At the wedding, the husband's first love announced that she was pregnant

On our wedding day, my husband’s first love announced that she was pregnant. “I have already prepared the divorce papers. I’ve decided to leave Cassian completely.” My best friend stared at me in shock. “Didn’t he say he was finally going to make your relationship public? Why are you suddenly divorcing him?” I gave her a bitter smile. After seven years of a hidden marriage, Cassian finally agreed to hold a wedding for me. Yet at that very wedding, his first love, Thalia, walked in holding a pregnancy test report and calmly announced that she was carrying his child. Over the years, every time I became pregnant, Cassian made me abort it. And now, he was having a child with another woman. “Agreeing to marry you was only out of responsibility,” he said coldly. “Don’t forget, if you didn’t look like Thalia, I would never have signed an agreement to stay secretly married to you for seven years.” Cassian stood in front of her, shielding her and the child, his gaze sharp and indifferent as it landed on me. I looked like an outsider. The wedding ended in absurdity. I had always known he did not love me. What I never expected was that three days later, when my mother was on her deathbed, I begged him to drive me to the hospital. He abandoned me on the side of the highway. Rain was pouring down in sheets. All because his first love had called him. By the time I finally reached the hospital, I was soaked through, shivering uncontrollably. My mother only had enough strength left to hold my hand once before she passed away. That moment broke me completely. I kept telling myself that Cassian was only emotionally distant, not cruel. But in the hospital, I saw a post Thalia had just shared online. The caption read: “I just said I wanted a little cake, and he dropped everything to buy it for me. Love or no love is really that obvious.” Then she sent me a photo. In the picture, he was crouched in front of her, patiently and carefully wiping the cream from the corner of her lips. The man I had loved for so many years, a man so obsessed with cleanliness that he hesitated for three seconds even before holding my hand, was now lowering his head, his movements gentle, as if he were protecting a priceless treasure. The warmth in his eyes was something I had never dared to hope would ever be meant for me. In that instant, something inside my heart shattered completely. So all my effort over the years had been nothing more than futile self-warming. And she, without trying at all, had become the one he was willing to approach, willing to cherish. That night, I made a decision. A week ago, I quietly placed the divorce agreement on his desk. There was no confrontation. No questions. No tears. The next day, his signature appeared on it, careless and rushed, as though he were handling a matter of no importance at all. Soon, I would finally walk away from this love that had only ever belonged to me alone. …… In the seventh year of our secret marriage, he finally agreed to give me a wedding. I thought it was the beginning of a thaw between us. I never imagined it would be the opening chapter of my nightmare. The priest had just finished reading the vows. Before I could speak, the doors were shoved open. Thalia rushed in, holding a child about five or six years old. In her hand was a pregnancy test report. In the next second, she dropped to her knees in the middle of the red carpet, sobbing so hard it tore at the air. “Cassian, I’m pregnant. Can you pause the wedding first?” Her voice trembled, pitiful and fragile, as if she might faint at any moment. Then she lifted her tear filled eyes toward me and crawled forward a step, almost begging. “Melody, please don’t hurt the child in my womb. Cassian stayed child free with you for seven years because your uterus was injured. He couldn’t bear to let you suffer again. But you can’t ignore his feelings. You can’t force me to abort my baby just because you can’t have children.” The moment her words fell, the entire hall erupted. I froze as if struck by lightning. So he had not only betrayed me. He had already had a child with another woman. What hurt even more was the little boy beside Thalia, lifting his head timidly and calling out in a clear voice, “Dad.” My chest tightened. I could barely stay standing. So this was their second child. Cassian immediately walked over and helped Thalia up. His movements were so gentle they stabbed straight into my eyes. By habit, he drew the mother and child into his arms, as if that was where his real home had always been. Then he looked up at me, his gaze cold and empty. “I agreed to the wedding only to fulfill my responsibility.” “Melody, if you hadn’t looked like Thalia, I would never have agreed to that seven year secret marriage.” Every word carved into my heart like a blade. “Now that she’s back, I finally understand. The only person I ever wanted to marry was her. No one else.” In that moment, I finally understood that my seven year marriage was nothing more than her replacement. After saying that, he took off his wedding ring without hesitation, as if casting away a meaningless connection. Then he took the woman’s hand, placed his other hand on the child’s shoulder, and the three of them walked down the red carpet like a family. He never looked back. He did not spare me a single extra glance. I stood there, my fingers clenched tightly around the bouquet that symbolized happiness, the stems crushed pale white in my grip. Tears fell one by one onto the petals, blurring my vision. Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind. There was only one month left on our secret marriage agreement. I pulled out my phone. My fingers trembled as I dialed a number I had never called in seven years. When the call connected, my voice sounded hoarse and hollow, like it had crawled up from the abyss. “Father, I’ve made my decision. In one month, I’m willing to come back and inherit the family estate.” The moment the words left my mouth, it felt as though I had completely let go of this absurd marriage. The guests whispered and pointed, watching a farce with no one willing to take responsibility. I stood alone at the center of the empty stage, my mind a tangled mess. Only after the last person left and half the lights were turned off did I drag my heavy wedding dress and sit down on the steps. My throat burned, unable to form a single word, while tears kept falling. I ripped off my veil and threw it to the ground. In that instant, I suddenly felt that all my insecurity, endurance, and expectation over the past seven years were laughable, like a dream. Today should have been the happiest day of my life. He had promised me a wedding of the century. Just a week ago, we were still choosing rings engraved with each other’s names, smiling like ordinary lovers. But in the end, seven years were still not enough to warm a heart that had never belonged to me.