I Hid His Mistress Just to Win Him Back

"Kara, are you okay?"

Sophia held me tightly in her arms, her voice trembling with sobs.

I shook my head as tears streamed down my face, guilt consuming me.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... Mom, Dad... If it weren’t for me, the family wouldn’t have ended up like this... none of this would’ve happened to you..."

Oscar wrapped both Sophia and me into his arms. His voice, old and hoarse, trembled with emotion.

"It's not your fault. Our Kara has suffered enough."

I wiped away my tears, my voice resolute.

"Mom, Dad... I’m going to divorce William."

"Good," they said. "Nothing matters more than your happiness."

William and I met in college.

It was love at first sight for me.

I chased him relentlessly until I finally won him over.

We got married right after graduation—rushed into it, really.

Only after we registered the marriage did I learn who he truly was.

The eldest son of the Rutherford family.

If he hadn’t told me, I would’ve never guessed.

He dressed plainly—so plain, it bordered on shabby.

What kind of rich heir dresses like that?

Later, he explained,

"I didn’t want someone to fall for my money instead of who I am."

And I, naïvely, felt lucky that I’d fallen for his looks instead.

But I never once stopped to ask—

What about me? What did he love about me?

He didn’t hesitate to spit cruel words when I caught him cheating:

"Kara, why are you being so unreasonable?"

"You’re a thirty-year-old woman. How can you compare to a girl in her early twenties?"

"You’re not as young, not as pretty, not as hot."

"Should I be messing around with you instead of them?"

His words turned my world into ice.

Had he forgotten?

It was him—

With red eyes, begging me to love him more.

Saying,

"Kara, my parents never taught me how to love."

"I don’t know what love is. Please... teach me."

"I want to love you properly."

He even said,

"My sense of right and wrong was shattered by my parents long ago.

You’re the only one who’s ever shown me what love really means."

William was deeply insecure because of his upbringing.

So I said I love you again and again, into his ear, into his heart.

No matter how many times he doubted me, I reassured him.

I forgave him, time and again.

I held him through the dark until he fell asleep in my arms.

I thought we’d grow old together.

But then, he blindsided me—

with a mistress.

Flora Slater. Twenty years old. A junior in college.

The first time I met her was about six months ago.

William had been taken to the police station for a bar fight.

I went to bail him out.

He was furious, seething—until he saw me.

The anger vanished in an instant.

He quietly followed me, handled everything, just like that.

As we were leaving, a girl in a bar uniform ran up to him, full of gratitude.

"Sir, I don’t know what would’ve happened if it weren’t for you. Thank you so much."

"If there’s ever anything I can do to repay you, just say the word."

I paused, confused, and glanced at William.

He looked annoyed.

"Get a new job already," he said flatly.

She hesitated, looking embarrassed.

"I... I can’t. This job pays well..."

William smirked at her.

"Is that so?"

That girl was Flora.

Back then, I wondered why he’d go out of his way to help a stranger.

He brushed it off, saying,

"She reminded me of you at twenty. That’s all."

I didn’t think much of it—until he started bringing her to every party.

Until he began kissing her, holding her, without shame.

And suddenly, I understood the meaning behind that smirk.

He’d fallen for her that day.

I cried. I screamed.

But all he said was,

"Kara, why are you acting like this? Didn’t I love you just as much when you were twenty?"

And in that moment, I finally understood his version of love.

He loved girls in their twenties.

And I was no longer one of them.

I wanted a divorce.

But fate has its own cruel timing.

After years of trying, I’d never been able to get pregnant.

And just when I found out about his affair... I learned I was pregnant.

For the sake of the child—for the twelve years we had—I decided to give him another chance.

If he’d just come back to me, I was willing to forgive him.

So, I arranged for a few people to send Flora away—hid her in Uldoria City.

But the outcome was clear.

William, for Flora, destroyed everything my father Oscar had built in a lifetime.

For her, he humiliated my parents.

Twelve years of love, and he didn’t hesitate to throw it all away.

I lost. Completely. Utterly.