a pregnancy test report—Claire's. Six weeks along.

Her breathing stopped abruptly, her fingertips trembling slightly.

"Do you like this gift?" Claire leaned closer, her voice cold as if from hell. "Harper, so what if you married Evan? His heart has always belonged only to me."

Harper felt a chill in her heart, but she smiled coldly: "So what if you're pregnant? I'm the one who married Evan. Your child will always be just a bastard."

"You—" Claire was furious and reached out to slap Harper.

But Harper blocked her hand and pushed it away forcefully, ordering the maid: "Show her out."

She turned around, ignoring Claire's cursing behind her, leaving only her back.

Although she had known this day would come, she had still been greedy, thinking that three years of devotion would create feelings, even if it was just a dog.

Apparently not.

In Evan's heart, she was nothing.

When Evan came home, it was already evening.

He saw Harper sitting alone in the dark living room, looking dazed.

Evan loosened his tie, frowning: "Why aren't the lights on?"

"Claire came today." Harper said quietly. "She said she's pregnant."

Evan's movements stopped. He looked up at her, his eyes even colder: "What? You want to control my affairs now?"

"I wouldn't dare." Harper was used to his cold sarcasm and just felt exhausted. She said softly: "Evan, let's get divorced."