My Husband Cheated to Cure My Jealousy

My husband confessed to me after his second affair.

Honestly, both of those women were just strippers I hired. Nothing happened between us.

The only one I'm actually sleeping with is Chloe.

Chloe was my best friend.

I froze. It took me a long time to find my voice.

Why? Why would you do this?

He lit a cigarette and smiled.

"Chloe did it for your own good. She was worried you wouldn't be able to handle finding out about us. So, we hired those girls to test you first. It was like exposure therapy to desensitize you."

"Since you were able to forgive me for those two strippers, you should be able to forgive her, too. The three of us can live together from now on. You'll still be Mrs. Vance."

So, all those years of my suffering, the agony that drove me to slit my wrists...

It was all just to pave a smooth path for Chloe.

This time, I stopped fighting.

After scheduling an abortion, I booked a one-way flight.

0Sebastian spoke of our future as if he was absolutely certain I wouldn't resist this time.

"Once we sign the official papers, she'll take wedding photos with us. She'll be at the ceremony, too. You know that wedding dress you liked? She likes it, too. It's her first time wearing one, so just let her have it."

"As for the house, you'll move into the guest room. Chloe gets cold easily at night, and the master bedroom gets the best sunlight. It's warmer."

"And don't say anything to my friends. As far as they know, you and I broke up a long time ago, and I'm officially dating Chloe now."

He rattled off these demands one by one, without even blinking.

As if he were talking about the weather.

Rage and logic tore at my mind, burning me alive from the inside out.

But he just continued casually, "Oh, by the way, Chloe is pregnant."

"Be gentle with her. She can't get stressed right now. If you're angry, take it out on me."

Pregnant?

They had been together for so long, and they only told me now because she was pregnant?

Fine. He wanted me to take it out on him? I would.

I slowly raised my hand.

I wanted to slap him across the face, but he caught my wrist effortlessly.

He frowned, looking genuinely confused.

"Are you actually mad?"

"That doesn't make sense. Those two actresses did so many terrible things to you, and you were as quiet as a sheep. Why are you throwing such a fit now that it's Chloe?"

The "terrible things" he mentioned?

One of them pushed me into a freezing lake in the dead of winter, causing me to miscarry.

The other sent graphic, explicit photos of Sebastian to my parents, which gave my mother a fatal heart attack.

They started rumors at my office that I was a homewrecker, getting me fired.

And now, all of that was justified by his single sentence.

It was all just "exposure therapy" to desensitize me, just to pave the way for Chloe.

A wave of pure absurdity washed over me.

I wanted to laugh, but tears spilled from my eyes instead.

He sighed, leaning his face closer to me, presenting his cheek.

"Forget it. Chloe is your best friend, so it's natural you're a bit upset. Go ahead, hit me."

"But after you do, you need to be nice to her. She feels incredibly guilty. She was too terrified to tell you until she was sure you were completely desensitized to the situation."

"She did it for your own good, Summer. Don't scare her."

I hadn't even done anything yet.

And he was already worried I would scare her.

They say when a man truly loves a woman, she will always seem fragile and young in his eyes, someone to be pampered and protected.

That was why he called her a "young girl," completely forgetting that I was actually two months younger than she was.

Tears soaked my neck.

I let my hand drop uselessly. "Pull over," I whispered. "We're done. I'm leaving."

He paused for a second, then let out a helpless chuckle.

"Stop acting like a child. If you wanted to leave, you would have left years ago. You just want me to spoil you, don't you?"

"Give me your phone. I'll buy everything in your Amazon cart right now."

"Tell me what else you want. I'll get it."

He tried to coax me the way he always did, but I didn't care anymore.

I stared straight ahead. "I want my original wedding dress."

That dress was custom-made for me by Sebastian. Back when he knelt in the dirt, begging me to take him back, he had said, "Wear this, and I'll give you the wedding of a lifetime. Please?"

And I had forgiven him back then only because I remembered the boy he used to be.

The teenage Sebastian who would blush furiously whenever our eyes met.

The boy who fought off local thugs for me, getting stabbed in the back, only to smile and say it didn't hurt at all.

The boy who worked three part-time jobs just to put me through college.

He had once slipped a plastic soda tab onto my ring finger and promised me the world.

I remembered it perfectly. But he had long since forgotten.

He sneered, leaning back into his seat, his voice turning cold and cruel.

"That's enough, Summer. You're not some twenty-year-old girl anymore. Isn't this temper tantrum getting pathetic?"

"We both know you'll forgive me in the end anyway. Why make a scene?"

"Since you refuse to be reasonable about Chloe, you can walk home and cool your head."

Like a piece of trash, I was pushed out of his car.

Outside, the heavy rain poured down. The freezing water made me shiver, but it was nothing compared to the ice in my heart.

I didn't even bother running for shelter.

Right there in the rain, I pulled out my phone, scheduled an abortion, and booked a flight out of the city.

When I got back to the house, I walked in to find Chloe curled up on the sofa, eating potato chips.

Sebastian, a notorious neat freak, was on his knees, picking up her dropped crumbs without a single word of complaint.

I pretended they didn't exist. Holding back my tears, I walked toward my bedroom.

But when I opened the door, all my belongings were gone. In their place were the home decorations I had helped Chloe pick out just a few days ago.

Back then, I had naively thought she was redecorating her own apartment. I had eagerly helped her choose items, never realizing they were meant to replace mine.

Behind me, Chloe walked up, her expression timid and fragile. "Sebastian told you, right? My hands and feet get so cold at night. I really needed this room."

Before I could answer, she panicked. "Oh, are you mad? If you don't want to switch, that's fine! We can swap back."

"I mean, the other room is freezing and damp, but I can survive."

Clutching her slightly rounded stomach, she reached out to grab some of her things.

Sebastian immediately caught her hand. "Don't touch anything."

"But, Sebastian... Summer looks so..."

"Summer can sleep anywhere," Sebastian snapped, cutting her off. "But you're different, Chloe. The guest room is freezing. You can't sleep in there."

She couldn't sleep in there. But I could.

Had he completely forgotten?

Three years ago, when his mistress pushed me into that freezing lake, I developed severe pneumonia. Ever since then, my joints throbbed with excruciating pain whenever it rained.

Chloe kept offering to move back, pretending to be sweet, until Sebastian finally lost his patience. He grabbed my arm and dragged me to the hallway. "Didn't we already talk about this? Why are you being so difficult? She's pregnant. Can't you just yield to her for once?"

When I didn't immediately nod, his grip tightened. His fingers dug so hard into my wrist that they left deep red marks.

I gasped in pain. He let go quickly, gritting his teeth. "I didn't want to hurt you, but you need to start behaving."

It felt as though an invisible hand was strangling me.

I stood there, struggling to breathe, before finally whispering, "Fine."

Chloe beamed and ran forward to hug me. I instinctively took a step back, avoiding her.

Her face fell, looking deeply hurt.

"Summer, do you really hate me that much? I never did anything to hurt you."

"You forgave those other two women who actually harmed you. Why can't you forgive me?"

"Am I really worse than two strangers in your heart?"

Staring at her wide, innocent eyes, the rage I had suppressed for years finally erupted.

She knew. She knew exactly how much I had suffered over the years.

She knew about the sleepless nights, the days I couldn't eat, the deep self-doubt, and the depression.

I had trusted her more than anyone. I had poured my heart out to her.

And now, she had the audacity to ask why I couldn't forgive her.

She was even more repulsive than Sebastian.

"Can you stop acting for one second?" I spat.

The moment the words left my mouth, a brutal kick struck the back of my knee.

I collapsed to the floor, my kneecap slamming hard against the hardwood. The skin broke, and blood began to seep through my jeans.

Sebastian stood over me like a towering giant, shielding Chloe behind him.

"I told you to watch your mouth," he growled.

"Have you forgotten everything I've said to you?"

"Do this again, and the consequences won't be this gentle."

The pain in my knee was nothing compared to the agony in my chest.

It felt as though a heavy hammer was shattering my heart, leaving a gaping, bleeding wound.

It took me a long time to drag myself up by holding onto the wall.

I hobbled toward the door. Sebastian suddenly ran out after me.

He threw a dry towel over my wet shoulders, looking almost apologetic, as if he had just realized what he'd done.

"I reacted too harshly just now," he muttered.

"But your attitude today was unacceptable."

He then pulled out a medical folder.

"Chloe has her prenatal checkup tomorrow. You've been pregnant before, so you know the drill. Go with her and help her through it."

So, my past experience with pregnancy was only useful to help his mistress.

The sheer absurdity made me want to scream.

But then I remembered my own abortion appointment tomorrow. It was at the exact same hospital.

"Fine," I agreed quietly.

The next morning, the moment we arrived at the hospital, one of Chloe's friends, Tiffany, cornered us. She looked at me with pure disgust.

"So, you're the pathetic leech. Chloe is pregnant, and you're still clinging to Sebastian? How shameless can you get?"

"I heard Sebastian cheated on you twice, and you still took him back. God, you must have zero self-respect. If I were you, I would have jumped off a building years ago!" Tiffany sneered.

"Honestly, Sebastian is a genius. He hired the ugliest actresses just to make sure Chloe wouldn't get jealous. Talk about true love and sacrifice!"

"You need to wake up, Summer. Sebastian only loves Chloe. You're just a toy he keeps in the corner. He plays with you when he's bored, and throws you aside when he's done!"

She had purposely chosen the crowded lobby to make her scene.

Dozens of bystanders stopped to stare and whisper.

Even some of the nurses recognized Chloe.

"Oh, I know that girl. Mr. Vance has brought her here for checkups several times. But who is the other one? Is she the mistress?"

"Doesn't sound like it."

"Well, even if she isn't, she must be pathetic. Imagine staying with a man who publicly cheats on you."

"Right? How embarrassing. Hahaha."

The whispers echoed in my ears, sounding exactly like the cruel thoughts that kept me awake every night.

The old scars on my wrists began to throb.

I wanted to run, but Chloe held tightly onto my arm, refusing to let me go. It was a never-ending nightmare.

By the time she finally let go, I was completely numb.

I followed her into the ultrasound room like a ghost.

The results came back. Chloe was pregnant with triplets.

When Sebastian got the news, he abandoned his board meeting and rushed to the hospital. He swept Chloe into his arms and spun her around.

"I'm going to be a father! A father of triplets! Chloe, you're my angel."

"My parents want to meet you. We'll go to the Vance estate tomorrow."

I couldn't stand to hear any more. I walked out into the corridor, only to overhear two of Sebastian's bodyguards talking nearby.

"So the Vance family is finally accepting Miss Miller? I thought she came from a no-name family."

"Well, Sebastian literally knelt in the pouring rain for three days outside the estate and went on a hunger strike. What choice did his parents have? They had to give in."

"But didn't Sebastian hate his family? He swore he'd never go back."

"Love makes people do crazy things, man. Now he goes back to the estate every week just to secure Miss Miller's place in the family."

Sebastian had been brought back to the wealthy Vance family when he was twenty-two. No one knew how much he despised his parents more than I did.

Yet, for Chloe, he was willing to swallow his pride to get their approval.

"If the family accepts Miss Miller, what about Miss Summer?"

"Who cares? She has no legal status anyway. It's embarrassing. Besides, Miss Miller and Sebastian already registered their marriage a long time ago."

Registered their marriage?

What did that mean?

I wanted to step out and demand answers, but the guards walked away.

The words felt like a thousand knives stabbing into my stomach.

I rushed back to our house and tore through the drawers to find the two marriage certificates Sebastian and I had signed years ago.

I pulled up the official state registry portal on my phone and compared them.

They were fake.

The registration numbers didn't exist.

Just like his excuse that "his family would never accept me," our marriage was a total lie.

And I had believed him for three whole years.

The photo on the fake certificateof Sebastian and me smiling side by sidewas the spark that finally blew up the volcano inside me.

I drove back to the house, walked right up to Sebastian, who was carefully feeding Chloe soup, and threw the fake certificates right at his face.

"What is the meaning of this?" I demanded, my voice shaking.

He picked up the papers, but instead of looking at me, he smirked at Chloe.

"I told you she wouldn't figure it out for three years. You lost the bet, babe. Remember our wager?"

Chloe blushed, tapping his shoulder playfully. "Stop it, Sebastian. I'm pregnant."

"Well, pregnant women are supposed to be more sensitive, aren't they?"

Their playful flirting made me feel like the ultimate fool.

I snapped. I lunged forward and slapped their hands away. I barely used any force.

But Chloe immediately fell backward onto the floor.

Within seconds, bright red blood began to pool beneath her dress.

Sebastian's eyes turned bloodshot. "What did you do?!"

"Doctor! Get a doctor!" he screamed.

Chloe was rushed into the emergency room.

Sebastian grabbed my arm so hard I felt my bone cracking. "Did I not tell you to never touch her? I told you to take it out on me!"

I wanted to tell him that I barely touched her, that she had thrown herself down.

But seeing the absolute hatred in his eyes, I just laughed.

"Yeah, I did it. So what?"

What was he going to do? Break my legs this time?

His gaze swept over me, freezing cold. "Fine. Since you confessed, I don't need to waste any more words."

"Guard! Lock her in a private ward!"

"I want her to experience a thousand times the pain Chloe is feeling right now!"

I was dragged into a locked room and strapped to a bed. Several strange tubes and wires were connected to my body.

Sebastian leaned over and stroked my hair like a venomous snake. "Don't worry, Summer. It'll only last for three days."

"I'll come collect you in three days."

He didn't break my legs. He didn't even leave a single scratch on my body.

Instead, they hooked me up to an illegal nerve-pain simulator. The machine sent waves of excruciating contractions through my abdomen, mimicking the worst stages of labor pain.

For three days, I drifted in and out of consciousness. Through the heavy door, I could hear voices outside.

"Sebastian, aren't you afraid you'll push her too far? What if she leaves?"

"Leave? Where would she go? She's been with me since she was eighteen. I had all her firsts. Who else would ever want her?"

"As long as she begs for forgiveness and stops bothering Chloe, I'll still keep her around."

I don't know how long it took, but the pain finally stopped, and the tubes were ripped from my body.

I tried to sit up, but my hand brushed against something wet and sticky on the bedsheets.

It was dark, dried blood.

My baby was gone. It had been aborted by the sheer trauma of the pain simulator.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Without a single tear, I got up and walked out of the hospital straight to the airport.

I threw my phone into a trash can at the terminal. The last message that popped up on the screen was from Sebastian: [The wedding is tomorrow. If you aren't dead, drag yourself over here.]

The next day, at the beautiful outdoor garden wedding.

Sebastian kept glancing at the empty seat in the front row. An inexplicable sense of unease began to creep into his chest.

Suddenly, his phone rang. "Hello, Mr. Vance? This is the clinic. Miss Summer Vance had scheduled an abortion, but she missed her appointment. We had a slot open up today and wanted to check if she was still coming."