Those words had only made me more determined to give him a child of our own.
On our tenth anniversary, my wish finally came true, only for it to come hand in hand with a devastating diagnosis—cancer.
Looking back now, I understood. The reason Ridley had suggested adoption… was because he already had his biological child with someone else!
The corner of my mouth twisted bitterly at that realization.
Before long, I reached Clarion Hotel.
I knew exactly which hall Ridley favored. Just a few steps in, I spotted him.
His face was full of fondness as he lifted a boy—about five years old—high into the air.
Beside him, a woman in a crimson dress, looking incomparably alluring, curled her lips into a smile.
They looked, in every way, like a warm and happy family of three.
In a casual tone, Ridley warned his buddies.
“Don’t let word of this get out. Otherwise, Agnes will just come here and make a scene.”
One of his friends hesitated as he looked around him. “But, man, you’re holding this party at the Clarion. She’s bound to hear about it.”
Ridley glanced down at the squirming boy in his arms with a soft expression—but his voice was ice.
“I’ve shut down the gossip. She won’t know. I gave her ten years, and yet she still couldn’t give me a child. The Swicords have been waiting for an heir.”
His eyes swept the group. “You’re not to breathe a word of this.”
The friend thumped his chest and agreed. “Relax. We’re not idiots. But hey, she knows more people than just us—what if she hears from someone else?”
He hesitated before adding, “And… what if she gets pregnant later? What will you do then?”
Ridley’s expression hardened.
“I’ve promised Lynzee—the Swicord heir will only ever be our child. Even if Agnes gets pregnant later, I won’t change my mind. If it comes to that… I won’t let her keep the baby.”
I stood rooted at the entrance as his words slid into my heart like a blade.
So… everything he’d ever told me was a lie!
He hadn’t been unconcerned about my infertility. He’d simply had someone else carrying his child the whole time!
I knew the woman beside him—Lynzee Sher, his childhood sweetheart.
After we married, I’d believed they’d cut off contact.
But it turned out, they already had a five-year-old child!
For ten years, I’d been nothing but a fool living in the dark!
When Lynzee heard Ridley’s promise, her eyes lit up with satisfaction.