Discarded Twice, I Chose Myself

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The first time was my arranged marriage to billionaire Julian Maxwell.

On the day of my prenatal appointment, I walked in on him having sex with a college student by the 23rd-floor window.

He didn't apologize. Instead, he threw me, sobbing, out the door.

The second time, I married my childhood friend, Caleb Johnson, who'd pursued me for ten years.

He didn't mind that my ex-husband, Julian, harassed me every year.

He didn't mind that even after three years of marriage, I still couldn't get pregnant.

During sex, he'd bite my ear and whisper, "If you don't want to have kids, then don't. I have enough with just you."

But on our wedding anniversary, he suddenly brought home a strange woman and ordered the butler to throw my luggage out of the master bedroom.

My voice trembled as I asked, "What do you mean?"

He held a cigarette between his fingers, as if I'd said something hilarious.

"Audrey, you're just a toy Julian threw away. Now, I don't want you either."

I quietly hid the pregnancy test stick in my hand.

The pregnancy test stick in my palm felt like it was on fire, repeatedly scorching me.

I looked at him, not stubbornly demanding an answer like last time.

Because the woman's triumphant smirk and bulging belly explained everything.

I picked up my bag, ready to leave.

Caleb snuffed out his cigarette and blocked my path, a vengeful pleasure flickering in his eyes.

"You still had lingering ties with Julian, and I never said a harsh word. You didn't want to have kids with me because of him, and I didn't blame you excessively."

"Now I have a child with someone else, and I'm not even asking you to raise it. Why are you acting like I've wronged you?"

The smile on his lips widened, his tone growing more self-righteous.

"We're childhood sweethearts, Audrey. I'm just having an affair; it won't threaten your position."

That familiar dull ache spread through my heart.

He wasn't wrong.

I'd been through this; I had experience.

So this time, I didn't say much, just slapped him.

"Caleb Johnson, you disgust me."

A collective gasp rippled through the room.

The smile on Caleb's face faded. He grabbed my hand, his eyes turning cold.

"You have the nerve to call me disgusting? You've been married twice! Why should I be loyal to you?"

The pregnancy test stick finally gave way under the pressure.

Crack. It snapped in half, piercing my flesh.

I didn't feel the pain, but tears fell.

Caleb's eyes narrowed, a hint of panic flashing through them. He instinctively softened.

"Alright, I promise you, once the baby is born, I'll send her away."

Looking at that face I'd known for over a decade.

I only felt a profound sense of unfamiliarity.

He touched what was in my palm, freezing slightly. "What are you holding?"

I shook him off and tossed the broken stick into the trash.

My eyelids drooped, my voice barely a whisper.

"It's not important. Unwanted trash."

I was talking about the baby.

I was also talking about myself, abandoned for the second time.

Caleb furrowed his brow, about to ask again.

But a cry of pain from behind him drew his attention.

The woman, stroking her belly, slowly took off her mask.

One look, and I was frozen stiff.

She was the same college student Julian had pinned against the window, having sex with, three years ago. And she was also the underprivileged student I'd sponsored for years.

Three years.

Chloe Miller was still so fresh, her skin like a peeled egg.

Julian used to describe her that way.

He said he couldn't get enough of her.

He said that even while sleeping in my bed, his heart and dreams were filled with her.

My previous departure and acceptance.

What I got in return was her getting involved with my second man again.

And she'd gotten pregnant before me.

By the look of her pregnancy, they'd been entangled for a long time.

I bit my lip, my nails digging into my palm, and slowly walked over.

"Audrey!"

Chloe seemed to recognize me only then, grabbing my hand with feigned surprise and delight.

"After we parted ways in New York, I never expected you'd return to San Francisco. We truly are fated, with such similar taste in men"

I didn't speak, just raised my hand and swung.

Slap!

But it wasn't Chloe who was hit. It was Caleb.

He blocked her, clutching his face, his expression completely darkening.

"Audrey, there's a limit to how much you can act out! Two slaps are enough!"

"She's delicate, and she's pregnant. Don't take your anger out on her! You don't want to relive that pathetic state from three years ago, do you?"

My body trembled violently.

It was like returning to that snowy night years ago.

After I'd walked in on Julian's affair.

He dropped the pretense entirely, self-righteously questioning me.

"Women have a three-month shelf life with me. You lasted a yearI already made an exception for you. What more do you want?"

"Even if I loved you, I wouldn't give up an entire forest for you."

To force me into submission, he used all his business tactics against me: freezing my bank accounts, seizing my cash, and then kicking me out like a stray dog.

It was deep winter, snowing heavily. I was covered in bruises, pinned down in the snow by a group of homeless men. Blood stained the ground beneath me, my face was ashen.

Caleb appeared out of nowhere, chasing them away. His eyes were bloodshot as he held me tightly in his arms.

"Audrey, don't be scared I'll protect you with my life."

It was truly laughable.

Years ago, Chloe knelt at my feet, vowing to repay me with her life. Instead, she repaid me in bed.

And Caleb promised to protect me with his life, only to fall for the same ungrateful wretch three years later.

The snow wasn't heavy.

But it felt colder than that year.

I wiped away the dampness from my eyes, picked up my phone, and didn't spare a glance for the people behind me.

I planned to make do in the guest room for the night.

"Wait," Chloe suddenly spoke up, then, in front of me, she wrapped her arms around Caleb's neck.

"Didn't you say I could have the south-facing bedroom and that it's more exciting by the window?"

Chloe looked at me, slowly completing the second half of her sentence.

Caleb chuckled softly, met my gaze, picked her up, and carried her inside.

That room was originally our honeymoon suite, with an open-lattice roof because Caleb said he wanted to watch the stars with me as we slept.

Later, it was converted into a nursery. He said he hoped our future baby would wake up to the sun every day.

But now.

Before the baby was even born, this place, once filled with our love, was about to become their sordid love nest.

The carpet, the sofa, the balcony outside.

Caleb would be on top of this woman, just like Julian was.

They would pant, they would scream

I closed my eyes.

The thud of the door closing was like a knife,

piercing my heart.

I leaned against the wall, barely able to stand.

But the tears could no longer be held back.

In the dead silence, my phone buzzed.

A message from an unknown number: "Audrey, don't you want to know why Caleb cheated on you with Chloe?"

"Tomorrow at nine AM, The Grand Conservatory. I'll be waiting."

No need to guess.

The person meeting me was my ex-husband, Julian Maxwell.

The Grand Conservatory was where we first met.

My mother's last memento failed to sell at auction, leaving my eyes red with sadness.

The next day, he knocked on my door with that very memento.

For the next six months, a constant stream of gifts piled up like mountains in the Spencer's living room.

My father wanted to marry me off for a good price.

Seeing he was New York's wealthiest man, my father rejected the Johnson family's offer and accepted Julian's.

As a Spencer heiress, I was accustomed to fame and pretense.

I didn't have many expectations for an arranged marriage.

He was the one who shattered the ice with his clumsy love letters.

At a yacht party, I accidentally fell overboard. He jumped in without hesitation to save me. I was unharmed afterward, but his legs were gnawed to the bone by fish.

I'd be writhing in pain in bed during my period. He'd ignore billion-dollar deals, rush into the kitchen, scald his fingers till they looked like red radishes, all just to make me a soothing ginger tea.

I was overjoyed, thinking I had found a good man.

So I invited Chloe Miller, the underprivileged student I sponsored, to New York.

Instead, they turned me into an abandoned wife, kicking me out.

Thinking of these things.

It no longer hurt.

Just like seeing Julian again no longer made me sad.

He was still the same, deep-eyed and handsome, just a little thinner.

"There's something I should tell you."

Seeing me sit down, he pushed his phone across the table.

"What?"

Julian paused, as if hesitant, but finally, he unlocked the phone screen.

I glanced at it, and my body began to tremble uncontrollably.

In the video, Caleb was holding a cigarette, distributing money to a group of homeless men.

Seeing my stunned expression,

Julian adjusted his glasses.

"When it comes to ruthlessness, I can't compare to Caleb. I was the one who threw you out, but it was him who deliberately arranged for those homeless men to assault you."

Boom!

"To get you, he'd stop at nothing, willing to destroy you"

As he spoke.

Distorted faces flooded my vision.

Curses, sneers, the agonizing tearing pain, the embryo crushed into fragments.

"Enough!"

I screamed, rising to my feet, gasping for air.

My face felt cold and numb.

I didn't know if it was for the pain of that night.

Or for him, who, with one word "deliberately" destroyed three years of supposed love.

I stared at him, grinding my teeth as I asked,

"How much better are you than him?"

"You're telling me the truth just to prove that the man I desperately ran back to San Francisco for, isn't as good as you"

My voice was hoarse.

Letting the tears fall, one by one.

"You want to prove that even if I left you, I wouldn't find happiness, that you'll always be my best option. But what's the difference between you and him?"

Julian was silent for a moment, then slowly began to speak.

"I'm a bastard, I wronged you, but I never intended to replace you. But I heard, Mrs. Johnson is about to be replaced."

"He's been hiding it from you, taking Chloe everywhere to socialize, even to the Johnson family estate. He even,"

He paused, his sharp gaze fixed on me,

"even went to City Hall and got a marriage certificate. I only threw you out of the house. But he's completely thrown you out of this marriage, Audrey. Come with me."

My nerves suddenly went numb.

I felt nothing.

Like the blankness that comes with extreme pain.

I opened my mouth, about to refuse.

My neck was suddenly grabbed with force, and an angry roar exploded in my ear.

"Julian Maxwell! Dream on!"

Caleb used deadly force.

He nearly snapped my neck.

"Aren't you pathetic? You suffer some injustice with me, and you run to your old lover for comfort?"

I didn't speak, nor did I struggle.

I just stared at him.

Julian, however, stood up. "Let her go!"

The next second, he was surrounded by a circle of bodyguards.

Caleb sneered, a sinister look flashing across his face.

"You have no say here! Don't forget, she's my wife now!"

"You send her gifts every year and stay entangled with her. If you loved her so much, what were you doing back then?"

Julian's face went pale, his fists clenched tight.

"Caleb Johnson, don't get too smug. You'll end up following in my footsteps!"

With that, he turned to me. "Audrey, when you've thought it through, come find me."

Before Caleb could react, Julian pushed past him and stormed out.

The air felt sticky.

Silent and oppressive.

I walked past Caleb and got into the car first.

He followed behind me, urgently shouting, "You're not allowed to go with him, not allowed to see him, and not allowed to contact him!"

Seeing I didn't respond, he suddenly went wild, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me forcefully.

"I'm talking to you, do you hear me?!"

"You've been divorced once, you don't want a second divorce, do you? Back then, he abandoned you, and the Spencer family didn't care either."

"Only I was good to you. Audrey, don't be swayed by him. Just be a good Mrs. Johnson"

Good to me?

Lying to me, trampling me, the kind of "good" that nearly killed me?

I laughed softly.

Caleb twisted my head towards him, his eyes filled with urgency. "What are you laughing at?"

I refused to look at him, simply asking.

"Besides Chloe, is there anything else you've been hiding from me?"

Caleb's body stiffened, and he unnaturally turned his head to look out the window.

He didn't admit it.

But he admitted everything.

I laughed louder and louder.

And my heart ached more and more.

My hoarse voice, in the confined space, was like a sharp blade.

"Enough! Stop laughing!"

Caleb raised his voice, reaching out to cover my mouth.

Rage surged in my chest, almost tearing me apart.

I grabbed his hand and bit him hard.

I didn't let go until I tasted blood in my throat.

"Caleb Johnson! You're an animal!"

"You've always wanted to know who I love most, haven't you? I'll be honest, I love Julian Maxwell. I regret divorcing him."

"After all, no matter how much of a jerk he was, he didn't cause me to lose a baby!"

Caleb's breathing grew heavy, his eyes glinting with violence.

He grabbed my neck, his eyes bloodshot.

"Do you think I don't regret it?"

"I, Caleb Johnson, could have any woman I wanted, but I ended up with a worn-out tramp whose baby died in her womb!"

"Julian Maxwell's taste is good. Chloe is not only more fun than you, but better in bed too!"

Thunder exploded overhead.

The pain was so intense I could barely breathe.

When I tried to speak again, he clamped my jaw shut.

"What, you like biting now?"

"Chloe was right, you and Julian really were having an affair!"

Caleb's furious face swam before my eyes, completely devoid of his former tenderness.

Blood dripped from the corner of my mouth.

I felt my vision blacken.

Then I passed out.

When I opened my eyes again.

I was chained to the bed.

Chloe sat by the bedside, smiling as she held a steaming bowl of medicine.

"Caleb said you were too agitated, so he told you to drink this."

No one else was around, so she didn't bother to pretend. She grabbed my hair, forcing my head back.

I suppressed the pain, trembling as I demanded,

"I treated you well, why would you"

Chloe pinched my chin, then suddenly burst into laughter.

"Why? Because you're stupid! You're pathetic! You practically threw yourself at me!"

"I hate rich people like you, with your high-and-mighty attitudes. And I especially hate hypocritical idiots like you! You like to give charity, don't you? Well, I'm going to make sure you're trampled into the dirt!"

At that moment.

The medicine was forced down my throat.

The bitterness, mixed with a cramping pain in my lower abdomen, made me curl up and shiver.

My nails dug into the wall, and I spoke with difficulty.

"What did you give me?"

She maintained her sweet smile, slowly saying,

"Medicine."

"An abortifacient. In just ten minutes, your second child will also turn into a bloody mess, flowing out of you."

Her loud laughter pierced my eardrums.

I leaned back against the headboard, trembling.

My eyes, however, found the dagger on the fruit plate.

Chloe continued to gloat triumphantly.

"In five more months, my baby will be born. And your baby will be a rotting piece of flesh, a failure. You couldn't even protect your own child"

Chloe didn't finish her last sentence.

Because I had the dagger at her throat.

My hand instinctively tightened, and blood seeped from her neck.

She shrieked in pain.

"Stop!"

Caleb, who had rushed in, his face completely grim.

It wasn't concern, but rather the anger of someone certain of a certain outcome.

"For Julian, you'd actually kill someone? Do you love him that much?"

"Caleb, she's gone mad for Julian! Save me, save the baby"

Chloe cried and pleaded, stroking her belly.

"Don't be scared, baby. Nothing will happen to you!"

Listening to Caleb's tender, reassuring tone.

I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

Their baby would be fine

What about my baby?

I instinctively looked down.

The white bedding was stained crimson.

My eyes burned with a searing ache, and the hand holding the knife began to waver.

The next second, the knife was snatched away and thrown aside.

Caleb instinctively frowned. "Audrey, where are you hurt?"

Chloe quickly answered, "It's her period."

Caleb paused, a flicker of disappointment crossing his brows.

I just watched him, carrying the murderer of our second child onto the soft couch, pouring her water, serving her tea, tucking her in.

And beneath me, it grew colder and redder.

I stumbled to the couch, slowly reaching out my hand.

"Ah!"

Chloe shrieked!

Caleb instinctively turned with the knife.

Pain truly makes one weak.

When I was thirteen, I fell off a swing.

He ended up being my human cushion.

I was fine, but he broke three ribs.

I cried and scolded him for not dodging.

He smiled, looking both sheepish and wronged. "Silly, if I had dodged, what would have happened to you? I wouldn't want you to feel even a tiny bit of pain"

Fifteen-year-old Caleb didn't want me to feel any pain.

Thirty-year-old Caleb, however, was cruel enough to stab me in the heart.

Puff!

The knife tip pierced through flesh.

Blood splattered before my eyes.

I watched Caleb's pupils slowly widen.

His eyes were bloodshot.

His face ashen.

My fingers trembled as I touched his utterly despairing face.

"Why did you have those homeless men harm me?"

"Why did you kill my child again and again?"