You Wanted the Divorce,So Why Are You Begging Me to Stay？

On the day of our wedding anniversary, I found out I was pregnant.

I slipped through the rain to the private lounge where Daryl was spending the evening, wanting to surprise him.

Outside the door, through the gap left ajar, I heard him talking with his friends about a surprise he had planned for our wedding.

"Josephine still has no idea she's been sleeping with both of us. Every winter, I send my twin brother to take my place with her."

Through the crack in the door, amid the roar of laughter, I caught sight of a man who looked almost identical to Daryl.

"Imagine the look on her face at the wedding when she sees that video of my brother on top of her."

I clutched the pregnancy test results in my hand, ready to storm in and demand to know why he'd done this to me.

But then I heard Daryl's voice again:

"Sarah's career has taken off. Josephine's served her purpose."

"Sure, she lost her family and her career because of me, but I gave her a few good years of the high life. I'd say we're even."

The casual indifference in his tone sent ice through my veins.

A man who had done everything in his power to hurt me for the sake of another woman. I was done with him.

And everything he had stolen from me, I would take back. Every last piece.

——

Inside the private lounge, the men kept egging each other on.

"Come on, Daryl, you've lost three rounds of dice in a row. You owe us something juicy."

"What's this big surprise you've got planned for Josephine at next week's makeup wedding?"

I stood outside the door, heart brimming with sweetness.

Three years since we'd signed the marriage certificate, and Daryl had been so consumed by work that the wedding kept getting pushed back.

Now I was going to bring our baby along and finally make it complete.

"Ha! Bro, Josephine is such a fool. She has absolutely no clue you've got an identical twin brother!"

"What do you guys think? If she finds out at the wedding that the man keeping her warm every winter was actually me, and then she sees our little bedroom video, will she lose it right there on the spot?"

The laughter inside swelled even louder. My legs buckled, and I nearly collapsed.

I stepped forward, pressed myself against the door frame, and peered through the gap. Beside Daryl sat a man with the exact same face.

Daryl leaned back on the sofa and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Vincent Sanchez, I owe you for these past two years. Your visits made it possible for me to be with Sarah."

The man exhaled a stream of smoke, the haze blurring his features.

"I don't get it, bro. Sarah was your college crush, so why'd you marry Josephine?"

"Even in bed she's boring as hell. I'm so sick of her."

The men who usually greeted me with fawning smiles and called me "Mrs. Sanchez" were now leering and cracking vulgar jokes.

I stood frozen, struck as if by lightning, unable to move, but the fury inside me burned hotter with every second.

I drew a deep breath, gripped the door handle, and steeled myself to charge in and confront Daryl.

Then the words from inside stopped me dead.

"I was only ever with her for Sarah's sake."

At the sound of that name, my fingers tightened around the pregnancy report until the paper crumpled.

There was a tenderness in Daryl's voice I had never once heard before.

"Sarah went abroad right after college to chase her dream of becoming a jewelry designer. By the time I wanted to go find her, she'd gotten married."

"Later, when the International Jewelry Design Competition came around, Sarah was so anxious about Josephine entering the same contest that she couldn't sleep. It broke my heart. I knew I had to help her."

Gasps of admiration erupted around the room, everyone praising his devotion.

I stood outside the door, and the memory of that accident years ago crashed over me. Cold sweat soaked through the back of my dress.

The man on the sofa wore an expression of pride and tender indulgence.

"None of you would ever guess. I personally planned Josephine's car accident so she'd miss the competition. Sarah sailed to victory using the designs I gave her."

"Josephine's so stupid. She even saw the winning piece afterward and said it looked familiar, but she never figured out I'd stolen her work."

"The only regret is that I accidentally killed her parents too. After that, I couldn't leverage their connections in the jewelry world anymore."

The last shred of hope inside me shattered.

I felt the blood in my body turn to ice. I couldn't breathe.

After the accident, my hands were so badly injured that I gave up my dream of being a jewelry designer entirely. The trauma left me with severe psychological damage.

And all of it, every single piece of it, had been orchestrated by the man I loved most.

Fat tears fell from my eyes. I couldn't accept that any of this was real.

The voices inside the lounge continued:

"So, Daryl, how come you didn't go abroad this winter?"

At the mention of it, warmth spread across Daryl's face.

"Sarah's divorced now. She's coming back to the country soon. From here on out, I can be with her whenever I want."

"And what about Josephine? If you're tired of her, Daryl, how about you let us have a go?"

Another round of laughter.

"Enough." Daryl cut them off. "After the wedding, I'll give her a generous settlement. That should square things."

"Bro, don't tell me you've actually gone soft on her?"

I stared at that man through the gap, unblinking.

"What about you?" Daryl turned to Vincent. "You've been sleeping with her every winter for three years. Don't tell me you caught feelings."

Vincent shook his head without a moment's hesitation.

"What are you talking about? I'm so over it. She keeps asking me when we're having the wedding. Drives me insane."

"Good thing I'm leaving the country tomorrow. Never have to see her again."

Daryl let out a derisive laugh, his face settling into a coldness I had never seen before.

"Good. The money I'm giving her is just to keep her from clinging to me and Sarah. I don't want her ruining Sarah's mood."

"Since the wedding was her idea in the first place, I might as well make the surprise extra special."

"One week from now, I'm going to destroy her reputation at that wedding. And then I'm going to propose to Sarah."