I Paid Her Debt, She Repaid With Betrayal

My wife, Rosalie Maynard, gets reported to the authorities for embezzling her company's funds just to please her childhood friend, Ralph Osborne, by placing a high-stakes winning bid at an auction house. I'm the one who help clear all of her debts and receive the three-year prison sentence on her behalf.

Rosalie promises me that she will cut off all ties with Ralph and stay devoted to me. But throughout my three-year sentence, she never visits me at the prison.

On the day I get released from prison, I bump into Rosalie at the hospital, who has just given birth to a baby.

As she plays with the newborn in the crook of her arm, she tells the others, "Vernon is about to get released from prison. The news of me giving birth must never get out. Otherwise, he'll definitely start a fight with me."

I find it absolutely ironic, honestly. Not even a three-year prison sentence can make a woman, who's never been in love with me in the first place, miraculously fall for me.

This time, I don't bother making a ruckus. Instead, I choose to disappear from Rosalie's world entirely.

Rosalie's best friend, Eva Lyon, said with a face full of worry, "Rosalie, you can't keep something like this under wraps forever. Vernon is bound to find out about the baby sooner or later."

Rosalie gently stroked the baby's cheek, utterly aglow with maternal tenderness. However, the words that came out of her mouth were ice-cold.

"So what if he finds out? Even if he finds out, what can he do? He loves me so much that he even went to prison for me, so surely he can accept a mere baby. The only thing I'm worried about is him losing it and kicking up a fuss the moment he finds out."

A chill swept through my entire body.

She was right. I'd been madly in love with her. I'd been so in love with her that when she was reported because of another man, I willingly served a three-year prison sentence in her place. I wanted to spare her from suffering.

Looking back now, it was nothing short of laughable.

The worry on Eva's face instantly dissipated. "True, he was your devoted lapdog for so many years."

Yet a moment later, something seemed to cross her mind, and concern washed over her features once more.

"Then, what about you and Ralph? You promised to marry him!"

Just then, Ralph came out of the bathroom and fixed Rosalie with a look of hurt.

"Rosalie, are you abandoning me?"

Rosalie's heart instantly ached for him. She gently stroked Ralph's head and said softly, "I would never do that. You're the one I love the most. Once Vernon gets out of prison, I'll divorce him."

It was only then that Ralph calmed down. He lightly kissed Rosalie on the lips, drawing a chorus of sighs from the others present.

"Who could resist that? He's like a heartbroken puppy."

"Rosalie, I finally understand why you're willing to do anything for him."

I stood frozen, completely at a loss to know what to do.

Rosalie had once said the exact same thing to me—that I was the one she loved the most in this life.

When I was at my lowest and had nothing, she never left my side. From that moment on, I swore I'd give her a good life and protect her with my life.

I did make good on that promise. However, somewhere along the way, her feelings changed.

I didn't understand how she could just stop loving me.

What was I supposed to do? Should I storm in and make a scene? Or should I simply turn away and act as if nothing had happened?

Holding on to the last sliver of hope, I gave her a call.

Inside the hospital room, Rosalie glanced at her phone, then shut it off with undisguised disgust in her eyes.

Eva, who was standing beside her, saw the caller ID and said with a smile, "Why aren't you answering?"

Rosalie looked at Ralph adoringly. "You saw how jealous he got just moments ago. Vernon must be out of prison. He probably wants me to pick him up. How can I go get him like this? I'll tell him I'm on a business trip abroad, and that'll be enough to brush him off."