Betrayed While Pregnant ,The Billionaire Wife's Revenge

My husband, Zachery Barnes, was famously easy to push around.

Whenever anyone asked him for a favor, he never said no, even if it meant putting himself out. In five years of marriage, I'd been the one to turn down every unreasonable request on his behalf.

Over time, people started calling me difficult.

But as long as Zachery was happy, I swallowed it all.

Until I was three months pregnant, and someone drove a car straight into me on purpose.

"This is your fault for refusing to let Professor Barnes tutor me! I lost the competition because of you. Just die!"

When I woke up, Zachery was trying to make me sign a pardon letter.

"Her parents keep begging me. They say Gertie's still just a young girl and can't have a criminal record. I just couldn't say no."

I looked at him, at that spineless expression on his face, and something inside me snapped.

"If that's how it is, then how about a divorce where you walk away with nothing? Can you agree to that too?"

——

Zachery stared at me blankly.

As if he couldn't believe what he'd just heard.

"Ellie Fox, what did you say? You want a divorce?"

His eyes reddened almost instantly. He grabbed my hand. "I know you've been wronged. I know you're angry."

"But Gertie really did lose the competition because of you. It's understandable that she snapped."

"She just turned eighteen. Do you really want to destroy her entire future before you're satisfied?"

I laughed out of sheer disbelief.

Back then, he was the one who'd complained to me. He said Gertrude Shepherd was always monopolizing his time after class, pressuring him into extra tutoring sessions.

He was sick of it.

So when Gertie called to arrange yet another weekend tutoring session with Zachery, I stepped in and declined for him.

Politely. "Miss Shepherd, professors need their rest too. He can't keep sacrificing his personal time for students."

I still remembered how Zachery had hugged me tight afterward, thanking me over and over.

"Ellie, you're the only person who truly cares about me. Marrying you was the best thing that ever happened to me."

But now he'd pinned everything on me.

As if getting run down by Gertrude's car was something I'd brought on myself.

I pulled my hand free. My voice dropped colder. "Zachery, do you honestly think this is my fault?"

"You didn't want to be the bad guy, so you let me do it for you. Now that something's happened, you're standing here playing dumb."

"If I'd known, I never should have gotten involved in the first place."

The moment the words left my mouth, my emotions surged too high.

A sharp cramp seized my stomach.

I doubled over, clutching my belly, and sank back against the hospital bed.

Zachery panicked immediately. "Ellie, don't get worked up. The doctor said the baby's condition is very unstable right now."

"Just rest and focus on the pregnancy. We can talk about the pardon letter later."

The worry in his eyes was genuine.

But I felt nothing anymore.

"I want to be alone," I said, barely above a whisper. "Please leave."

It wasn't until the room was empty, until it was just me and the silence, that the tears finally came.

In five years of marriage, Zachery had been perfect in every other way.

He was romantic. He remembered every anniversary. He'd secretly plan surprises for me.

No matter how busy he was, he always made time to help me care for my paralyzed younger brother, without a single complaint.

"He's your only family. Of course I'm going to treat him well."

That was the reason I'd held on this long.

But now I'd been run over, hospitalized, and my baby was barely hanging on.

And Zachery had chosen to stand with the person who did this to me.

The betrayal cut deep.

I turned it over in my mind again and again. In the end, I swallowed my hurt and decided to give him one more chance.

As long as Zachery stopped defending Gertrude. As long as he never brought up that pardon letter again.

I would forgive him one last time.

But the moment I picked up my phone, his message was already waiting.

"Ellie, I signed the pardon letter for you."

"But Gertie's parents promised they'll bring her to apologize to you in person."