At 3 AM, my husband’s sleep talking woke me up: “…baby, daddy’s buying you and mommy a new house tomorrow.”


    Hold up-WE DON’T HAVE KIDS.


    I shook him awake: “What did you just say?”


    He just rolled over: “Just a nightmare, go back to sleep.” <fnf80a> Official source is findnovel</fnf80a>


    Something was OFF. Like, majorly off.


    But I didn’t push it. Instead, I quietly grabbed his phone-


    Clue #1: His Venmo showed a fifty-thousand-dor transfer from three months ago, with a note: “Down payment.” Recipient:


    Rain Sullivan.


    3


    Clue #2: I searched that name on Instagram. Same day as the transfer, she’d posted an ultrasound photo with the caption: [Little angel is already three months along! Daddy says we’ll live in a big house.]


    I immediately screenshot everything and sent it to my dad: [Dad, your precious son-inw didn’t just cheat-he’s got a bastard kid on the way. I’m gonna make him leave with NOTHING!]


    Dad texted back almost instantly:


    [That son of a bitch! Don’t you worry, sweetheart. I’m calling our attorney right now. Nobody crosses the Hartwell family and


    lives to tell about it!]


    Fighting back nausea, I kept scrolling through Rain Sullivan’s feed.


    One month ago: [Picked out our love nest today! The location is chef’s kiss! Thank you babe for giving me and our little one such a perfect home.]


    The photo showed her arm-in-arm with Marcus at some fancy real estate office in Westchester. She was wearing a form-fitting dress that showed off her bump, beaming at the camera.


    Marcus had his arm around her waist, looking at her with a tenderness I’d never seen before.


    Two months ago: [Babe says me and baby are his whole world, and he’s gonna give us everything. This steak is divine!]


    The picture was from some upscale steakhouse-the kind of ce that serves Wagyu beef I could never justify buying.


    I remembered that exact night. I’d suggested we celebrate my promotion at that same restaurant, but Marcus had grimaced and said it was too pricey. We ended up ordering DoorDash instead.


    Three months ago: [Two pink lines! Baby, your timing is absolutely perfect-Mommy and Daddy are so ready for you!]


    The photo showed her and Marcus’s hands intertwined over her still-t belly.


    Every single image felt like a knife twisting in my chest.


    I cried silently in the dark, tears soaking into my pillowcase.


    Next to me, Marcus slept peacefully with a slight smile, probably dreaming about his perfect little family again.


    Looking at his lying face, every ounce of love I’d felt transformed into pure hatred.


    Marcus, you really thought you could pull this off?


    I’m not some pushover you can just screw over.


    I slipped out of bed and padded to the home office, firing up myptop.


    As heir to Hartwell Industries, I had resources he couldn’t even imagine!


    First, I needed to know everything about Rain Sullivan.


    Through a private investigation firm, I got herplete background within hours.


    Rain Sullivan, 23, recent graduate from some no-name state school in Ohio, working as a receptionist at Marcus’spany.


    Lower-middle-ss family from Clevnd-both parents work blue-cor jobs.


    ssic gold-digger trying to social climb her way out of mediocrity.


    What really pissed me off was her start date at Marcus’s firm: exactly six months after our wedding.


    So she’d targeted a married man from day one.


    That conniving bitch!