She Was Never His Wife

Seven months into my pregnancy, Ethan Carter handed me a cup of boba tea.

I took a huge, unsuspecting gulp.

An agonizing burn, like liquid fire, instantly seared my throat. It was ghost pepper syrup.

I coughed so violently that I couldn't even stand straight.

The sudden, intense pressure made me lose control, and warm fluid began trickling down my thighs.

My pale maternity dress was instantly ruined, damp and stained, as drops fell onto the polished tiles of the shopping mall.

Amelia Rose, Ethan's little assistant, suddenly ran out from behind a pillar and threw herself into Ethan's arms.

"See? I told you pregnant women have no bladder control. A few coughs and she leaks everywhere."

"Ethan, you lost the bet. You have to take me to the movies tonight."

"Besides, Clara is in such a messy state now, you probably don't even have the appetite to touch her, right?"

Ethan caught her by the waist, a lazy smile on his face. "Fine, I admit defeat."

Amelia leaned against Ethan's shoulder, looking at me with a sweet, mocking smile.

"Let's bet again. Do you think Clara is going to cry?"

Ethan turned his head to look at me.

He didn't try to cover my stained dress.

He didn't stop the onlookers from filming me with their phones.

He just smiled and said, "I bet she will. She cares about her pride more than anything. She won't last three minutes."

The two of them walked into the elevator, laughing and whispering, leaving me standing alone under the mocking, curious stares of the crowd.

I didn't cry. I just pulled out my phone and dialed a number.

Late that night, hundreds of bodyguards surrounded Amelia's apartment complex.

I pressed a cold dagger against her cheek and smiled softly.

"Want to make a bet, Amelia?"

"Let's guess if my next cut will be on your pretty face, or straight through your heart."

Amelia stared at the blade pressed against her cheek, trembling as she shrank back into her chair.

"Clara Vance, don't do anything crazy!"

"There are security cameras everywhere here! If you touch a single hair on my head, Ethan will never forgive you!"

Even now, she was still trying to use Ethan to threaten me.

I pressed my wrist down slightly.

Amelia screamed and shut her eyes tight.

The blade scraped past her ear, cutting off a lock of her hair.

"Relax," I whispered.

"I always pay my debts. I'm just playing a little game of my own."

"Let's bet on how many cups of ghost pepper water it will take for you to cough and wet yourself."

I signaled my bodyguards to open the cardboard box on the table.

Inside were dozens of cups of prepared ghost pepper water.

"You had your fun with me this afternoon. Now, we're going to play the exact same game."

"Drink."

Amelia clenched her teeth, refusing to open her mouth.

Just as a bodyguard forced a cup toward her lips, Ethan's furious voice roared from the doorway.

"Stop!"

He pushed past the bodyguards blocking the entrance and rushed inside.

Seeing Amelia pinned to the chair, he didn't hesitate for a second. He pulled her into his arms, shielding her.

"Clara, what the hell is wrong with you?"

The moment Amelia saw him, her tears fell like rain.

"Ethan, I was just playing a harmless prank on Clara this afternoon."

"But she brought all these people to corner me. She even threatened me with a knife."

She pointed to the lock of hair on the floor.

"If you had come any later, she would have ruined my face."

Ethan stared at her for a long time, making sure she wasn't actually hurt, before finally turning his cold gaze to me.

"Amelia went a bit too far this afternoon, I admit that."

"But did you really have to make such a big scene?"

"You're healthy. A little coughing fit won't kill you."

"Amelia has a weak stomach. Drinking this stuff will actually put her in the hospital."

So he remembered Amelia had a weak stomach.

But he completely forgot that I was seven months pregnant, and my doctor had repeatedly warned me to avoid anything spicy or irritating.

I didn't bother arguing with him. I only asked one question: "Did you tell her about my pregnancy incontinence?"

Ethan fell silent for a few seconds.

"I only mentioned it casually once," he muttered.

"How was I supposed to know she would turn it into a bet?"

When I was three months pregnant, I leaked for the first time because of a sudden sneeze.

Back then, I had locked myself in the bathroom, too embarrassed to even open the door.

Ethan had stood outside, gently comforting me for an hour.

Later, he carried me to the bed and changed the sheets himself.

He told me there was nothing to be ashamed of between husband and wife.

He promised me, "This will be our little secret. No one else will ever know."

But now, even his little assistant could use my deepest embarrassment as a joke to humiliate me.

Amelia hid behind his back, pretending to be innocent.

"Clara, don't get the wrong idea."

"Ethan was just worried about your postpartum recovery, so we talked about it."

"I even looked up pelvic floor physical therapy for you."

I looked at her coldly.

"Was posting that video on Snapchat also to help me recover?"

Amelia's face stiffened for a second, but she quickly sneered.

"I only sent it to a few friends in a group chat."

"They were the ones who shared it online. It's not my fault."

She held her phone up to my face.

The video of me in the mall had already been shared tens of thousands of times.

The comment section was filled with vile laughter mocking my body and my stained dress.

Someone had even made a GIF of my humiliated expression.

Ethan glanced at the screen.

"The internet has a short memory," he said dismissively.

"The trend will die down in a few days, and no one will remember."

He said it so easily.

Because he wasn't the one filmed in his most vulnerable moment.

He wasn't the one being laughed at by tens of thousands of strangers online.

I ordered my bodyguard to pour another cup of ghost pepper water.

"I won't make things difficult for her."

"Drink this, delete the video, and make a public apology on Instagram."

"Then, we'll call it even."

But Amelia didn't reach for the cup.

Instead, she gently touched her lower abdomen. The crying, pitiful girl from seconds ago was gone, replaced by a smug, victorious look.

"I can't drink this."

"The doctor said pregnant women should avoid spicy things."

I thought I had misheard her.

"What did you say?"

Amelia pulled a prenatal report from her designer bag and unfolded it in front of me.

"I'm pregnant. The baby is Ethan's."

I stared at the medical report, completely speechless.

Amelia seemed highly satisfied with my reaction.

She wrapped her arm around Ethan's, intentionally pressing her belly against him.

"Clara, don't be mad."

"I never wanted to take your place as Mrs. Carter."

"But don't be too controlling. My baby will still need to see their father often in the future."

Ethan didn't push her away.

Instead, he looked down at her gently and murmured, "The doctor told you not to stand for too long. Go sit on the sofa."

He helped Amelia to the couch and ordered my bodyguards to take the pepper water away.

Only after making sure there was nothing in the room that could harm her did he turn his attention back to me.

His tone was incredibly calm, as if we were discussing a minor business deal.

"Once, when I accompanied you to your prenatal checkup, Amelia wanted to play a game. She dared me to kiss her in the hospital hallway to see if you would catch us."

"We got carried away, and I lost control."

"But I never planned on divorcing you. I won't let her threaten your position as my wife."

He even walked over and gently adjusted my coat for me.

His touch was as warm as it had always been.

But the words coming out of his mouth were ice cold.

"Clara, we both grew up in this upper-class circle."

"Which man in our circle doesn't have a few women on the side?"

"Keeping a quiet, obedient mistress to relieve stress is completely normal."

"You were raised to be a perfect society wife. You should know when to make a scene and when to look the other way."

I stared at him, suddenly remembering the Ethan from many years ago.

Back then, Ethan hated nothing more than the so-called "rules" of high society.

His father had kept countless mistresses outside.

His mother had spent her entire life clinging to her title as Mrs. Carter, yet she didn't even get to see her husband one last time before she died.

On the day of her funeral, an eighteen-year-old Ethan had knelt in the grief hall all night, his eyes bloodshot.

The next morning, he had held my hand and promised:

"Clara, I will never, ever become a man like my father."

When he was twenty-two, the Carter family tried to force him into an arranged marriage with another heiress.

Ethan had flipped the tea table right in front of both families' elders, grabbed my hand, and walked out of the Carter estate.

Behind us, dozens of relatives roared in anger, and a fleet of luxury cars blocked the driveway.

He didn't even look back.

That night, the Carter family froze all his credit cards and repossessed all his properties.

With only a few hundred dollars left in his pocket, he had looked at me and laughed:

"What's there to be afraid of?"

"Even without the Carter family, I can still give you the best life."

And he had kept that promise.

When he proposed, he rented a private island.

Hundreds of drones formed my name in the night sky over the ocean.

The pink diamond on my engagement ring was bought at a Geneva auction for a staggering nine-figure sum.

On the eve of our wedding, he had signed a Prenuptial Agreement with an Infidelity Clause right in front of all his family elders.

The agreement clearly stated:

If he ever cheated or fathered a child with another woman during our marriage, all his shares in the Carter Group, his family trusts, and his offshore assets would be transferred entirely to my name.

At that time, everyone tried to persuade him not to sign it.

But Ethan had handed me the pen, his face glowing with absolute confidence.

"Sign it, Clara."

"I'll never give you a chance to use it anyway."

I had believed him with all my heart.

So, when the Carter Group's capital chain broke, I convinced my father to use the Vance family's funds to bail him out.

When he was attacked by the board of directors, I handed him all of the Vance family's voting rights.

The day Ethan secured his position as the sole heir of the Carter Group, he held me tight and said:

"Everything I have now was given to me by you."

"In this life, you will be my only wife."

Now, he still ruled the Carter Group.

But he had finally become the very monster he used to despise.

Seeing that I remained silent, Ethan assumed I had finally accepted the reality.

His voice softened.

"Once the baby is born, I'll buy Amelia a house in another city and give her a generous allowance."

"She won't ever show up in front of you."

"You will still be Mrs. Carter, and our child will be the only legally recognized heir to the Carter fortune."

Amelia leaned back on the sofa, gently caressing her stomach.

"Clara, Ethan still loves you the most."

"I'm happy enough just having him visit me once in a while."

She sounded so submissive.

But the smugness in her eyes was glaring.

They probably thought I would be just like Ethan's mother, swallowing all the humiliation just to keep up appearances.

I smiled slightly and turned to my bodyguard. "Call the legal team in."

"Trigger Clause 7 of the Prenuptial Agreement."

The moment I finished speaking, a dozen lawyers walked into the room.

Leading them was Robert Davis, who handed a set of documents directly to Ethan.

"Mr. Carter."

"Miss Rose's prenatal report is sufficient proof of your infidelity, which violates the terms of the Prenuptial Agreement."

"As of this moment, your 37% shares in the Carter Group are officially transferred to Miss Clara Vance."

"Furthermore, the Vance family's financial funding to the Carter Group is officially terminated."

Ethan's phone immediately began to ring loudly.

It was the Chairman of the Board.

Even from a distance, I could hear the panicked roaring on the other end.

"Ethan! What the hell did you do?"

"The Vance family just pulled all their investments! The bank is calling in our loans!"

"The board is demanding an emergency meeting to suspend you immediately!"

Ethan gripped his phone, his face draining of all color.

"Clara, we've been together for so many years."

"Are you really going to ruin everything I've built over a stupid little mistake?"

I looked at him and laughed.

"Ethan, didn't you say you wanted to keep a mistress?"

"I'm leaving her to you."

"As for the house, and the money you wanted to use to support her..."

I snatched the keys to his luxury penthouse right out of his hand.

"They are all mine."

"From today on, I am leaving you with absolutely nothing."

I turned to walk out.

Behind me, Ethan finally lost his cool, desperately calling my name.

I didn't look back.

At the door, I cast one last look at Amelia.

"Congratulations," I said. "This completely broke man is all yours now."

But just as I stepped over the threshold, Robert Davis called out to me.

"Miss Vance, wait."

His tone was heavier than I had ever heard it before.

"We just checked the marriage registry database."

"There is no record of a marriage registration between you and Mr. Carter."

I froze in my tracks.

"What do you mean?"

Robert glanced at Ethan, his expression grim.

"It means the marriage certificate you hold is fake."

"Mr. Carter's only legal wife, from the very beginning, has been Amelia Rose."

I slowly turned around.

The last trace of panic on Amelia's face had vanished.

She pulled two marriage certificates from her bag and waved them at me with a triumphant grin.

"Clara, did you really think I was just Ethan's hidden mistress?"

"The pathetic, unregistered side piece has always been you."

I stared at the date on the marriage certificates.

Three years ago, June 17th.

The exact same day Ethan and I had supposedly gotten married.

On that day, after we got our certificates, I had cried tears of joy in Ethan's arms.

Ethan had kissed away my tears and told me:

"Clara, from this day on, we are legally husband and wife."

But it had all been a lie.

Amelia giggled, covering her mouth.

"Oh, by the way, I made a bet with Ethan that day too."

"I bet him that you trusted him so much, you wouldn't even realize the officiant he hired was a fake, and you'd never check the registry database."

"I told him if you found out, I would leave him forever."

"But if you didn't notice, he had to go to the real City Hall and marry me."

She flipped open the certificate.

"And guess what? You didn't notice a thing."

"While you were happily going home with your fake certificate, Ethan came to pick me up. We made it to City Hall right before they closed and registered our real marriage."

I looked at Ethan.

"Is what she's saying true?"

Ethan avoided my eyes, looking guilty.

"It was just a bet, Clara."

"I didn't think things would turn out like this."

It was just a bet.

Because he lost a bet, he handed my rightful title of wife to Amelia.

And because I trusted him blindly, I lost my entire marriage without even knowing it.

Amelia patted her stomach, her smile growing sweeter by the second.

"Ethan even said that day that you were so easy to fool. A little hug, a quick kiss, and you'd never think to double-check."

"Clara, you've been a fool for three whole years."

"And now you want to use a Prenuptial Agreement to take his shares? Don't you find that hilarious?"

Robert Davis rapidly flipped through the agreement, his face turning pale.

The very first clause of the prenuptial agreement stated:

This agreement shall only take effect upon the date of legal marriage registration by both parties.

But Ethan and I had never been legally married.

Which meant whether he cheated or got Amelia pregnant, the agreement was completely invalid.

I couldn't touch a single share of his 37% holdings.

Ethan finally looked up, adjusting his collar. The confidence returned to his eyes.

"Clara, it's not too late to stop this."

"Tell the Vance family to restore the funding and stop pressuring the board."

"I can overlook the fact that you broke into this apartment with a mob tonight."

"In the future, you can move to the suburban villa. Just focus on having the baby and stop causing trouble."

I stared at him.

"And if I say no?"

Heavy, synchronized footsteps suddenly echoed in the hallway.

Several police officers walked through the door.

Amelia immediately threw herself into Ethan's chest, crying hysterically while pointing to her head.

"Officers, it's her!"

"She broke into my home with hundreds of men, held a knife to my face, and tried to force me to drink toxic liquids!"

"I'm pregnant! She wanted to murder me and my baby!"

Ethan held her tightly, looking at the police.

"Officer, Clara Vance has been mentally unstable lately."

"She caused a scene at the mall this afternoon, and now she's bringing armed men to my home."

"I'm genuinely terrified she will hurt my wife and our child."

Wife.

He could finally call Amelia his wife, openly and proudly.

The officer looked at the dagger in my hand, then at the bodyguards filling the room.

"Miss Vance, we're going to need you to come with us to the station for questioning."