Two Husbands Betrayed Me for My Sister

Five years into my marriage, I caught Julian, my childhood sweetheart and husband, cheating on me with Serenamy illegitimate half-sister.

I didnt handle it gracefully.

In a fit of rage, I dragged that wretched girl to a clinic and forced her to abort the child.

In retaliation, Julian drove my mother to jump from a rooftop.

One funeral. Three lives lost.

The baby in my own womb didnt survive the chaos either.

Julian and I tore each other apart for three years, fighting until we had absolutely nothing left.

Exhausted, broken, and covered in scars, I finally gave up. I married Dominic Hale, my lifelong rival, who had been waiting for me in the shadows all along.

After our wedding, Dominic spoiled me to no end. He put his entire multi-billion-dollar fortune under my name.

When a speeding truck barreled toward us, he threw himself over my pregnant body without hesitation, shielding me and landing himself in the ICU.

I truly believed Dominic was my savior. My safe harbor.

Until today, when I accidentally saw my ex-husband, Julian, standing inside Dominic's private office.

"Uncle Dominic, thank you for taking one for the team," Julian said, his voice dripping with smugness. "Marrying that psycho Vivian for all these years just to protect Serena."

"Using a fake marriage and a fake trust fund to gain her trust, ensuring shed never target Serena again. It was brilliant."

"Vivian doesn't even know that during the car crash, you weren't protecting her. You were protecting Serenas baby in her womb."

"She ruined Serena's body and made her infertile. Its only fair she uses her own womb to give Serena a child."

Dominics lips curved into a cold, indifferent smile.

"Enough. The details don't matter, as long as Serena knows my heart. She saved my life all those years ago. I owe her this debt."

The prenatal report in my handthe one showing maternal-fetal tissue rejectionslipped from my fingers and hit the floor with a soft thud.

I laughed until tears streamed down my face.

Three years ago, I died once.

Today, I died a second time.

A suffocating pain slowly engulfed my chest.

My heavily swollen, eight-month-pregnant belly felt like a stretched wire, sawing at my nerves and tearing my sanity to shreds.

I dont know how long I stood there before the door creaked open.

Dominic walked out, freezing instantly the moment his eyes fell on me.

"Vivian? What are you doing here?"

I looked up at this man whom I had once viewed as my ultimate salvation. My eyes burned with unshed tears.

I wanted to scream, to tear the place down. But when I spoke, only a quiet, broken whisper came out.

"Dominic, if I werent standing here today, how much longer were you planning to lie to me?"

Dominic took a deep breath. He knelt down on one knee, took off his suit jacket, and gently wrapped it around my waist.

"Vivian, don't make a scene here, okay? Lets go home. I can explain everything."

Only then did I notice that the air conditioner was blowing cold air directly toward my belly.

He was always so attentive. So detailed.

I used to think this was unparalleled love. But now, looking at his hands, I shrank back.

I was terrified that if I accepted his warmth, it would just be another layer of poison.

I trembled, pushing his hands away.

"We don't need to go home. Explain it right here."

"Explain the fake marriage. The fake trust. Explain why the baby in my womb belongs to Serena."

My voice wasn't loud, but it was enough to make the passing employees turn and stare.

Those sharp, judgmental looks felt like needles piercing my skin. It was humiliating.

Yet, I didnt move an inch.

Even knowing that my entire life was a lie.

I wanted to hear it from his own mouth.

But the first thing I got was a loud, mocking laugh from behind him.

"Vivian, when did you become so pathetic?" Julian walked out of the office, looking down at me with utter contempt. "Are you really too cowardly to accept the truth when its staring you in the face?"

"Uncle Dominic had a vasectomy the very night you two signed those fake papers. You went through dozens of agonizing rounds of IVF these past few years. Didnt you ever find it suspicious?"

A vasectomy.

How laughable.

Over the past three years, Dominic had treated me so well that I had let down all my guards. I had smoothed out all my sharp edges just to be loved.

Even if I was delusional, I had fought so hard to hold onto this last saving grace.

But now, every single illusion was brutally shattered.

"I will abort this child," I said, closing my eyes and forcing the last shred of my dignity into my voice. "I will get a hysterotomy. Today."

Before I could even turn around, Dominic's face paled. He rushed forward and grabbed my wrist.

"Are you insane, Vivian?! You're eight months pregnant! A late-term termination right now will kill you!"

His voice was laced with frantic worry, sounding exactly like the doting husband I thought he was.

But I only laughed, tears spilling over.

"Dominic, are you worried about me? Or are you worried about Serenas baby?"

"Of course I'm worried about you!" Dominic answered instantly, without a shred of hesitation. "A mere fetus cannot compare to you. Vivian, you have to know, you are my only treasure!"

Yes. When the entire world had turned its back on me, Dominic was the only one who had stood by my side.

My heart trembled violently.

But in the next second, a sweet, playful female voice echoed from down the hall.

"Im so sorry, Dominic! I overslept a little. I hope I didn't ruin your morning schedule."

That voice. I knew it all too well.

I whipped my head around and saw the woman I hated down to my very bones.

Serena walked toward us. Her words apologized, but her face held no remorse. Instead, she playfully stuck her tongue out at Dominic.

"Good morning, Mr. CEO! Your personal secretary is officially on duty!"

Serena.

My brain felt like it had been hit with a sledgehammer.

I looked back at Dominic. I fought with everything I had to keep my voice from cracking.

"Dominic, you said you could explain everything. Then explain this. How is she here?"

"You swore to me you blacklisted her from the entire industry. Is this your version of blacklisting? Hiring her as your personal secretary?"

I had once naively believed that Dominic was the only light left in my dark life.

After all, the year my mother was driven to suicide.

The year I was driven to a miscarriage in utter despair.

The year my own father took the side of his mistress's daughter and told me to stop throwing tantrums.

It was Dominicthe rival who had always clashed with mewho had forced Julian to kneel before me. Dominic had forced him to slap himself a hundred times to apologize to me and my dead child.

It was Dominic who had thrown down billions to banish Serena and her mistress mother from New York, forcing them back to their trashy hometown.

And it was Dominic who had stayed by my side through my severe clinical depression for three long years, slowly piecing my broken soul back together.

"If all of that was a lie... then what was real?" I whispered to myself.

The physical symptoms of my traumathe severe shaking and nauseareturned instantly. My entire body trembled uncontrollably.

"Don't do this, Vivian. Calm down! I didn't lie to you about those things! Everything I did for you was real!" Dominic stepped forward, desperately trying to hold my shoulders.

He knew my triggers better than anyone.

But now, his intimate knowledge of my pain felt like a sharp blade twisting in my chest.

I stared at his familiar yet suddenly foreign face, my fingernails digging into the fabric of his expensive suit.

"Dominic, even now, youre still trying to play me?"

"I'm not playing you." Dominic let me claw at him, his eyes frantically scanning my stomach. "Vivian, it's not what you think!"

Unfortunately for him, I was no longer the stupid girl who trusted him blindly.

I shoved him away and pointed directly at Serena.

"Then prove it! Prove you're not lying to me! Kick her out right now!"

I knew I was being pathetic.

Even if he kicked her out, what would it prove? A lie was still a lie.

But if I didn't scream, if I didn't vent, I felt like I would suffocate and die in the next second.

Yet, the man who had promised to protect me forever stood his ground. He did not move.

"I'm sorry, Vivian. I can't do that. Serena is innocent in this."

"Serena... innocent?" I let out a hysterical laugh. "Haha... innocent..."

Seeing that I was on the verge of a total breakdown, Dominic finally let out a long sigh.

"When I stood up for you back then, it was because I mistakenly thought you were the girl who saved my life. But I was wrong."

"Twenty-five years ago, before the Hale family took me in, I was starving on the freezing streets of Chicago."

"A little girl wearing a red velvet ribbon in her hair gave me three mango cupcakes."

"That girl was Serena."

Twenty-five years ago. A red ribbon. A freezing street. Three cupcakes.

My mind flashed back to a snowy, freezing night from my childhood. A sharp, physical pain shot through my head, and I closed my eyes.

"Dominic... what if I told you that the little girl was me?"

"Vivian, have you no shame?!" Julian interrupted, sneering at me from his height. "Are you so desperate that you're trying to steal Serena's history now?"

He was the one who had ruined my life, yet in his eyes, I was always the villain.

"Vivian, can you stop acting crazy for once?" Dominic sighed, looking as though a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"If you're going to lie, at least make it believable. Twenty-five years ago, I was stranded in Chicago. You grew up in New York. Tell me, how did you magically travel hundreds of miles just to save me?"

"Don't blame me for this. Because of your lies, I almost drove my actual savior to her grave."

"Thats why I got angry. That's why I used the fake marriage and the fake trust fund to punish you."

"It's only fair."

Yes. Fair.

"Did you ever bother to ask *why* Serena was in Chicago back then?" I closed my eyes. I couldn't believe I had to rip open my mother's deepest, most painful scar just to prove the truth.

"I was in Chicago because my father bought a secret townhouse to hide his mistress and her bastard daughter there! My mother found out, and she dragged me across states in the middle of a blizzard just to catch them red-handed!"

The snow that year was so cold.

And the tiny bit of warmth I had given to a starving boy had ultimately turned into a bucket of ice water, poured over my freezing body.

"Vivian, stop lying to yourself."

Dominic reached out, his fingers brushing a stray lock of hair from my forehead with a look of pity.

"I forgot to tell you. The cupcakes the little girl gave me were mango-flavored."

"You are highly allergic to mangoes, Vivian. The only one who loves mango cupcakes is Serena."

Right. The entire world catered to Serena, so why wouldnt my father?

My father had completely forgotten about my life-threatening allergy. He had bought those mango cupcakes to please Serena, and then handed them to me to soothe his own guilt!

But before I could speak, Serena stepped forward. Tears welled up in her eyes, making her look incredibly fragile.

"It's okay, Dominic. Lets just say Vivian saved you. I don't mind. I won't hold a grudge against my sister."

"These past few years of happiness were stolen anyway. As long as Vivian is willing to give birth to Julians and my child, Id gladly step aside."

The moment she said those words, both mens expressions changed.

Julian immediately pulled her behind his back, glaring at me. "Vivian, you hurt Serena six years ago. I won't let you touch her again!"

Dominic gently coaxed her, his tone identical to the one he used to use on me. "Don't worry. I won't let anyone hurt you. Your child will come into this world safely."

With just a few words, they stripped away my right to speak.

I suddenly felt incredibly tired.

At this point, words had lost all meaning.

Serena stood protected by two of the most powerful men in the city. A triumphant gleam flashed in her eyes, but when she looked at me standing there like a statue, she quickly masked it with terror.

"But... I'm so scared," Serena whimpered. "I'm scared Vivian will run to a shady clinic and abort the baby just to get revenge on me."

"An eight-month-old baby can survive outside the womb now."

Julian immediately chimed in, "Shes right, Uncle Dominic. The baby is eight months along. Why don't we just schedule a C-section today? That way, Serena doesn't have to live in fear."

"No! Dominic, do you hear me?! I will not give birth to this child! Id rather die!" I screamed, lunging forward to grab Dominic's sleeve.

Dominic remained silent for a long time. His eyes shifted from my frantic face to Serena's tear-stained cheeks.

After a moment of hesitation, he slowly but firmly pulled his sleeve out of my grip.

"Be good, Vivian. It won't hurt."

At that moment, my heart completely died.

Under Julians arrangement, a private hospital was booked. The surgery was scheduled for 3:00 PM that very afternoon.

I only had four hours.

Julian even hired two muscular bodyguards to watch me, ensuring I couldnt escape.

Serena pretend to plead for me, but under her "merciful" suggestion, my ankles were fitted with heavy, humiliating electronic shackles.

Dominic watched the entire thing and said nothing.

His silence was his approval.

Locked inside a windowless, soundproof hospital room, I was treated like livestock, waiting to be dragged onto an operating table to have my stomach sliced open.

Three hours before the surgery, my father arrived. He brought legal documents stripping me of my inheritance and transferring everything to Serena.

From this day forward, Serena was no longer the shameful bastard child.

And I was erased from the family tree, reduced to a nameless nobody.

Two hours before the surgery, Serena came to my room.

Since we were alone, she didn't bother pretending anymore. A smug, vicious smile spread across her face.

"My dear sister, when you and your dead mother drove my mom and me out of New York, did you ever think youd end up like this?"

"To thank you for carrying my baby, Ive prepared a very special gift for you."

"The moment the baby is born, the doctors will inject a heavy dose of a psychotropic drug into your system. You will go completely mad. You will try to strangle the baby with your own hands, and Dominic and Julian will watch. They will despise you forever, and you will spend the rest of your miserable life in an asylum."

"How is it? Isn't the script I wrote for you perfect?"

The room was perfectly soundproofed, so she spoke without any fear.

I actually found it amusing. "If I strangle the baby, won't you lose the child you claim to love so much?"

Serena laughed. "Who cares? If the kid is smart, it should be glad to die to help its mother."

"Did you honestly think I care about a stupid baby? Please."

"The first baby I lost six years ago? I aborted it myself just to frame you. You, of all people, should know how far I'm willing to go."

I didnt say another word. I just sat there quietly, preparing my own gift for her.

I only hoped she would be able to handle it.

Julian walked in fifteen minutes before the scheduled surgery. He looked at me, his eyes still filled with arrogant disdain.

"Vivian, once you deliver this child, you and Serena are even."

"I hope you have some self-awareness and stay away from me. The only woman Ive ever loved is Serenaa pure, kind angel. Not a venomous snake like you."

Leaving those parting words, he walked out.

Dominic was the last to arrive, barely minutes before they pushed my gurney.

He brought a thick stack of legal documents.

They were the exact same trust fund papers he had given me on our wedding day. Only this time, the notary stamps were real.

Dominic held my hand, his voice laced with what sounded like genuine guilt. "Vivian, these are the billions in trust I promised you. I'm officially transferring them to you today. I hope its not too late."

"Promise me youll deliver the baby safely."

"Once its over, we will get legally married. Okay?"

Was he trying to bribe me into compliance, or did he genuinely want a future with me?

I didn't know, and I didn't care anymore.

I gave him a sweet, gentle smile. "Okay."

But he had no idea. We had no future left.

The heavy double doors of the operating room slammed shut.

Serena exchanged a subtle nod with the head surgeon she had bribed, signaling that everything was going according to plan. A triumphant smirk played on her lips.

But the moment she turned back to Julian and Dominic, her face fell into a mask of pure agony.

"Julian... Dominic... my stomach suddenly hurts so much. Can you guys please walk me to the OB-GYN clinic downstairs?"

Julian, of course, was eager to oblige.

Dominic rubbed his temples, refusing at first. "No, you guys go. Julian can take care of you. I need to stay here."

But after Serena whimpered and begged, Dominic finally relented and agreed to accompany her downstairs.

Yet, the moment they stepped out of the lobby, a shadow fell from the sky, crashing onto the pavement with a sickening thud.

When Dominic saw the face of the broken body, he lost his mind.

"VIVIAN!"

A guttural, blood-curdling scream tore from his throat.

Dominic sprinted forward, slamming past Serena and Julian without a second thought. He stumbled and fell to his knees in front of my mangled, blood-soaked body.

There was blood everywhere.

He knelt in the crimson pool, his hands hovering over me, trembling, terrified to touch me yet desperately wanting to pull me into his chest.

"Doctors! Get out here! Help her! SAVE HER!"

That day, Dominic called in every top surgeon in the state.

But he was quickly dragged into a living nightmare of regret.

"Vivian, I'm sorry... I was wrong. Please, don't punish me like this."

The cold, atheistic billionaire did something entirely out of character. He had a crucifix brought to the hospital and knelt outside my ICU room.

For three days and three nights, without food, water, or sleep, Dominic knelt on the hard floor, his forehead pressed against the cold tiles, begging whatever god was listening to save my life.

During this time, Serena tried to play the role of a caring sister-in-law, urging him to rest.

"Dominic, don't do this to yourself. She isn't worth it."

In response, Dominic wrapped his hand around her throat, choking her as he roared at her to get out.

For the first time, Serena felt a very real, very terrifying urge to kill radiating from Dominic.

Terrified out of her mind, she scrambled out of the hospital and didn't dare utter another word.

On the fourth day, while I was still fighting for my life in surgery, Dominics assistant found something in the room where I had been held.

The moment the assistant saw the object, his face drained of color. He ran back to Dominic, stumbling over his own feet.

"Mr. Hale! Look at this! What is this?!"

Interrupted in his prayer, Dominic was about to snap, but his eyes locked onto the object in the assistant's hand. His breath caught in his throat.

It was a red velvet ribbon.

It was very old and faded.

To anyone else, it looked like a worthless piece of junk.

But Dominic knew better than anyone. This ribbon was unique.

His hand hovered over the red ribbon, shaking violently.

He made three urgent phone calls, ordering his security team to retrieve a locked box from his private safe.

Fifteen minutes later, another red ribbon was placed next to the one from my room.

They were identical.

For twenty-five years, Dominic had kept that ribbon close to his chest. It was the exact same ribbon his assistant had just found.