His Lover's Child, My Expired Contract

Before my shift ended, my last patient was my husband, Edgar Anderson. The pregnancy report he passed me clearly stated that the patient was pregnant for three weeks. He was the father of the child, and the pregnant patient was his lover of five years, Lana John. I calmly slid that report back to Edgar and said softly, “Congratulations, your wish has finally come true.” He was stunned as he frowned. “Why are you just congratulating me? Don’t you have anything else to say?” I stared at that report, showing the child Edgar had with another woman. I thought that I would lose my cool and fight with him like I usually did. However, it seemed like I had lost the courage to fight anymore. “I’m done playing the field after all these years. Once Lana gives birth to our baby, I’ll settle down.” When I heard that, I looked up and stared into his eyes. “Edgar, our contract is up.” Chapter 1 My casual remark broke the silence in my office. Edgar Anderson was still immersed in the joy of Lana John’s pregnancy. He looked up when he heard that. He frowned. “What contract? Are you trying to pick a fight in a new way?” He had forgotten about it. When I realized that, my grip tightened on the edge of my desk. Even breathing felt painful. “I’m not picking a fight. You’re right. I won’t try to control you anymore. It doesn’t matter to me if you settle down.” I had just finished speaking when I saw Edgar rubbing his temple. He shrugged and leaned back against the chair, looking impatient. “It’s common in the industry for us to have mistresses and lovers. “Mr. Albert’s and Mr. Johnson’s wives aren’t jealous like you. Did I deprive you of money? “If you’re a little like Lana, and you know your place, I wouldn’t find you this annoying.” I heard the same phrase many times in the past five years. Five years ago, everyone knew how passionately he pursued me. I rejected him many times because of my mother’s illness. It was when my mother’s condition became critical that he gave me five million dollars to make me sign a prenup. The special medicine would be supplied to my mother first. However, despite that, within a year of our marriage, my mother passed away. At the same time, Edgar cheated on me with Lana. I caught them at home. Our wedding decorations were still hanging in our bedroom when I saw fingerprints on our wedding photo. There were also countless marks all around the bedroom. That day, I smashed everything I could at home. He found me boring and uptight. In the end, he just said, “Know your place. Don’t forget who saved your mother’s life.” I sighed. Just when I wanted to say something else, someone suddenly opened my office door. My son, Charlie Anderson, walked in happily as he held Lana’s hand. “Daddy!” When Charlie saw me, his smile faded. “Oh, Mommy’s here too.” I reached out as I wanted to pat his head. Before I touched him, he dodged my hand with a disgusted look on his face. My hand froze mid-air before I retracted it. “Edgar, how’s my report?” Lana pressed her palm lightly against her lower abdomen. A smile immediately broke out on his tense face. “It’s good. The baby’s very healthy.” I stood aside as I looked at Edgar. I tried to recall, but after being married for years, I could not remember a single time he had smiled at me like that. Despite being the one who pursued me, he was also the one who said that he no longer loved me. “Dr. Reid, I didn’t know you worked here. What a coincidence! I’m more at ease knowing that you’re here.” Lana saw me standing behind my desk. She smiled meaningfully and hooked her finger around Edgar’s pinky, as if she were taunting me. Charlie cheered. “Is it Daddy and Lana’s baby? Will I have a baby sister soon?” Lana pinched Charlie’s cheek lovingly. “It may be a baby brother, too.” I was hurt by how close they were, and I quickly diverted my gaze. Ever since Lana appeared in our lives, Charlie had distanced himself from me. I had asked why before. However, he just glared at me in hatred. “All my friends have a few mothers. Isn’t it a good thing for me to have one more mother? “Besides, Lana buys anything that I want. You only discipline me. I hate you.” I took a deep breath to pull myself back to the present. Edgar no longer looked displeased as he had a moment earlier. Before he left, he said cheerily to me, “Be home early.” Then, they shut the door. I turned to look at the black-and-white photo of my mother on my desk. Tears blurred my vision. Maybe I had lost my home five years ago. Chapter 2 When I got home, it was completely dark outside. The door was ajar, and I saw that the living room was a mess. The family portrait was thrown onto the floor, and Charlie was drawing on it. He had cut me out of the photo with scissors. He kept mumbling, “If Lana were here, it’d be great.” In the past, I would have probably lectured him. However, I ignored it and walked past him. Edgar heard me come in and looked up from the couch. He looked a little annoyed. “Why are you home so late? No one’s cooked dinner yet, and Charlie’s very hungry.” I paused in my tracks and swept my gaze over Edgar and Charlie. In the past five years, no matter how late I worked or how tired I was, I would make them dinner when I got home. I would also clean the house and do the laundry. “There are leftovers in the fridge from last night. You can microwave it to heat it up.” I grimaced mockingly. “Don’t you know how to do that?” Edgar widened his eyes slightly and gaped. Then, he quickly stood up. “You…” From where he was seated on the floor, Charlie simply said to me, “Mommy, I want to eat your cooking.” I felt exhausted, and I did not even want to look at them. When I opened my bedroom door, my face immediately turned pale. The documents in my room were cut up. The vase, table lamp, and photo frames were smashed into pieces. I stumbled toward my bedside. There was a box that I kept on my bedside cabinet. That had been thrown onto the floor. The crystals were smashed into pieces. It was the last thing my mother left me before she passed. I had kept it in the box to protect it. My head snapped up, and I saw Charlie standing nonchalantly at my door. “Did you smash this?” He grimaced. “I did it because you always bully Lana, and you don’t want to cook for me.” My mind was racing as I glared at Charlie with tears in my eyes. I raised my hand and slapped him forcefully. His face turned to the side from the impact. I could feel the pain coming from my palm, yet it was nothing compared to my heartache. I had carried him in my arms the moment he was born. His first word was “Mama.” Yet he had turned into a stranger. Charlie pressed his palm against his cheek and stared at me in fear and shock. Edgar came over after hearing Charlie’s cries. He hugged Charlie with a darkened expression. “Violet, how dare you hit Charlie?” I ignored his rebuke, only crouching down dispiritedly to pick up the crystal pieces. “It’s just a bracelet. Do you really have to do that? I’ll buy you a better one.” One shard sliced my finger, and blood dripped onto the floor. When my mother was still alive, she gave me the bracelet. “Violet, Edgar’s a good guy. This was my mother’s gift to me when I got married, and I wore it my entire life. After I die, this bracelet will be with you…” I shut my eyes. Then, I stood up and looked at Edgar. “Is money the solution to everything for you?” My glare seemed to shock Edgar. He stood still, and his words were stuck in his throat. His lips quivered, yet no words came out. Charlie cried even louder as he started to punch and kick me. “I don’t want you to be my mommy! I want Lana! Daddy, bring me to Lana!” My forehead was throbbing from his cries. Edgar came back to his senses and carried Charlie in his arms with a ghastly expression on his face. “Violet Reid, I don’t care what’s wrong with you. I’ll make you pay for this! “I’ll only bring Charlie back after you’ve admitted your mistakes.” Chapter 3 I sat in the living room for the entire night. At dawn, I found a slightly yellowed prenup in one of the drawers. Edgar had signed the agreement. I rubbed the edge of the page. The end date of the agreement was next month. After that fight, Edgar and Charlie did not come home for some time. I also had a lot of surgeries to tend to. I did not want to return to that cold and empty house. Hence, I rented a house outside, and I did not return home either. I contacted a divorce lawyer to draft our divorce agreement. In fact, after my mother passed away, I should have already drafted the divorce agreement. However, I wanted a home. I was also infatuated with Edgar. It turned out that giving up was not as difficult as I thought it would be. Initially, I thought things would proceed smoothly. That was until an academic lecture a month later. The huge hall was extremely quiet. Someone kicked the door open. Lana had tears in her eyes. She ignored the security guards’ attempts to stop her as she charged onto the stage and grabbed my collar. “Violet, I’m the one you should be directing your anger to! Why did you harm Edgar’s child?” Her voice resounded in the hall through the microphone. Everyone started whispering. The news cameras kept snapping pictures of me. My face was pale. I did not know what happened when Lana choked me and roared, “It’s one thing to be a homewrecker. I’m the child’s mother. How could you do something like that? “Because of you, I almost lost the baby I’m having with Edgar!” Lana cried and collapsed onto the floor before me. She kept begging, “Please let me go. Please stop harassing Edgar. Don’t break my family apart.” My mind went blank as I stared at Lana’s crying face in a daze. “So… Is Dr. Reid a homewrecker?” someone from the crowd asked out loud, and everyone gasped. My head snapped up, and I immediately denied it. “No, I’m Edgar’s lawful wife…” However, my voice was buried in the crowd. They charged forward. Some of them were throwing the microphones at me as they yelled. A few of my colleagues stared at me in disgust. Amidst the chaos, Edgar finally appeared. He strode forward and helped Lana up. Then, he kept comforting her. “Alright. It’s just a misunderstanding…” Someone recognized Edgar, so they asked him for the truth. “Mr. Anderson! He’s the CEO of Anderson Corporation…” “I didn’t know that Dr. Reid married a rich man!” “Mr. Anderson, Violet claimed to be your wife. Is that true?” Edgar, who had no idea what had happened earlier, finally came to a realization. He quickly looked up at me. I stared at him with my fists clenched. However, very soon, he avoided my gaze. “I’m having a child with Lana. Dr. Reid’s just my wife’s doctor.” Something broke in me. Edgar did not dare to look at me. He held Lana’s hand and quickly left the hall. Edgar had left me alone to face the horrible consequences. The talk was ruined by that incident. The hospital CEO felt that I had embarrassed the hospital, so he suspended me. He also gave away my spot in an overseas studies opportunity to another doctor. In five years, I lost my mother, my family, and my career. Thanks to Edgar, I was left with nothing. Chapter 4 Due to the incident, Edgar sent me a text message. [It’s my fault. Lana and I got into a fight, so I told her to abort the child out of anger.] [I didn’t expect her to believe my words and lash out at you. I’m sorry.] [After she gives birth to the baby, I’ll clear it up with the media. You have to bear with it in the meantime.] Immediately after, he transferred a huge sum of money to me. I gripped the phone so tightly that my knuckles turned white. Thanks to their fight, my reputation was ruined, and I lost my job. I could not erase that memory from my mind. In the end, I gave up and lost my courage to fight for what I deserved. After all, he no longer loved me. Lana would always be his priority. Since that was the case, I would give them my blessings. I booked my flight ticket and completed all procedures to migrate. The only things left were that prenup and the broken pieces of my bracelet at home. When I reached home, a party was in full swing. There were many children around Charlie’s age. I looked at the decorations hanging on the wall and suddenly remembered that it was Charlie’s birthday. In the past, I would have never forgotten it. I would even spend two weeks preparing his birthday present. I bet he had thrown all those presents into the trash can. Keeping my head down, I tried to keep a low profile. I wanted to leave after I retrieved my things. However, when Charlie saw me, his eyes lit up. “Mommy!” To think about it, ever since that incident, I had not seen Charlie for a really long time. I did not spare a glance at him. A child suddenly pointed at me sharply. “Isn’t she the person on TV? My mommy says she’s a homewrecker. Why is she here?” “Charlie, why is she showing up at your house?” Charlie’s face fell. He was embarrassed. Seeing that Charlie had stayed silent, the children laughed. “Is she your mommy? Are you a homewrecker’s son?” “I’m not!” Charlie refuted stubbornly as his face flushed red. Edgar frowned and quickly stopped me. He whispered, “What are you doing here? Don’t you know that today is Charlie’s birthday? The news has gone viral. Even if you’re not ashamed, we’re embarrassed by you!” I calmly pushed him aside and did not say a single word to him. After I took the things I wanted, I walked out of the room. A cake flew toward me and smashed against my face. The knife on the plate sliced my palm open. My face paled from the pain. I looked up and saw Charlie’s flushed cheeks as he panted. “Why did you ruin my family, you homewrecker?! “Today is my birthday, so get out!” The children who were laughing at Charlie were shocked for a moment. Then, they started applauding and cheering him on. I clenched my bleeding fist as I trembled violently. I knew Charlie hated me, but I had never thought he would ever do this. Edgar quickly stepped forward, wanting to check the wound on my hand. I pushed him away. “You’re right,” I said with a hoarse voice. “I’m not your wife, and he’s not my son. This isn’t my home either.” The five-year deadline was approaching. I did not want custody of Charlie or the marriage anymore.