He chuckled. “Jealous now? Wasn’t marrying her your idea? You said she had a strong build, good for having kids. You wanted her to carry the baby so you could focus on your career without worries, right?”

Carmilla snorted lightly, her eyes smug. “Well, Cruella’s already grown. I hate hiding like this. I don’t want paparazzi calling me a mistress someday, when I knew you first.”

Viggo nodded, his tone soothing. “Don’t worry. I’ve always been careful with her. She’ll never get pregnant with my child.”

“Cruella will be our only child. I’ll handle the divorce cleanly and then marry you.”

My mind exploded with a loud buzz.

All those years, Viggo had claimed he had weak fertility. He begged me again and again to do IVF. He even knelt and swore he would love me for life. I softened. I agreed.

For an entire year, I endured injections, hormone treatments, and pregnancy preservation. God, I nearly died on the operating table!

All along, it was never about wanting a child, huh?

It was about getting a child without Carmilla paying any price!

They had secretly switched the embryos!

I had unknowingly become their surrogate!

Before I could process this absurd truth, Cruella suddenly hugged Carmilla’s leg and looked up at her.

“Mommy! I like you so much!”

“I hate the mommy at home!”

“She’s not pretty, she’s always strict, and she forces me to learn so many things I don’t even like!”

At that moment, my heart went completely empty.

I watched the husband who had always acted like an emotionally clueless “straight man” fuss tenderly over Carmilla.

I watched the girl I had raised for six years, who had never once said “Mom, I love you,” cling to another woman and pour out her affection.

I left the set like a walking corpse. Then I called my dad, with whom I had cut ties years ago just to marry Viggo.

My voice, however, came out unexpectedly calm.

“Dad.”

“I’ve thought it through.”

“I want a divorce. This family… I don’t want it anymore.”

Mariah’s POV

“Are you sure?”

Dad’s voice was low on the line.

“This isn’t just a spur-of-the-moment decision?”

I leaned back against the rear seat of the car and closed my eyes for a second.

“Yeah,” I said. “I’ve thought it through, Dad.”

He paused, then said, “Alright. If you’ve made up your mind, come back.”

“I’ll get you a lawyer. From here on, everything goes by your call.”

“But there’s one thing you need to understand.”