Twice Cast Aside

I was thrown out someone else's door twice before I even turned thirty. The first time was during my marriage with Donald Stern, a businessman. When it was time for my pregnancy checkup, I found out he was making love to a college girl right in front of the 100th floor's window. He called me a childish woman and threw me out the door. My father told me that all wealthy men cheated sooner or later. To prove people wrong, I married my childhood friend of ten years, Shawn Foster. He was accepting and caring of me. He did not mind that my ex-husband still sent apology gifts every year. He did not even mind that we had no children after three years of marriage. Every time we were going at it and reaching the climax, he would nibble on my ear and whisper, "We don't need children. All I need is you." On our anniversary, he brought home a woman I had never seen before and ordered the butler to throw my luggage out of the main bedroom. I clenched the pregnancy test I had not yet shown him. With a trembling voice, I asked, "What's the meaning of this?" A cigarette sat between his fingers. He had a look on his face that said he had just heard the biggest joke getting cracked. "Drop the act already, Yvonne. Haven't you learned anything from Donald dumping you?" Chapter 1 That Woman The pregnancy kit in my hand started to burn hotter and hotter, searing my flesh. I stared at Shawn, but unlike last time, I did not stubbornly demand an answer. The smug look in the woman's eyes and the curve of her stomach already told me everything I needed to know. I picked up my bag and tried to leave. Shawn snuffed his cigarette out and stopped me. His eyes were filled with the satisfaction of revenge. "I never scolded you for still having ties with Donald. I never scolded you for not having any children with me for him. So, I found a woman who would bear my child. I didn't make you do anything you didn't want. Don't make it my fault." His grin widened, and he straightened his back, as if he had finally found enough justification for his betrayal. "We might be childhood friends, but this circle has its rules. Heirs must be born, and lovers are always abundant. The heir and mistress are separate. It won't hurt your standing." A familiar ache throbbed in my chest. He was right. I knew this better than anyone. After all, this was not my first time. I said nothing. Then, I slapped him across the face. "You disgust me, Shawn!" Everyone gasped. The smile on Shawn's face died a little. He grabbed my hand, and the look in his eyes went cold. "I'm disgusting? You're married twice! Why should I stay pure just for you?" The pregnancy kit snapped under the pressure, and the broken parts stabbed into my flesh. Though it was not painful, I still shed tears. Shawn's eyes narrowed, and he panicked. His first instinct was to step down. "Fine, I'll send her away once the child's here." I stared at the man I called my childhood friend and thought that perhaps I never knew him at all. His hand found the thing I was holding, and he was stunned. "What were you holding?" I shook him off and tossed the broken test into the bin. Then I lowered my eyes and said quietly, "Nothing important. Just trash no one wants." I meant the baby and the woman who was dumped the second time. Me. Shawn frowned. He seemed ready to keep questioning me, but a soft gasp of pain came from behind him. The woman caressed her belly and slowly took her mask off. One look at her face, and I froze. She was the college girl Donald had betrayed me with. And she was also the underprivileged student I had sponsored for years. Chapter 2 Her Past It had been three years. Cecelia Wood was still as flawless as ever, her skin smooth as glass. That was what Donald had once said about her. He said he could not tear himself away from her. He said every time he slept with me, all he could think about was her. I left Donald so they could be together, and now she came after my second husband. She had his baby before I did. Judging from the curve of her stomach, their affair had clearly been going on for a while. I bit my lip, and my nails dug into my palm as I approached her. "Yvonne!" Cecelia pretended to have just recognized me. She grabbed my hand and put on a surprised look. "I didn't think you'd come back to Imperia after leaving Porton. What are the odds! We have the same taste in men, huh?" I did not listen. My hand was already raised, and I swung it down. But instead of Cecelia, Shawn was the one who took the slap. He stood before her and covered his cheek. His face fell. "That's going too far! Two slaps is more than enough, Yvonne! She's frail and pregnant! Don't vent on her. You don't want to go through the same thing you did three years ago, do you?" My body shivered, as if it was transported back to that snowy night. After I ran into Donald cheating, he dropped the act and questioned me matter-of-factly, "What more do you want? Women usually only last three months with me. I stayed with you for an entire year." "Even if I do love you, I can't just give up on the other fish in the sea." To make me submit, he threw every single business tactic he could at me. Freezing my card, taking my cash, and dragging me out like a dog. It was late winter, and it was snowing heavily. A group of vagrants pinned me down in the snow, and my whole body was covered in marks of abuse. A crimson pool spread underneath me, and my face went white. Shawn showed up suddenly and beat those vagrants back. He then pulled me tightly into his embrace, his eyes red. "It's alright. I'll protect you even if it costs me my life." What a joke. Cecelia went on her knees and promised she would repay me even if it took her forever. Then, she repaid it by stealing my husband. Shawn promised to protect me even if it would cost him his life. Three years later, he fell for that same ungrateful girl. The snow was not heavy, but it was colder than that first ordeal. I wiped my tears and picked up my phone. I did not spare the people behind me a look and was going to spend the night in the guest room. "Wait!" Cecelia said. Right in front of me, she slid her arm around Shawn's neck. "I thought I was getting the south-facing room?" Then, she looked at me and added with a smile, "And doing it beside the window feels better." Shawn chuckled and looked at me before scooping her up and going into the room. It was supposed to be our room, and the ceiling had been designed to open up to the night sky. Shawn once said he wanted to hold me there while we fell asleep beneath the stars. Later, that room was turned into a nursery. He said he wanted our baby to wake up every morning in sunlight. But the baby had not even arrived yet, and the place that should be filled with love would become their love nest that carried the marks of their sordid affair. The carpet, the couch, and the balcony. Like Donald, Shawn would ride this woman. They would scream, they would moan… I closed my eyes. The door slammed shut, and it tore my heart open. I put my hand on the door and barely managed to stand, then my tears started coming. The air was stifled and heavy. My phone buzzed. An unknown number had texted me. "Want to know why Shawn cheated on you with Cecelia? Seabloom Hall. Nine tomorrow morning." It was obvious the sender was my ex-husband, Donald. Seabloom Hall was where we first met. Back then, my mother's last belongings had failed to sell at auction. I remembered standing there with reddened eyes, my heart full of sorrow. The next day, he knocked on my door with that same belonging. Over the next six months, we received so many gifts, they were piling up in our living room. My father wanted to sell me to the highest bidder. Since he was the richest man in Porton, my father refused the Fosters' proposal and married me off to Donald. As the heiress of my family, I had long grown used to fake courtesy and people weighing every relationship by benefit. So, I did not expect much from that marriage of convenience. But with every single clumsy love letter he wrote, he slowly broke through the ice around my heart. When I fell into the sea during a banquet on a cruise ship, he leaped into the waters to save me. I was unscathed, but the school of fish chomped through his legs until his bones were jutting out. When I was in pain during my period, he would put aside billion-dollar deals just to make me something warm and stay by my side. I was overjoyed, thinking I had found the right person, so I invited the underprivileged student I sponsored into Porton. Then, the two of them made me an unwanted person in that household and kicked me out. Those thoughts killed the pain I had. I would not feel sad even if I saw Donald again. He was as handsome as usual, his eyes deep and dark. However, he did look thinner than he was. "There's something I should tell you." Chapter 3 Cruel Shawn I took my seat, and he slid a phone over. "What is this?" Donald paused for a moment, perhaps hesitating, but in the end, he unlocked the phone. One look at the screen was all it took. I started shivering uncontrollably. The screen showed Shawn standing in a shadowed alley, cigarette in hand, handing money to a group of rough-looking men. Donald noticed my stunned silence and adjusted his glasses. "He's far crueler than I am. Yes, I did kick you out, but he's the one who paid those vagrants to defile you. He would do anything just to get you, even at the cost of destroying you." Every word he spoke dragged a nightmare back into my mind. Twisted, haggard, hideous. Jeers, mocking laughter, and my body's agony ringing loudly in my mind. I was taken back to the moment where my unborn child was lost. "Enough!" I roared as I stood up, and I had to gulp in large mouthfuls of air just to breathe. My face felt ice-cold. I could not tell whether my tears came from the pain of that night or from the fact that the love I had believed in for three years had been built on something so filthy. I stared at Donald and hissed, "You're no better than him. Telling me the truth is just your way of saying the man I risked my life going back to Imperia to date is worse off than you." My voice turned raspy, and I let my tears fall freely. "You want to prove that I'll never be happy if I left you. You want to prove that you're my best choice, but you're no different than him." Donald fell silent for a moment before speaking. "Yes, I'm a bastard, and I've failed you, but I never would've switched you out for anyone else. However, I've heard that he's going to change his wife. "He brought Cecelia to all kinds of events behind your back and even brought her to his family's estate. And…" He paused again, his sharp gaze still on me. "They got their marriage license. All I did was kick you out. He exiled you from the whole marriage. Come back to me, Yvonne." Everything inside me went blank. The pain had gone so far beyond its limit that I could no longer feel it. I opened my mouth and was about to refuse him when someone suddenly grabbed me hard and dragged me up. A furious roar thundered beside me. "As if, Donald!" Shawn used so much force, he nearly snapped my neck. "You're unbelievable. You got snubbed, and the first thing you did was get comfort from your old flame?" I did not say anything or even struggle. All I did was stare at him. Donald stood up. "Let her go!" A group of bodyguards surrounded him. Shawn snickered, and dark cruelty flickered on his face. "You have no right to speak here. She's my wife! You send her gifts every year and can't even cut ties with her. If you loved her so much, why'd you cheat on her?" Donald went white, and he clenched his fists. "Don't get too cocky. You'll end up just like me." He turned to me. "Come to me once you've made up your mind, Yvonne." He shoved Shawn away before he could say anything and stormed off. The air turned thick and heavy, filled with suffocating silence. I went around Shawn and got into the car. He followed me, growling in panic, "You're not going with him, meeting with him, or even staying in touch with him!" I gave no response, and that whipped him into a frenzy. He clenched my shoulders and shook me hard. "I'm talking to you! You've gone through one divorce. You won't want a second. He dumped you, and your family ignored you. "Only I was kind to you. Don't fall for his life. Just marry me and live the life you were meant to…" He called deception, humiliation, and near-murder kind. I hung my head low and chuckled. Shawn pulled my head back to his side, and his eyes were filled with an impatient need for answers. "What's so funny?" I refused to look at him, so I asked, "Are you hiding anything from me, besides Cecelia?" He froze and turned to the window stiffly. He didn't confess, but his silence was the answer anyway. I laughed again, and the sound grew louder with every passing second. The ache in my heart started as a dull throb, but it rose and rose until there was only agony. My raspy laugh scratched the claustrophobic space like a phantom scratching their claws across a blackboard. "Enough! Stop laughing!" Shawn raised his voice and tried to cover my mouth. Fury burned and crashed in my chest, threatening to tear me apart. I grabbed his hand and bit down hard. Only when the taste of iron filled my mouth did I finally let go. "You're a bastard, Shawn! You want to know who I love most? Yeah, it's Donald. I shouldn't have gotten that divorce. He might be scum, but he didn't knock her up!" Shawn's breathing intensified, and his eyes gleamed with violence. He wrapped his hand around my throat, and his eyes went crimson. "You think I don't have second thoughts? I can have any woman I want, and yet I ended up with something used that has a graveyard for her womb! Donald has a good eye for women. At least Cecelia knows how to please a man better than you ever did." Chapter 4 Stabbed I was thunderstruck. The pain in my chest robbed me of air so quickly that I could barely breathe. When I opened my mouth, he clenched my chin. "Do you like biting yourself that much? Cecelia's right. You really are having an affair with him." His fury burned right in front of me, stripped of all the warmth he used to show me. Blood trickled down the corners of my mouth. Everything was fading to black, and I fainted. … When I woke up, I found myself chained to a bed. Cecelia was right beside the bed, smiling as she served a hot brew. "Shawn said you were too excited, so he wanted you to drink this." There was no one else in the room, so Cecelia no longer bothered pretending. She grabbed my hair and forced my head back. I held back the pain as much as I could and asked in a trembling voice, "I've always treated you well. Why…" She clenched my chin and suddenly burst into laughter. "Why? Because you're a fool! You're an idiot for so eagerly showing me kindness! I hate the arrogance you rich people strut around with. I hate fools like you who show fake kindness. If you love pity so much, then I'll drag you down into the dirt and let you taste it properly!" Then she forced the medicine into my mouth. The bitter taste spread across my tongue. A crushing pain twisted through my abdomen, making me curl up and tremble. My nails dug into the cracks in the wall, and with difficulty, I asked, "What did you feed me?" She put on a sweet smile and slowly said, "Medicine. Made for miscarriage. Ten minutes later, your second child will turn into mush and bleed out from your lower body." Her sharp laughter filled the room. I was leaning against the headboard, shivering, but my eyes were on the knife on the fruit platter. Cecelia was still bragging. "My baby comes in five months, while yours will turn into a pile of mush. You're a failure who can't even protect your chil—" Her final word died in her throat. The knife was already in my hand, pressed close enough to make her scream. I tightened my grip, and I drew blood. "Stop!" Shawn had shown up in a hurry, and his face fell. But there was no worry in his eyes. Only anger, as if what he saw confirmed everything he had already decided about me. "You'd kill for Donald? Do you love him so much?" "She's already gone mad for him, Shawn! Save me! Save our baby!" Cecelia begged as she put her hand on her stomach. "It's okay. The baby will be fine," Shawn said, his voice gentle and firm. I wanted to laugh. Of course. Their baby would be fine, but mine? I looked down and saw the crimson patch on the white sheets. My eyes stung, and my grip began to falter. Then, someone snatched my knife away and tossed it away. Shawn frowned. "Are you hurt, Yvonne?" Cecelia answered before I could, "It's just her period." Shawn frowned, and a hint of disappointment flickered in his eyes. I watched as he lifted the woman who had destroyed my child and carefully placed her on the bed. He fussed over her before tucking her in. My lower body was starting to freeze, and the crimson patch was turning two shades darker. I dragged my shivering body up the bed and slowly extended my arm. Cecelia screamed. Shawn grabbed the knife and turned around. Pain always made the body slow. When I was thirteen, I fell from a swing, and he jumped in as my human cushion. I got out fine, but he broke three ribs. I cried and chastised him for not moving out of the way. He put on a sheepish and hurt smile. "You'd have hit the ground if I had moved out of the way. I couldn't let you get hurt." The fifteen-year-old Shawn would never have allowed me to suffer even a scratch. The thirty-year-old Shawn drove the blade into me himself. The edge tore through my skin, and blood spurted. I saw his eyes widen, and they reflected the shade of my blood. His face went white. With trembling fingers, I touched his despair-filled face. "Why did you… send those vagrants after me? Why did you kill… my babies… again and again?"