35 Chances to Escape My Mafia Husband

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While my mafia husband was taking a shower, I suddenly received a provocative text message from an unknown number.

[77 times in his office, 88 times in his Maybach, 99 times at the Hilton.]

[Your husband said Im a hundred times better in bed than a cold fish like you. Plus, Im pregnant with his baby. Who do you think hell choose? You or me?]

Along with the text was a short video.

In the video, a girl was leaning over a hotel bathroom sink, her phone camera aimed at the mirror.

Behind her, a pair of familiar hands gripped her hair tightly. The screen shook violently for a long time before the video finally ended.

That very night, I slid the divorce papers in front of Ethan Sterling.

He smirked, casually pressing his burning cigarette butt right onto the signature line, burning a hole through the paper.

"In the Sterling family, wives don't get divorces. The only way you leave this mansion is in a body bag."

"Stella, if you don't want to die, you stay by my side."

I didn't believe in fairy tales. I hired the best lawyers and sought out the most unbiased judges.

But after 32 divorce lawsuits, I suffered 32 consecutive defeats.

It wasnt until the 33rd trial that my twenty-year-old self from ten years ago suddenly woke up in this future.

When I opened my eyes again, the cold, stern voice of the judge echoed in my ears.

"Mrs. Stella Sterling, regarding your divorce petition against Mr. Ethan Sterling..."

I snapped my head up.

On the digital screen directly ahead of me, a line of bold text stared back at me:

[Plaintiff: Stella Rivers. Defendant: Ethan Sterling. Case: Divorce Petition.]

[Date: July 8, 2026.]

I froze in my seat, my fingertips turning ice-cold.

Just a moment ago, Ethan was dressed in his groom's tuxedo, standing in front of a hall full of guests, reaching his hand out to me across the crowd.

But in the blink of an eye, he had become the man I was fighting in court just to get away from!

Across the aisle, Ethan sat in the defendant's seat. He wore a crisp black suit, his eyes utterly cold and indifferent.

Whispers from the gallery drifted into my ears.

"Stella married him in such a lavish wedding back then. Who knew she'd end up abandoned by her husband?"

"I heard she insisted on divorcing Ethan, which caused the Rivers family to go bankrupt. Her father jumped from a building, her mother died of illness, and she herself went crazy for a few years."

My face drained of color.

In the next second, a flood of foreign, sharp, and painful memories rushed into my mind like a tidal wave.

So, in the third year of our marriage, Ethan had cheated on me with a college student named Chloe Bennett.

He didn't even bother to hide it. He openly brought Chloe back to the Sterling mansion.

Broken-hearted, I fled back to my parents' house and filed for divorce for the first time.

But Ethan refused.

He said, "Stella, I courted you for three years before I finally made you my wife. You don't get to just walk away."

I refused to turn back, and my family refused to bow down to him.

So, Ethan personally set a trap that bankrupted my family overnight.

Faced with hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, my father was forced to jump from the top floor of his office building.

The shock triggered a fatal heart attack in my mother. She passed away the very night she was rushed to the ER.

And I completely lost my mind under the weight of the endless grief.

Over the years, I had tried to divorce him again and again.

Including this trial, it was already the thirty-second time.

The rush of memories was too violent.

My vision went completely black, and I collapsed onto the floor.

When I woke up again, I was lying in the master bedroom of the Sterling mansion.

The night outside was pitch black, and only a single floor lamp lit the room.

Ethan sat by the edge of the bed, his voice completely flat.

"Stella, are you done throwing tantrums? Youve dragged this into court thirty-two times. Aren't you embarrassed enough?"

My throat felt tight. "You think I'm the one who should be embarrassed?"

Ethan frowned slightly, as if I was being completely unreasonable.

"You knew what the Sterling family was like before you married me."

"My father kept four women by his side, and they all managed to live in peace."

"I only have you and Chloe. Why can't you just be satisfied?"

A sharp pain squeezed my heart.

I stared at the familiar yet strange face of the man in front of me. I suddenly remembered ten years ago, when Ethan had knelt in my parents' living room, his eyes red as he promised my mother and father:

"In this lifetime, I will only ever love Stella."

Yet now, he could casually ask me why I couldn't just accept another woman.

I let out a soft, bitter laugh.

Ethans eyes darkened. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing."

I slowly looked up, my voice so quiet it carried no emotion.

"I just realized how stupid I used to be."

Ethan stared at me.

But I lowered my eyes first, seemingly resigned to my fate.

"I won't fight you anymore."

The room fell dead silent for a moment.

Ethan's expression softened slightly. "You finally understand?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"No more divorces?"

"No more."

"What about Chloe?"

"Let her move in. Give her the second floor. I don't mind."

Ethan stood up, looking down at me from his towering height.

"Stella, you should have realized this a long time ago."

"The Sterling family isn't a place you can just enter and leave whenever you want."

"Remember, in this family, wives don't get divorces. The only way you leave is in a coffin."

With that, he turned and walked out.

I slowly sat up and pulled a crumpled piece of paper from under my pillow.

It was the pre-nuptial agreement he had personally signed before our wedding ten years ago.

Back then, he had held my hand, his voice incredibly tender:

"Stella, if there ever comes a day when I fail you, you can leave me at any time."

In this timeline, I had personally torn that paper to shreds during our first year of marriage.

But this copy had traveled with my twenty-year-old self from the wedding day ten years ago.

Ethan wasted no time.

Early the next morning, he moved Chloe into the Sterling mansion.

I stood on the third-floor balcony, leaning against the railing. I watched the servants carry suitcase after suitcase into the second-floor rooms.

My heart was strangely calm. Just as I was about to turn around and go back to my room, my eyes caught the wedding photo hanging on the wall.

It was Ethans favorite picture, the one we used to welcome guests at our wedding.

I calmly called over a nearby maid.

"Take down the wedding photo."

"Now that Miss Bennett has moved in, keeping this up is just awkward, don't you think?"

The maid froze. "But Ma'am... last time Miss Bennett just accidentally brushed against it, and you threw a massive fit..."

Seeing her hesitate, I said softly, "Like you said, that was before. Now, I just don't want to look at it anymore."

The maid took the photo down.

I returned to my room.

Not long after I lay down, my bedroom door was pushed open.

Chloe walked in, carrying a cup of hot tea.

This was the first time I had actually faced her since arriving in this future.

She wore a simple white dress. With her delicate features and fragile frame, she easily triggered a mans instinct to protect her.

Chloe smiled as she approached, placing the tea on the nightstand.

"Well, Stella, it seems your little drama didn't work out."

"You fought so hard for so many years, but in the end, you still had to let me move in through the front door."

I looked at her calmly.

"Women like you are dime a dozen in the Sterling family. No matter how much Ethan favors you, you still need the wife's permission to live in this house."

"If you're really that capable, kick me out and take my place as the official Mrs. Sterling."

Chloes face twisted in anger. "What do you have to brag about?"

"I am the woman Ethan loves most now!"

"He chased you for three years, and loved you for three years after marriage. That's only six years in total."

"But he and I have been together for seven years now!"

Seven years.

Those words felt like a knife driving deep into my chest.

The pain made me turn pale, my lips trembling. I couldn't utter a single word.

Just as I was about to kick her out, a flash of malice crossed Chloe's eyes. She suddenly grabbed the cup of hot tea and poured it directly onto her own arm without a second thought!

"Ah!" A piercing scream echoed through the room.

Almost instantly, the bedroom door was kicked open.

Chloe's eyes welled with tears, her voice shaking. "Ethan, don't blame Stella... I just wanted to show her respect by serving her tea. She probably found me eyesore and got angry..."

Before she could finish, her tears fell.

Ethan rushed over and looked at me, his eyes burning with fury.

"You should know the rules of this house, Stella. Now that Chloe is here, she has the same rights and status as you. You have no right to bully her!"

I propped myself up. "I didn't touch her. She poured it on herself."

"Still lying?" Ethan turned to the bodyguards standing at the door.

"Go. Bring up ten cups of boiling tea."

Two heavy-handed bodyguards immediately pinned my shoulders down.

Ethan gripped Chloe's hand, guiding her to pick up the first cup of boiling tea.

The moment the hot liquid splashed onto my skin, a searing, unbearable pain exploded across my arm.

The second cup.

The third cup.

The scalding water kept pouring down. My arm quickly turned bright red, and painful blisters began to bubble up.

I bit my lip so hard it bled. My mind flashed back to many years ago.

Back then, I had only nicked my finger on a broken piece of porcelain, and Ethan had rushed me to the hospital, his eyes red with worry as he said, Stella, I cant bear to see you in pain.

But now, as ten cups of boiling tea scalded my flesh, he didn't even blink.

When the last cup was poured, I was trembling so hard I could barely sit up.

Ethan coldly let go of my hand.

"Remember, this is your first warning."

"Do it again, and it won't just be tea."

With that, he wrapped his arm around Chloe and walked out.

The door slammed shut.

I collapsed onto the floor, the pain so intense I almost blacked out.

Ethan had left a strict order before leaving: no one was allowed to treat my burns.

All night, my wounds became severely infected, and I developed a dangerously high fever.

I lay on the bed, drifting in and out of consciousness.

One moment, I was dreaming of my father falling from the top of his office building, his blood pooling on the pavement before my eyes.

The next, I was in the cold, white hallway of the hospital, the doctor pulling off his mask and saying, Im sorry, we did everything we could.

Then, the scene shifted to my parents' funeral.

In front of their black-and-white portraits, I knelt on the ground, crying until I couldn't breathe. Dad, Mom, I was wrong... I loved the wrong person...

My body was burning up, my lips cracked and bleeding as I muttered.

"Water..."

Soon, someone actually lifted my chin gently and slowly poured warm water into my mouth.

I struggled to open my eyes.

But the moment I saw the face of the person beside my bed, I froze.

"Mary? What are you doing here? Ethan gave strict orders... no one is allowed to come in."

Marys eyes were red, and she squeezed my burning hand, her tears spilling over.

"Oh, Stella... You are the rightful lady of this house. How could he treat you like this?"

"Its all because of that Chloe. She's young but so wicked, ruining another woman's family. People like her will face karma!"

Before I could warn her to leave, the bedroom door was pushed open.

Chloe stood at the doorway. A smug, cold smirk flashed across her face, but her voice instantly turned soft and victimized.

"Stella, I only came to check on you out of kindness."

"How could you and Mary humiliate me like this?"

Ethan arrived shortly after.

"Stella, is there no end to this?"

"You're already injured, and you're still causing trouble. Do you want to be punished again?"

At the word punished, Mary panicked and instantly fell to her knees.

"Mr. Sterling, it has nothing to do with Stella!"

"It was me! I couldn't bear to see her like this, so I said a few bad words to Miss Bennett. Please, don't blame Stella!"

Ethans eyes darkened, but he also seemed to let out a breath of relief. He said coldly, "Since youre the one stirring up trouble, you will take the punishment."

My pupils shrunk.

"No..."

I dragged myself to the edge of the bed, falling to the floor, and grabbed the hem of Ethan's pants.

"Mary is old. She can't take any physical punishment. Ethan, punish me instead."

"I don't have my parents anymore. Mary is the only person left in this world who cares about me."

Ethans face turned incredibly dark, and he let out a cold, mocking laugh.

"Good."

"The only person left who cares about you."

"So in your heart, everyone in the Sterling family combined doesn't even compare to a mere servant."

I stared up at him in shock.

Ethan averted his gaze, looking down coldly at the kneeling Mary.

"I will give you two choices."

"Either you take ten lashes according to the Sterling family rules."

"Or you pack your things and leave this house right now. From now on, you are no longer employed by the Sterlings, and you won't be punished."

I clenched my fists against his trousers until my knuckles turned white.

"Ethan, you can't do this..."

Mary looked at me on the floor, a look of utter despair in her eyes as she closed them.

"I'll leave."

The next morning, Mary was packing her things to leave.

I supported myself against the wall, dragging my weak body to the servants' quarters. Before I reached the door, I heard Chloe's voice from inside.

"Search everything thoroughly. Don't let her steal anything that doesn't belong to her."

With a wave of her hand, two bodyguards immediately stepped forward and began tearing through Marys coat pockets.

Chloe stood by, her smile widening.

"Didn't you call me a home-wrecker last night?"

"Look at you now. You're so old, yet you have no dignity left."

Overwhelmed by anger and humiliation, Mary suddenly clutched her chest, gasping violently for air.

Seeing this, I instantly realized she was having a severe asthma attack. I forced myself to crawl forward, reaching for the inhaler that had fallen onto the floor.

But just as my fingers brushed the plastic canister, Chloe snatched it away.

"That's her medicine! Give it back to me!"

Chloe looked down at the small inhaler in her palm, then turned and walked out toward the garden.

I stumbled and crawled as I chased after her.

In the backyard garden, several of Ethan's hunting mastiffs were kept inside a fenced enclosure. Hearing the commotion, the large dogs immediately grew restless and began to growl.

Chloe raised her hand and casually tossed the inhaler over the fence.

The canister rolled into the dirt, and the dogs immediately surrounded it.

Chloe turned back, her smile innocent yet sadistic.

"Stella, don't you care about her the most?"

"Then go in there and get her medicine."

Without a single second of hesitation, I climbed over the fence and dropped into the enclosure.

Smelling the blood from my burned arm, the mastiffs immediately lunged at me.

I was dragged to the ground. My back slammed hard against the stone steps, and the pain made me almost lose consciousness.

Just when I thought I was going to be mauled to death, a furious roar echoed from behind.

"Back off!"

The dogs were quickly driven away.

Ethan rushed into the enclosure, scooped my blood-soaked body into his arms, and carried me out.

When I woke up again, I was lying in a hospital bed.

As soon as I opened my eyes, the nurse standing by my bed whispered gently, "Miss Rivers, please accept my condolences."

"The elderly lady, Mary... she was already gone by the time she arrived at the ER."

I stared at her blankly.

It took a long time for those words to register. When they did, I coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood.

The last person in this world who truly loved me was gone.

Sometime later, the door to my hospital room was pushed open again.

Marcus Sterling, Ethan's father, was wheeled in by his assistant.

He slid a document onto my overbed table, his voice completely indifferent.

"The divorce is finalized."

I mechanically reached out to take the papers.

On the very day I had woken up in this future, I had secretly sent the old pre-nuptial agreement to Marcus.

Marcus had never liked me anyway. He thought I was too stubborn and lacked the tolerance expected of a Sterling wifemeaning I couldn't accept my husband having other women.

So when he saw the agreement Ethan had signed ten years ago, he gladly helped me process the divorce behind Ethan's back.

"Ethan has his men stationed all over the hospital. You can't walk out of the front door."

"I've arranged a helicopter on the rooftop. Leave North City immediately before he finds out."

Clinging to my battered body, I silently followed Marcuss men up to the helipad.

The wind was howling, whipping my hospital gown against my skin.

I took one last look at the city that had imprisoned me for ten years. There wasn't a single shred of regret in my eyes.

As the helicopter lifted into the air, I closed my eyes.

From this day forward, Ethan Sterling and I were finished.